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| Andrew Keenan-Bolger as Jesse Tuck and Sarah Charles Lewis Photo: Joan Marcus |
Children’s Book Comes to Life, but Show Might Not Enjoy Immortality
By Lauren Yarger
Step into magical woods where time stands still, life springs eternal and a beloved children’s book comes to life.
Step into magical woods where time stands still, life springs eternal and a beloved children’s book comes to life.
Tuck Everlasting gets a Broadway incarnation with music and lyrics by Chris
Miller and Nathan Tysen (who teamed for The Burnt Part Boys) and a book by Claudia Shear and Tim Federle based on the novel by Natalie Babbitt.
Massive ancient branches bring green foliage – and enchantment
-- of the woods into the tiny village of Treegap, NH (Scenic design by Walt
Spangler) where Winnie Foster (Sarah
Charles Lewis) feels stifled living with her mother (Valerie Wright) and Nana (an amusing Pippa Pearthree)
following the death of her father. The 11-year-old misses her dad, but longs
for excitement.
Wandering in the woods, where
mysterious music plays, she stumbles upon Jess Tuck (Andrew Keenan-Bolger) who
is very alarmed when he realizes the girl has seen him drinking from a secret
stream. Jesse, his brother, Miles (Robert Lenzi) and their mother, Mae (Carolee
Carmello) bring her to their home hidden in the woods and explain that the
spring gives them eternal life. While staying with the Tucks, Winnie awakens a
zest for life in the family’s patriarch Angus (Michael Park) and in Miles, who is bitter about losing his wife and son
and sparks a romance with Jesse who hopes she will drink from the stream when
she is a bit older and they can begin a relationship.
Winnie’s disappearance causes some
alarm for her mother and grandmother, however, and Constable Joe (Fred
Applegate, giving a nice turn and adding some needed humor) and his newbie,
bumbling assistant, Hugo (Michael Wartella) begin an investigation.
Complicating things, however, is the arrival of a carnival conman known as the Man
in a Yellow Suit (Terrence Mann) who has long sought the secrets of the Ticks’
stream. He blackmails Winnie’s family into selling him the land where the
stream runs and threatens the Tucks when he plans to make the stream a
commercial enterprise.
Casey Nicholaw (Something
Rotten!, Aladdin, The Book of Mormon) directs and choreographs the entertaining,
if not too complex, tale. Standing out is Charles
Lewis, with a singing voice so developed and clear that I checked the program
to make sure that wasn’t Sidney Lucas up there in a red wig (Hair design by Josh
Marquette) only to discover that the young actress was making her Broadway
debut. It’s an impressive one.
Also
starring in this production is Spangler’s set, expertly lighted by Kenneth
Posner. Whether we’re in the Tucks’ quaint, old-fashioned cottage, seeing the
wind blow through flowers (as painted on a backdrop) or climbing a tree in the
woods, the enchantment of the story carries through. While some of the
choreography throughout the show seems awkward and out of place, a final
closing piece almost like a ballet that shows the progression of years
throughout Winnie’s life is moving and leaves an impression about the
importance of living life to the fullest.
The
plot isn’t very enchanting on its own, however. If you are a fan of Babbitt’s
1975 novel, you are probably on board with it, but if you are like me, and
somehow never read the book, you will be asking a lot of questions like “Do the
Tucks really need to painfully separate and reunite only once every 10 years to
avoid arousing suspicion about their longevity?” “If they are so concerned
about detection why do they keep playing that music box?” “Why exactly has
Angus been in a funk on the couch for 10 years?” “How was the Man in the Yellow
Suit able to piece together that there is a stream offering eternal life back
there in the woods?” “Why don’t Winnie’s mother and grandmother just tell Joe
they are in trouble?” “A 17 year old really asks an 11 year old to wait for
him?”
OK,
maybe taking this “Brigadoon for kids”
too seriously is a mistake. Miller’s score is pleasant, but not memorable (the
opening number could use some work as it lacks an excitement despite a big
finish). Mary-Mitchell Campbell music directs and supervises with Rob Berman. Orchestrations are by John Clancy
with Vocal Arrangements by Chris Miller and Dance Music Arrangements by
David Chase. But Broadway vets Carmello, Mann and Park give the show some oomph
(and there’s Charles Lewis’ voice, even if I can’t remember anything she sang.)
The uplifting message about not wasting life is a plus. Mae sings:
“Time
we’ve been granted so much time
But what if all this time
Did more than pass us by?
Life even infinite
Still must have life in it
We know it won’t kill us to try.”
But what if all this time
Did more than pass us by?
Life even infinite
Still must have life in it
We know it won’t kill us to try.”
Another
plus: the musical is mostly family-friendly
– a decreasing commodity on the Great White Way these days. Tuck failed to impress Tony Award Nominators,
however. It received only one nod: Costumes designed Gregg
Barnes. That plus slow sales at the box office might mean the show won't enjoy the same long life as the Tucks.
Catch it while you can at the Broadhurst Theatre, 235 West 44thSt., NYC. Performances are Showtimes Tuesday and Thursday at 7 pm; Wednesday at 2 and 7:30 pm, Friday at 8 pm; Saturday at 2 and 8 pm; Sunday at 3 pm. Additional show 7:30 pm May 29. Tickets are $59-$147: tuckeverlastingmusical.com; 212-239-6200.
Additional casting:
Timothy J. Alex, Marcus Bellamy, Callie Carter, Chloë Campbell, Benjamin Cook, Elizabeth Margaret Crawford, Deanna Doyle, Brandon Espinoza, Lisa Gajda, Jessica Lee Goldyn, Christopher Gurr, Neil Haskell, Matt Meigs, Heather Parcells, Justin Patterson, Marco Schittone, Brooklyn Shuck, Jennifer Smith, and Kathy Voytko.... Ensemble
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