City of Colors and Light
"An American in Paris"
Elephant Eye, Pittsburgh CLO, Theatre du Chatelet et al.
Opera House
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Washington, DC
December 14, 2017
What is it about Paris that Americans who go there want to find? Some seek a sense of freedom, whereas others hope to discover their true home. This stage musical is supposed to be about the adventure of leading an expatriate life. The idea has a complicated history. It started as a 1928 orchestral composition by George Gershwin, and then became a 1951 movie choreographed by and starring tap dancer Gene Kelly. The essence of the screen script by Alan Jay Lerner is preserved for the current production's story by Craig Lucas. It had the Kelly character - Jerry Mulligan - as a World War 2, American veteran trying to become a successful painter in France's capital. Contrary to current revelations about abusive American men, Mulligan is an innocent. So are his two buddies, one French and the other American. The women they encounter are practical. The action is busy, and for this version often seems over directed and over choreographed for both people and props by British American trained Christopher Wheeldon. My main problem with the result is that the story's Americans were indistinguishable from its Parisians. What I enjoyed were Bob Crowley's strong palette for the sets and costumes plus Natasha Katz's illumination of the stage which made Paris really seem a city of colors and light.
Rather regularly in this staging, more than one thing at a time happens. Wheeldon has fun with this persistent polyphony once in a while, such as when he contrasts a fresh event, like a romantic confrontation, with a routine occurrence, like the business of pandering. Mostly, though, there's just a mix and melee that would suit the movies better than the stage. Required for the role of Mulligan are a speaking voice, a singing voice and a trained dancer's body. McGee Maddox provided these competently, adequately, but more importantly was able to project Mulligan's affable character. He and his buddies (Matthew Scott as Adam, and Ben Michael as Henri) played off each other with a fine sense of comedy. In the romantic role of Lise (Leslie Caron's part in the movie), Allison Walsh seemed to disappear into herself. Kristen Scott as Milo, a rich and shrewd American millionaire, sparked. She didn't have to dance but one knew what she was about from how she strode on, sat down, stood up and gazed. Teri Hansen, as Henri's mother, was the one character on stage who did seem truly Parisian - proud and in full possession of every spot on which she sets her imposing frame.
In the story, Mulligan's success happens because of an accident to one of his art works. This musical's visual aspect was imaginatively planned. There were two types of color schemes. One sort had strong shades of a few, contrasting, matte colors, including black daringly used as the dominant tone in one of the ballet numbers. The other kind of color scheme was finer, more diversely shaded, shiny. The total stage cast called for a few less than 40 performers, but there are additional swing dancers plus a large group of understudies. Two orchestras played, that of the Kennedy Center's Opera House and that of the production's own group. The musical score, from George Gershwin's compositions and from songs he wrote with his brother Ira, has been assembled by Rob Fisher. It is long winded and could use more cumulative drive.
copyright © 2017 by George Jackson
