Theater Cloudy Skies for Harry Connick Jr and On A Clear Day

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Entertainment Featuring fresh takes and real-time analysis from HuffPost's signature lineup of contributors Michael Giltz Freelance writerGET UPDATES FROM MICHAEL GILTZ Follow Theater , Video , Harry Connick Jr , Broadway , Musicals , Entertainment News 2 27 3 4React Inspiring Funny Hot Scary Outrageous Amazing Weird CrazyTheater: Cloudy Skies for Harry Connick Jr. and On A Clear Day ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER * 1/2 out of **** ST. JAMES THEATRE I've never seen any earlier incarnation of On A Clear Day You Can See Forever , the Lerner & Lane musical. By reputation I know it had a troubled book but somegood songs; the clips of the film version were so leadenand awful I always avoided seeing that version as well.The original show must have been awfully confusedbecause even with an entirely new book and completere-imagination of the central story, On A Clear Dayremains a muddied, unsatisfying work that -- except forone promising Broadway debut -- has little to offer. Harry Connick Jr. stars as Dr. Mark Bruckner, a psychologist who is still mourning the death of his wife three years earlier, even as his career soars. It's 1974 in New York City and he stumbles across a newpatient: a "homosexual"(It's 1974 after all) who works as a florist, can't commit to his lawyer boyfriendand wants to quit smoking. David (played by David Turner) is also remarkably susceptible to hypnosis. Inthe very first session, Dr. Bruckner stumbles across memories that make no sense, memories of a womannamed Melinda (Jessie Mueller) who performed during the Big Band era leading up to World War II.Does David have an elaborate fantasy life? Or is he the reincarnation of Melinda? And does Melindaseem so beguiling because Dr. Bruckner is finally ready to fall in love again or is he just fixating on thisimaginary person to fill the void in his life? You won't care about the answers to any of these questions. The show is framed as a lecture Dr. Bruckner is giving at a convention (not a terribly exciting idea) and though Connick is somewhat charming in those moments, he spends most of the show looking very glumand standing on the side of the stage observing others. On A Clear Day never shakes that depressive atmosphere. When a show is unfocused and lost, it's not surprising when all the individual elements failto coalesce either. It was re-conceived and directed by Michael Mayer (with a new book by Peter Parnell),MOST POPULAR ON HUFFPOST 1 of 2 Isaac Balloons Into A Hurricane, New Orleans Threatened GOP Candidate Compares Pregnancy From Rape To What? Limbaugh's Wild Isaac Conspiracy MAP: Hurricane Isaac's Path Aims For Gulf Coast PHOTO: Christina Aguilera's 'Your Body' Dress Doesn't Leave Much To The Imagination FOLLOW US Celebrity TV Political Hollywood Features Hollywood Buzz Videos August 28, 2012 Edition: U.S. John Hillcoat Sen. Ben Cardin Harry Shearer Jeffrey SachsHOT ON THE BLOG Like 102 Posted: 12/15/11 03:37 PM ET SHARE THIS STORY Submit this storyGet Entertainment Alerts Sign UpRecommend 575 Recommend 18k Like 6k Recommend 163 Like 175Electronic Dance Music Political Hollywood The Avengers One Direction Live Better America More Log in Create Accountbut it wasn't re-conceived nearly enough. The biggest decision was to change the patient from a woman to a man and to have the past life character played by a separate actress. That proves a fatal error. Reportedly the main appeal of the original show was the Venus In Fur -style attraction of watching a talented actress play a contemporary character and then slip right into an entirely different personality. This Clear Day ups the doctor-patient relationship by having the patient be a gay man. The repercussions are many. One, we don't get the central pleasure ofseeing one actor play two different characters. Two, there's no tension between the doctor and the patient of today because even though Dr. Bruckner has fallen hard for Melinda, this show makes every effort to disabuse us of the idea that Bruckner could actually be harboring gay tendencies himself. So not much is at stake since Bruckner can never have Melinda and clearly doesn't want David. Third, it means little chance for chemistry -- the show tries one awkward scene where Dr. Bruckner and David and Melinda all dance together, but it's not sexy or suggestive, just clumsy. Mostly, the sex quotient is tamped down on every level. Dr. Bruckner mopes around, ignoring the women who throw themselves at him; his relationship with Melinda feels mostly like a devoted fan, not a would-be lover. Dr. Bruckner's one female friend (Kerry O'Malley in the thankless role of a frustrated love interest) is dressed in the most unattractive outfits possible; she looks like a frumpy schoolteacher. David Turner may be a marvelous actor but here his character is written and dressed and directed to be a sexless gay man of 1974 who mostly just pecks his boyfriend on the cheek. When he's described asuninteresting, we have to agree. David's relationship with his beau Warren (handsome, strong-voicedDrew Gehling unable to bring a non-role to life) feels positively platonic. Indeed, the one believable detail we learn about David early on is that he does not want to move in with Warren and can't bring himself to say "I love you" or commit seriously in any way. At the first sign of a romantic possibility with someone else, David jumps. This doesn't feel as if David is fated to be with Warren but is scared of commitment; everything we're shown indicates David is settling for easy familiarity when he should be bolder and want something moreboth at work and in his love life. Yet, the entire show climaxes with having David (still afraid to say "Ilove you") doing the opposite of what we expect. And his big defining number does not indicate somenewfound spirit of self-confidence. It asks "What Did I Have That I Don't Have?" where he wonders whyhis past life as Melinda was bolder and more fun. Playing it as a big triumphant moment the way thisshow does just doesn't make any sense. The confusion goes even deeper. The setting of 