An Ill-Serviced "Classic Vehicle"

Bows And Feathers is a fab and frothy creation like a good production of My Fair Fair Lady should be--that's why I chose it as today's fractal cookie.  So, without further ado, on with the review!
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Regular readers of this blog probably realize what a strange place my mind can be.  So I suppose it wouldn't be much of a surprise when I got the idea to compare Broadway Musicals to automobiles.  IMHO, if My Fair Lady was a car it would be a Rolls Royce Silver Shadow.  And if the latest production from Performance Riverside were a Rolls it would be a car that had clearly seen better days but had been nicely tricked up to fool an unwary buyer.  (Come on--you had to know I wasn't gonna like the show from the review title!)  Why do I say that?  Read on and all will be revealed.
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Let's start with a frequent complaint I've had with shows at the Landis.  The sound mix was nothing short of awful: many of the lead solos were buried by the band (particarly every word Henry Higgins "sang" was missing as the worst example).  The dialog was spat out at machine-gun pace and was so echo-y that a lot of it was unintelligible.  I have to give the cast credit for attempting (and actually maintaining for the most part) accents throughout the show: too bad the accents were nowhere near correct.  (Yes, I know that's a quibble but I know my accents and a correct accent is critical to My Fair Lady).  The costumes screamed RENTAL but they were serviceable enough.  The sets looked nice but every time they changed it sapped momentum from the show.  The pit band and chorus were first rate but it bugged me that, for a musical, there was surprisingly little singing from the leads.
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Jason James as Henry Higgins followed Rex Harrison's lead (maybe a bit too closely).  I was hoping for a spark of originality in his portrayal but I didn't get it.  Natasha Harris as Eliza was pretty and feisty enough but she lacked the vocal power that is required to make the part shine.  Worst of all, her "cockney" accent was some sort of horrendous Yorkshire-Australian hybrid the likes of which I've never heard before--and, God willing, will never have to hear again.  Jamie Snyder as Alfred P. Doolittle particularly annoyed me: he brought a lot of energy to the part--but seemed way too young for the role.  His accent was as atrocious (in a different way) than Eliza's and he spat his words out so quickly it was hard to follow him.  He chose pretty much shout With A Little Bit Of Luck--which was sad because he proved he actually could sing on I'm Getting Married In The Morning.  Jim Shine was in full "fussy queen" mode as Col. Pickering  and his interaction with Higgins made both men seem frankly, shall we say--regal?  The underscored the lack of spark between Higgins and Eliza.  Thomas Roy (Freddy Eynsford-Hill) has a nice look and a pretty enough voice but he sings in an American accent!  (Piece of friendly advice "bother me" and "rather be" really should rhyme in On The Street Where You Live--just saying.)
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I really like My Fair Lady but I was sorely disappointed by this show and I don't think I was alone.  The theater was crowded but the applause was frankly tepid (except for one actor who had a lot of friends in the house) and there wasn't a lot of laughter.  Even my darling Robyn (who;s ever so much nicer and more forgiving than a cranky old bear like me) had a few good shots in (which I won't repeat here to preserve her stellar reputation).  The show should have been a slam dunk but it missed the mark by a mile.
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FINAL GRADE: C
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"CATS" Now And Forevermore Why?

Today's fractal cookie is Zimple Zpiral.  Why did I choose it?  You'll have to wait until the end of my review of Cats to find out.
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Cats is one of the longest-running musicals on Broadway (second only to Phantom Of The Opera) and frankly, I couldn't fathom why that might be.  At least not until I finally saw the show...  Cats is musical theaters lowest common denominator.
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Why is that?  Observe.  Start with subject matter that's hard to resist: really--who (besides a few old sour pusses like me) doesn't love kitties?  Add in a tuneful score filled with one stunning production number after another and connect them with a plot thread so thin it is all but non-existent.  Make sure the score is complex enough to follow but complex enough to keep it interesting.  Give it a structure that is accessible yet complex enough so the average individual knows they couldn't do that.  A clever book loaded with charming word play and the illusion of depth to distract the audience from how little there really is to the show.  Mount the show on a set that brings out the child in everyone then sprinkle liberally with stage fog and big effects and cast a good group of singer/dancers to bring the show to life.  Once all this is place you can sit back and let the show run for over seven thousand performances while the millions roll in.
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You might think from the above paragraph that I didn't enjoy the show but I did.  So--what if the show is an air biscuit of epic proportions?  It's FUN!  What if it panders to the crowd?  Theaters NEED extravaganzas like Cats to make enough money to mount other shows.  Besides--singing a populist show like this might encourage those who don't attend the theater to come back for something else.  There's no point of concentrating on what the show ISN'T--for what it IS Cats is pretty darn good!
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Of course, this wouldn't be a Baronial review without at least one minor quibble.  The cast (many of whom were making their professional debuts) was quite talented even if I didn't recognize any of their names.  The set was fun, costumes perfect and the effects pretty flawless (a major achievement in a touring production).  All I could find the complain about was the pit band: I don't know what it was about their performance but it is just struck me as a bad 80s synth-pop band,  It sounded like it was played on cheap instruments but medium-talented amateurs.
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Will Cats stand the test of time?  I honestly don't know: with all their is to recommend it this show will be touring for years to come but I do wonder if we'll look back in a decade or so and note that it's a period-piece good for nothing but remembering a long-gone period of history.  Still, for the packed crowed we saw the show with Cats IS "now and forever".
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FINAL GRADE: A-
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Oh--and why did I pick Zimple Zpiral as the fractal cookie?  I chose it, not only because I didn't have a "better" images that I hadn't already used multiple times and because, like Cats, this image is pretty enough but there really isn't a lot to it.