BWW Reviews: The World Premiere of FOR THE BOYS Is Good. Could It Be Better?

The Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, Illinois, north of Chicago, has an enormous subscription base, deep pockets, a talented and experienced in-house design team and a film property to adapt that touches on a number of important, stage-worthy themes (military patriotism, family, nostalgia, a timely re-visit to accusations of communism in America, parenthood, mid-century entertainment history and censorship, both military and network). And the show's lawyers have acquired the rights to a Hit Parade of jukebox-musical-worthy tunes. But is that enough to make a new stage musical out of the 1991 film "For The Boys"? That's the Bette Midler musical vehicle (also starring James Caan, and co-written by Marshall Brickman, of "Jersey Boys") that is chiefly remembered today for some interesting makeup choices and for Midler's rendition of Betty Hutton's hot-hot-hot "Stuff Like That There." Answer--it might be enough. The show is good, but I think it could be even better. I hope that it continues to develop.

Lead Artistic Director at the Marriott, and now the author of the book of this world premiere adaptation, is Aaron Thielen. He heads the artistic team of "For The Boys," with direction and choreography by the extremely capable Marc Robin, music direction by Dr. Ryan Nelson, and orchestrations by David Siegel (also responsible for those at this summer's production of "Aladdin" at the 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle and for three previous original musicals at the Marriott, "Windy City," "The All Night Strut" and "Bowery Boys"). Solid but unremarkable set designs by Thomas M. Ryan, costume designs by Nancy Missimi, lighting designs by Diane Ferry Williams and sound design by Robert E. Gilmartin all take second place here to some really top-notch (I mean Broadway quality) projections designed by Sage Marie Carter. Sally Weiss supplied the properties design, and, as always, Patti Garwood conducts the Marriott Theatre Orchestra. 

So, going in to the evening, the theatergoer knows that everything's going to be professional. I should say at this point that I have never seen the movie, and chose to not seek it out prior to seeing the stage show, as I wanted to view it "pure," as it were, evaluating it as much as possible on what I saw and heard and felt while in the magical square of the Marriott's "in-the-round" space. What did I experience? 

It's definitely worth doing, worth adapting and worth attending. The story of big band and club singer Mrs. Dixie Leonard and her USO shows during World War II, Korea and Vietman with headliner and comedian Eddie Sparks revisits a golden and yet troubled time for America, with wars to fight, songs to sing, boys to lose to complex overseas conflicts, and interpersonal relationships in the workplace growing ever complicated. Thielen and company decided to use only real period songs, with only one exception, I think (Marc Shaiman's instrumental "Dixie's Dream," written for the film). Further, all the songs are "real" songs, that is, the characters know they are singing at all times, and never use songs to replace dialogue in the Rodgers and Hammerstein sense of what that means to an American stage musical. 

This is a defendable artistic choice, but the songs are lopsided, with most of them in the first act and long stretches in the second act with no singing at all. Also, for whatever reason, we don't really see many soldiers in the first act, and no wartime civilians, but see quite a lot of both in the second act. The first act plays like an underpopulated intimate backstage musical (albeit with very loud recordings of military audiences, with a somewhat distancing effect for the Lincolnshire audience) and the second act plays like, well, a play, with video montages, some musical interludes and a few well-chosen songs at times. (I'm including a song list at the end of this review, noting that five are by Johnny Mercer and three are by Frank Loesser.) 

As Dixie, Broadway's Michele Ragusa is certainly a star playing a star, with a great voice and a sympathetic, multi-layered story arc. The only problem I had with her performance was that I didn't quite believe that the bawdy jokes she tells (a natural for Bette Midler's persona, but a little forced from Ragusa). But as an amalgam of Betty Hutton, Betty Grable and Gracie Allen, she's great. As Eddie, sort of a meaner Bob Hope with a little George Burns thrown in, Broadway's Timothy Gulan started slow for me, playing to the floor and letting Ragusa shine, to his detriment. He grew on me, and I bought them as show business equals and romantic maybes by the end.