Broadway Theater Review: Tuck Everlasting

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.

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.”

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 44^thSt., 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

FAMILY-FRIENDLY FACTORS:-- God's name taken in vain