1974 feels completely random and doesn't inform the story very much except for the somewhat jokey costumes of the students in Dr. Bruckner's class bycostume designer Catherine Zuber. The set by Christine Jones is efficient in changing scenes but the dominant look is a dizzying mural to create an air of hypnosis that involves trippy repetitions of squares and rectangles and the like. It lookssmart as a curtain before the show begins (with Connick walking out through a giant keyhole so he canpresumably unlock the unconscious) but ultimately it unmoors the show. The 1974 setting never gels andthe flashbacks to 1943 and 1944 don't convince either because the dominant visuals pull us out of thoseperiods every time. The routine, often clunky choreography by Joann M. Hunter fares no better. Lawrence Yurman also unfortunately must be singled out for his work as musical director and on the vocal and instrumental music arrangements. Repeatedly on the big musical numbers, the vocals of themain characters clash with each other and the background singers. Whether it's "Wait Till We're Sixty-Five," "Open Your Eyes," "Melinda," "When I"m Being Born Again" or numerous other spots, what shouldbe a joyous surge of voices joined in song instead sounds discordant or thin. The show does have one redeeming feature: Jessie Mueller as the songbird Melinda Wells. Her scenes with the doctor are rather tame, consisting mostly of "hey, how are you?" type chatter while we watchher struggle and then succeed in her career. (The past life stuff makes absolutely no sense even on itsown terms, not that it matters.) And her songs don't move the action forward and reveal character -they're essentially just stand-alone tunes. But Mueller delivers them beautifully, from her solo pianorendition of "Open Your Eyes" to her audition song "You're All The World To Me" to her bigbreakthrough with "Ev'ry Night At Seven," by far the night's most entertaining number complete withsome convincing scatting at the finale. It's easy to believe that in a past life Mueller really was a big bandsinger. Her future seems clear as well: more work on Broadway. Here's Harry Connick Jr. swinging the title song on Dancing With The Stars. He'll be back on Broadway soon, hopefully in something more exuberant and suited to him. (Meanwhile, doesn't he owe us the albums 35 and 40 ? 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Michael Giltz is the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox, a weekly pop culture podcast that reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion makers as guests. It's available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog. Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and alsoavailable for free on iTunes. Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews. Note : Michael Giltz was provided with free tickets to these shows with the understanding that he would be writing a review. Follow Michael Giltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz Sponsored Links What is Scientology? Think For Yourself and Find Out For Yourself. Scientology.org/What_Is_Scientology Woman is 53 But Looks 27 53/YO Mom reveals a simple wrinkle trick that has angered doctors... www.ConsumerLifestyleMag.com New Policy in New York June 2012: Drivers w/ no DUIs eligible for up to 50% off car insurance TheFinanceAuthority.comRobin Williams As Dwight D. Eisenhower In... Fall Movie Preview 2012: 'The Hobbit,' 'Django... Lynyrd Skynyrd's RNC Gig Canceled Amid Hurricane... '2016: Obama's America' Fact- Check Buy a link here Look Young in 17 Seconds Long Island City Doctor Has Lazy Way To Look Years Younger in 17 Seconds DoctorSkincareSecretRevealed.com More in Entertainment... 05:00 PM on 12/20/2011 Curious why Book of Mormon is not on this list. 03:00 AM on 12/19/2011 Barbra Streisand's portrayal of Daisy Gamble in the film--was incomparable! She even had two new songs written especially for her. The endless trashing of Ms. Streisand's filmwork grows ever sotiresome. 06:09 PM on 12/15/2011 OK, I'll bite. Mr. Giltz, your comments regarding the Broadway version "On A Clear Day" certainlymake it sound like a production I would not want to see. You say that you saw "scenes" of themovie that were extremely leaden - that's too bad because Yves Montand and Barbra Streisand (even the young Jack Nicholson) were great to watch. It was certainly more romantic than this mixed-up concoction. Changing the flash-back to WWII, to my mind, doesn't place the earlier life ofMelinda far enough in the past which the movie version did, and, made far more interesting. I sawthe film in 1974 and was always struck by the then current issues of conformity vs non-conformitythat Streisand was so perfect at. I had no issue with the accents of the French/Italian Montand andthe extreme nasal Brooklyn of Streisand - they were perfect to highlight the utter "banalness" ofDaisy Gamble vs her past life Melinda. It's a great romantic fantasy. 03:02 PM on 12/16/2011Recency | Popularity HUFFPOST SUPER USER Charles Milburn You can't fix stupid...but you can elect it. Permalink | Share it reikomax Permalink | Share it ehorth Permalink | Share it HUFFPOST BLOGGER Michael Giltz freelance writerComments 4 Pending Comments 0 View FAQ Comments are closed for this entry View All 69 Fans 9 Fans 967 Fans 127 Fansehorth, thanks for the comment. I see a LOT of movies but somehow not that one. Now having seen the show, I'll admit I'm interested in exactly what the original story was. I imagine the movie changed it a bit but I'll probably check it out soon. At least we get to hear Streisand sing. Advertise | Log In | Make HuffPost your Home Page | RSS | Careers | FAQ User Agreement | Privacy | Comment Policy | About Us | About Our Ads | Contact Us Copyright © 2012 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. | "The Huffington Post" is a registered trademark of TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. All rights reserved. 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Theater Cloudy Skies for Harry Connick Jr and On A Clear Day

📄 Theater Cloudy Skies for Harry Connick Jr and On A Clear Day

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