Once at Le Petit Theatre through June 21
Based on the Oscar-winning movie that was kinda based on real life, Once is a “Czech girl meets Irish boy, boy almost gets girl, boy goes back to old girlfriend” tale. Or “Guy” and “Girl” as they’re called here.
That Once rejects a “and they lived happily ever after” ending is refreshing and it’s not without its charms. But cliches and truisms prop up this thinnest of stories making it easy to like but hard to love.
The cast of Once (photo by Brittney Werner)
Well, that’s how I felt about Once after seeing it at the Saenger Theatre in 2015. The current production at Le Petit Theatre, while competently done, exposes the show’s flaws that makes it even difficult to like.
Enda Walsh may be an acclaimed writer, but here his book just chugs along, offering equal helpings of both twee and easy humor rather than any real drama. Guy is a songwriter and we’re repeatedly told how great his music is but the evidence, i.e. Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová’s score, doesn’t really back it up. Not a single number is memorable including their Oscar winner Falling Slowly.
A romance blossoms and fades. A ragtag group of musicians who barely get along with each other miraculously comes together to produce a record that even impresses the jaded studio engineer. And all this over the course of just five days? At least, an excerpt from a Mendelssohn piano work that is performed during the show is lovely.
Unlike John Tiffany, who directed the original Once, Conner Wilson isn’t able to bring out the more beguiling elements of this story or shape it with a light touch. While Daniel Zimnmer’s lighting, accomplished as always, bathes the stage in warm colors, William Boles’ scenic design, which serves for a variety of settings, lacks the granular details that drew you in to Bob Crowley’s design at the Saenger.
Patrick Cragin was a marvelous Billy Bigelow last year in Carousel at Tulane’s Summer Lyric Theatre and he well-fulfills the demands of Guy here. Other than an abysmal Czech accent (she reminded me of Natasha from Rocky & Bullwinkle), Josie Oliva does the same for Girl. Their story just never terribly interested me. He’s kinda whiney & self-centered and she’s pushy. They simply don’t merit two and a half hours of stage time.
The rest of the cast, all highly adept actors, many of whom I’ve enjoyed elsewhere, did what was asked of them, including, impressively, playing a range of instruments to make up the show’s orchestra. It’s just that Wilson had some of the them, especially those portraying the Czech characters, friends of Girl, come off as cartoonish; they reminded me of SNL’s “wild and crazy guys.”
Before the show, Le Petit’s Artistic Director A.J. Allegra gave a witty and engaging curtain speech and informed the audience that, an hour earlier, the sound board had gone kaput, but in the best “show must go on” tradition, the technical staff had come up with a way to overcome that, and the performance went off without any recognizable glitches. I applaud the entire Le Petit krewe for their doggedness, technical wizardry, and professionalism. I just wish I had been able to enjoy Once as much as, or more so than, I had the first time.
[For tickets and more information, go to https://ci.ovationtix.com/36212/production/1235310]
Monty Python’s Spamalot at the Saenger Theatre
The first time I saw Monty Python’s Spamalot, on Broadway in 2005, and the second time I saw it, in 2013 at Rivertown, I felt the same way.
“A shotgun marriage of two shows,” I wrote, “one was a ‘new musical lovingly ripped off from the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail” (their words). It was funny seeing the classic Python skits done live by a group of accomplished actors. It just wasn’t as funny as watching them done by the original Pythonians. Spamalot’s other half was a throbbing theatrical in-joke, wickedly sending up Broadway in particular.” I preferred the latter to the former by far.
So I expected my response would be the same when I saw it recently at the Saenger Theatre. Boy, was I wrong.
I suspect that, given that I haven’t seen much Monty Python in a while, the classic skits, from the Knights of Ni to killer rabbits to outrageous Frenchmen, seemed almost fresh to me. Or, rather, the originals had faded somewhat in my memory so there were no odious comparisons to make. Or maybe, given these crazy, challenging times, I (and many others) just want an excuse to laugh at pure, silly fun.
Not only that, but this production, directed by Josh Rhodes, more or less the same as the one that ran on Broadway from 2023 to 2024, features visually spectacular projections by Paul Tate dePoo III (what a great name!) that evoke Terry Gilliam’s original cartoons but deliver them with new and fabulous flair.
And I’m not sure who tweaked Eric Idle’s original book, but not only are there now references to that slimy toad George Santos, but someone tailored the script particularly to New Orleans with shout-outs not only to Bourbon Street and Louis Armstrong and Lil Wayne, but even Juan LaFonta. Somebody clearly did their research. Bravo!
Big dance numbers, worthy of a MGM extravaganza, still remain like the Las Vegas homage All for One, and the hysterical You Won’t Succeed on Broadway [if you don’t have any Jews]. If no one particularly stood out in the cast, it was merely because they were all topnotch from the King Arthur of Major Attaway (another great name!) to all those lithe chorus boyz.
The cast of Monty Python’s Spamalot (photo by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman)
I would take issue only with the gay-themed number His Name Is Lancelot, not because it’s offensive, but because it’s cliched. In it, the fey Prince Herbert who’s been under the watchful eye of his macho father connects with Sir Lancelot, who’s just come out. From the jokes about Herbert not wanting to do sports and other “butch” things to the instant romance, I just felt I’ve seen this narrative before (tho the line, after they kiss, that “1,000 years from now, this will still be controversial” hit the bull’s-eye). Could we please come up with some new gay tropes or images or cliches or whatever?
Otherwise, from bringing out the dead to always looking on the bright side of life to razor-sharp jibes at Andrew Lloyd Webber & Phantom of the Opera, this Spamalot offers smile-, giggle- and guffaw-inducing merriment. The tour continues through November, making stops in such cities as San Antonio, Dallas, and Atlanta. If you want to have a knight of pleasure, don’t miss it.
[More information at https://spamalotthemusical.com/]
