Gigi
Gigi
Neil Simon Theatre, NYC, March 14, 2015
Reviewed by Elizabeth Ahlfors for Cabaret Scenes
Dee Hoty (L) and Victoria Clark
Photo: Joan Marcus
With outstanding classic musical productions like On the Town, The King and I and An American in Paris to choose from, Gigi, is a No-No.
There are, admittedly, some pluses, like the belle époque charm of Paris with lush pastel costumes by Catherine Zuber, enduring songs like “The Night They Invented Champagne” and “I Remember It Well.”
Also to remember, “Thank Heaven for Little Girls,” made famous in the film by the Maurice Chevalier playing an aging libertine strolling in a park. Sort of creepy and therefore under Eric Schaeffer’s direction, the song is performed here as a duet by Gigi’s grandmother, Mamita, and cosmopolitan great-aunt Alicia. Based on Colette’s novel, Gigi was originally a 15-year-old girl in training to find a rich lover and become a courtesan and now, to avoid political incorrectness, Heidi Thomas’ (Call the Midwife) current adaption, Gigi is upgraded to age 18.
In her Broadway debut, Gigi is portrayed by a super-gamine Vanessa Hudgens (High School Musical), whose childish playfulness and animated twirling makes her more like a hyperactive ‘tween than a bewitching pixie. She lives with her grandmother, Mamita, played with engaging warmth by Victoria Clark. For final touches of sophistication, Mamita relies on her sister, Alicia (Dee Hoty). Hoty is convincing as a haughty former courtesan and knows the techniques of luring wealthy men, acquiring the finest jewels, and living the high life.
Gigi’s love interest, the blasé “sugar prince” and man-about-town, Gaston Lacgaille, is now younger and played by Corey Cott (Newsies)who looks barely out of college. Even after they fall in love, there is little charisma to speak of between the two.
While Hudgens has a strong voice, it is unsure and uninteresting in renditions like “The Parisians.” Cott delivers a lush version of the title song. Howard McGillin is likeable as Honoré Lachaille, a boulevardier and once Mamita’s suitor. They recall the good old days in a duet of “I Remember It Well” and, later, agree “I’m Glad I’m Not Young Anymore.” Always ebullient is the jaunty “The Night They Invented Champagne,” inspiring Mamita, Gigi and Gaston to dance around the apartment when Gaston offers to take them to the beach at Trouville.
While the score itself does not compare with Camelot or My Fair Lady, four additional songs by Alan Jay Lerner (books and lyrics) and composer Frederick Loewe were added to the stage production, including, “In This Wide, Wide World,” which ends the show. Nevertheless, it is not a show-stopper and the book and score of Gigi lack the joy and spark of other Lerner and Loewe shows, even with the soap bubble shower at the end.
Derek McLane’s set is a cast-iron structure resembling the foundation of the Eiffel Tower with cast-iron stairs. Strangely, we still see the Eiffel Tower in the background. Natasha Katz’s lighting efficiently shifts to the beach sequences and brings some of the old-time glamour of Maxim’s, with a ubiquitous Can-Can. Choreography by Joshua Bergasse (outstanding in On the Town), has moments of imagination, though plenty of animation.
The previous 1973 Broadway revival sagged with 103 performances and the current production at the Neil Simon Theatre has more debits than assets. All things considered, Gigi, a captivating film musical, does not dazzle on stage.
Category: Broadway Reviews, Musical Theatre Reviews, New York City, New York City Musical Theatre Reviews
