The Piper
Theater at St. Clements
Theater at St. Clements
A quiet, pleasant surprise held sway over me as I left the Theater at St. Clements, Friday afternoon. The surprise you ask? The newest offering from music industry and festival favorite, Marcus Hummon
- who had a success last year at NYMF with The Warrior as well as a Grammy for his Rascal Flatts' "Bless the Broken Road". There are no Pop songs found here, yet the show is reminescent of the sort of catchy, emotional melodies Hummon is known for.
Set in turn of the century, Boston, in the midst of a fevered search for a prostitute strangling madman, Jordan - a former prostitute, turned inn keeper - takes on a new boarder, who she thinks might be the serial killer.
Yeah, sounds dark right? And, yes, it is dark, but like all really great dark musicals, there is some small light that shines through, pulling you through to the story's conclusion. A spark that makes you feel for the heroine and her lame daughter, plagued by discrimination and poverty.
The Piper, with Hummon crafting not only the songs, but the book as well, seems right for the picking by any good producer. It is the first show of the festival that I have seen, that I feel can transfer to Broadway, not just Off Broadway. This musical is best suited for a large scale production that only Broadway could offer, what with it's enormous scenic span, and chorus heavy music. That's another thing, this show, like so many other dark or heavy musicals, goes back to what makes musical theatre so chilling: the large chorus.
Hummon has built his show around the vagabonds and high society of the Boston Irish, lending the music to be grandly scored for an exquisite chorus. The opening number "A New Jerusalem" actually gave me the feeling that I have missed so much, on the the musical theatre stage, goose pimples, and tears poking the sides of my eyes. This, kiddo, is what musical theatre is all about. Hearing human voices mingling together in such a way as the ones on display at the St. Clements, is awe inspiring.
Kudos to director, Michael Bush, for skillfully navigating the waters of this grand story. Focusing more on the characters and their interaction with each other, and the story proper, Bush has scaled down everything else - very similar to Harold Prince's direction of Sweeney Todd, which this show puts me in the mind set of. Bush has taken the cast under wing, using his years of experience with the Manhattan Theatre Club, and ushered them through surely arduous stand out roles, and into a cohesive unit. That is the main thing that is to be admired of Bush: the creation of an ensemble piece, out of a show that could have been a star vehicle.
It's the Cast's ability to meld into each other that makes talk of individuals difficult. There is no stand out performance - not that it's a bad thing. The company feeds from each other, like good actors, and drawing that energy from each other puts everyone on the same level and page. Although, I would like to mention Christiane Noll's performance as Jordan, the story's heroine. Ms. Noll, while slipping out of her thick Irish dialect, still commands the stage. Her head strong, archetypal as it may be, Irish immigrant, is believable and doesn't seem to be forced, as many performances of immigrants can seem. Ms. Noll has grasped the underlying theme of this character, she has recognized her motives for their universality, and plays it to the nines along the audiences heartstrings.
As wonderful a surprise as The Piper was, it was abrupt in it's second act. The second act is always the hardest, and always the most in need of work, The Piper is no different. After the build up before intermission, the audience is denied the ending they want, they are rushed through veiled conclusions that don't seem to make much sense, but are covered by one of the show's more beautiful songs, "Pay the Piper", so we buy it. But, I find myself asking Mr. Hummon: Why does the show end with such pain and such beauty, musically, and so ambiguously by the book?
With it's one true fault aside, The Piper, should be on the list of the best of fest - in the top ten, at least. I wouldn't be surprised to see Mr. Hummon's work on the Great White Way in a few years. Hummon has taken the basic potato - if you'll excuse the Irish pun, here - salted, diced, covered it with cheese, and garnished it with some of the most beautiful greenery, and what we get is one hell of a meal. Thank you NYMF and Marcus Hummon for the feast that is The Piper.
- who had a success last year at NYMF with The Warrior as well as a Grammy for his Rascal Flatts' "Bless the Broken Road". There are no Pop songs found here, yet the show is reminescent of the sort of catchy, emotional melodies Hummon is known for.Set in turn of the century, Boston, in the midst of a fevered search for a prostitute strangling madman, Jordan - a former prostitute, turned inn keeper - takes on a new boarder, who she thinks might be the serial killer.
Yeah, sounds dark right? And, yes, it is dark, but like all really great dark musicals, there is some small light that shines through, pulling you through to the story's conclusion. A spark that makes you feel for the heroine and her lame daughter, plagued by discrimination and poverty.
The Piper, with Hummon crafting not only the songs, but the book as well, seems right for the picking by any good producer. It is the first show of the festival that I have seen, that I feel can transfer to Broadway, not just Off Broadway. This musical is best suited for a large scale production that only Broadway could offer, what with it's enormous scenic span, and chorus heavy music. That's another thing, this show, like so many other dark or heavy musicals, goes back to what makes musical theatre so chilling: the large chorus.
Hummon has built his show around the vagabonds and high society of the Boston Irish, lending the music to be grandly scored for an exquisite chorus. The opening number "A New Jerusalem" actually gave me the feeling that I have missed so much, on the the musical theatre stage, goose pimples, and tears poking the sides of my eyes. This, kiddo, is what musical theatre is all about. Hearing human voices mingling together in such a way as the ones on display at the St. Clements, is awe inspiring.
Kudos to director, Michael Bush, for skillfully navigating the waters of this grand story. Focusing more on the characters and their interaction with each other, and the story proper, Bush has scaled down everything else - very similar to Harold Prince's direction of Sweeney Todd, which this show puts me in the mind set of. Bush has taken the cast under wing, using his years of experience with the Manhattan Theatre Club, and ushered them through surely arduous stand out roles, and into a cohesive unit. That is the main thing that is to be admired of Bush: the creation of an ensemble piece, out of a show that could have been a star vehicle.
It's the Cast's ability to meld into each other that makes talk of individuals difficult. There is no stand out performance - not that it's a bad thing. The company feeds from each other, like good actors, and drawing that energy from each other puts everyone on the same level and page. Although, I would like to mention Christiane Noll's performance as Jordan, the story's heroine. Ms. Noll, while slipping out of her thick Irish dialect, still commands the stage. Her head strong, archetypal as it may be, Irish immigrant, is believable and doesn't seem to be forced, as many performances of immigrants can seem. Ms. Noll has grasped the underlying theme of this character, she has recognized her motives for their universality, and plays it to the nines along the audiences heartstrings.
As wonderful a surprise as The Piper was, it was abrupt in it's second act. The second act is always the hardest, and always the most in need of work, The Piper is no different. After the build up before intermission, the audience is denied the ending they want, they are rushed through veiled conclusions that don't seem to make much sense, but are covered by one of the show's more beautiful songs, "Pay the Piper", so we buy it. But, I find myself asking Mr. Hummon: Why does the show end with such pain and such beauty, musically, and so ambiguously by the book?
With it's one true fault aside, The Piper, should be on the list of the best of fest - in the top ten, at least. I wouldn't be surprised to see Mr. Hummon's work on the Great White Way in a few years. Hummon has taken the basic potato - if you'll excuse the Irish pun, here - salted, diced, covered it with cheese, and garnished it with some of the most beautiful greenery, and what we get is one hell of a meal. Thank you NYMF and Marcus Hummon for the feast that is The Piper.
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