The Not-So-Good Book

Noah didn’t build The Ark that just opened at 37Arts. This one was built by writers Michael McLean and Kevin Kelly, and to the degree that it floats at all, they should thank a talented cast led by veterans Adrian Zmed as Noah and Annie Golden as his wife. In fact, director Ray Roderick has all the elements at his disposal for putting on an entertaining family musical except a good book (this one is bad even though it’s based on The Good Book) and a memorable score. God-given talent is on display everywhere else, from the enveloping set design by Beowulf Boritt to the spot-on sound design by Ryan Powers. Even the theater is new. But try as Roderick does to make this show seaworthy, to the point of overdoing the shtick, the ship finally founders.

It’s not as if Noah’s story hasn’t been told in song before. Several other musicals have sailed these waters, perhaps the most famous being the Danny Kaye vehicle Two by Two. That shouldn’t preclude a new version of the story for a new generation, but if you’re going to musicalize the tale, there ought to be a good reason for doing it again. In this case, the show’s conceit is to turn the theater itself into the bowels of the ark so that we, the audience, are the animals. That’s cute for the first few minutes, but the gag is flogged for what seems like 40 days and 40 nights. The hyena joke is funny, but the constant references to how we smell, the shoveling of manure from beneath our feet — okay, enough!

The score is mostly written in a pop idiom, especially when Noah’s kids and in-laws are doing the singing; the more traditional musical theater-style songs are reserved for Zmed and Golden, both of whom have the chops to give them some zest. Justin Brill as Shem stands out for his performance. So does D.B. Bonds as the troubled Ham, and you’ll also find that Janeece Aisha Freeman, Rob Sutton, and Jacquelyn Piro have strong voices. But it’s Marie-France Arcilla, playing the oddly named Martha, who gets the show’s real showstopper: “I Got a Man Who Loves Me” starts as pure musical theater and then jumps to R&B (with a belt!) for the comic finale. It’s unexpected and winning, which is more than one can say for The Ark in general.

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A-Oh Kaye!

Stephen Temperley’s two-hander Souvenir, which just opened on Broadway after a much-acclaimed run last season at the York Theatre, is an odd duck of a play. Protagonist-narrator Cosme McMoon (Donald Corren) tells the story, but the show’s focus belongs to Florence Foster Jenkins (Judy Kaye), the perpetually off-key socialite singer, and it gets virtually all of its laughs from her character — not to mention its heart.

Souvenir is an engaging if sometimes creaky series of scenes that are punctuated by Kaye’s hilariously and intentionally awful singing. The joke is Jenkins’ deliciously innocent inability to see herself as anything but grandly talented. That this story is essentially true only makes it richer; but since McMoon is on stage as often as Jenkins, and he’s the one who is changed during the course of the story, he is really the lead role. This unusual dynamic is ultimately both the play’s strength and its weakness.

Director Vivian Matalon knows that Kaye is an extraordinary performer, so he does everything in his power to showcase her. If ever there was a sure-fire Tony nominee, here she is. Corren is a better Cosme than Jack Lee, who played the role at the York; for one thing, Corren knows his lines! But he’s still not exactly right for the part. He plays the role for shtick, whereas the man should be more vulnerable, more comically woebegone. Still, let’s face it: It’s Judy Kaye whom audiences will be coming to see. And they won’t be disappointed.

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Rocky Mountain Low

Putting on an entertaining, even moving revue of John Denver’s life and work should be relatively easy. The late singer-songwriter has an impressive collection of hit songs, a poignant personal story, and a genuine audience. But Almost Heaven: Songs of John Denver totally blows it. Indeed, Harold Thau’s concept and Randal Mylar’s direction combine to make a mash of every aspect of the story.

Denver’s biography is presented here with little connective tissue, while his songs are too often performed by the wrong singers and in the wrong style. Is presenting these songs more or less the way they were originally sung really so much to ask? Yet, for all the show’s flaws, the cast is not to be slighted. Jim Newman’s personification of Denver is very genuine; he could, and probably should, do a one-man show about the late singer. Another standout in the cast of six is Nicholas Rodriguez. Like most of his castmates, he isn’t really right for Denver’s kind of music but he has great presence and a terrific voice.

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[To contact the Siegels directly, e-mail them at siegels@theatermania.com.]