Gary Waldman & Jamison Troutman presented THE LIFE, a musical by Cy Coleman, Ira Gasman & David Newman at the Atlantis Playhouse, W. Palm Beach, FL (2004-2005) ... the following is a review published in the Sun-Sentinel on June 14, 2004 ...
LIVIN' LARGEBROADWAY'S THE LIFE BRINGS HOT STUFF
TO ATLANTIS PLAYHOUSE
Jun 14, 2004
There are more hot days predicted just ahead on the summer entertainment forecast, but the first real sizzler
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THE LIFE at the Atlantis Playhouse (2004-2005) Click image for video |
Reshaped into a pocket-size production, the 1997 Broadway musical by Cy Coleman, Ira Gasman and David Newman nevertheless explodes in the tiny Boynton Beach storefront theater. Director Gary Waldman, choreographer Kevin Black and a surprisingly versatile ensemble tackle a complex tragedy and successfully re-create its verve and panache.
The life in The Life is prostitution. Gasman's concept looks back on the 42nd Street/Times Square area in the 1980s, just as the cleanup was about to begin. Now that the transformation is complete, the contrasts described in the show's opening and closing scenes deliver even more punch.
In between, The Life follows the harrowing experiences of a good- hearted hooker named Queen
(Jeanne Lynn Gray). Her dream of saving enough to get out is dashed by her cocaine-addicted beau Fleetwood (Ben Bagby), making her a target for street hustler JoJo (Dean Swann), and ultimately sending her into the clutches of the local drug and prostitution crime boss Memphis (Carl Barber-Steele). Queen is helped at critical moments by colleague Sonja (Nadeen Holloway), the den mother of a small group of streetwalk ers.
There's no nudity, but the sexual inferences are unmistakable, and the language is coarse. The story is as taut as a piano wire, and Waldman's lead actors pluck it well. The rougher edges in this rare staging mostly play into the show's essential grittiness.
Waldman has truly lucked out with his cast, particularly four leads who plumb the music's depths for its soul. Gray's Queen elicits consistent sympathy, and the young actress displays a voice full of character and promise. Despite some vocal tension on opening night, her accounts of the ballads He's No Good
and We Had a Dream were emotionally supple and evocative.
Holloway is both comical and poignant in the Tony Award-winning role of Sonja. Her early solo The Oldest
Profession is the first of several numbers (by several performers) that stopped the show for applause. Although the role slips into the background after that, Holloway is indispensable for musical and dramatic flourishes throughout.
Swann, last seen in chameleon mode in the title role of Hedwig and the Angry Inch on South Beach, is unnervingly slick and oily as the hustler JoJo, delivering the anthem Use What You Got, plus Mister Greed and Easy Money, in spades.
With his hard, beefy physique and edgy baritone, Steele imbues his evil boss man and literal lady-killer
with chilling vibes, which resonate in the lyrics to Don't Take Much and My Way, or the Highway. Elizabeth King is effective as the girl from the sticks who knows more than she shows, and Jonathan Horvath is the porn movie producer who takes her out of 42nd Street's gutter to make her a star.
Choreographer Black moves the chorus (mostly recent B.F.A. grads) and principals with panache on the
Atlantis' small stage, making the audience's eyes pop with vibrant production numbers like My Body and the terrific group soliloquy Why Don't You Leave Us Alone.
Joanne Garner's costumes are garishly over the top, Matthew Decker's sets evoke much with clever suggestion and painted brush strokes. Jamie Cooper and Matthew Decker's lighting is the production's
technical star.
Coleman's other, better known hits include Sweet Charity, On the Twentieth Century, City of Angels and
The Will Rogers Follies. With all due respect to those accomplishments, the Atlantis Playhouse deserves thanks for getting some of the composer's best music back in circulation.
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