Doctor Zhivago
Doctor Zhivago
Broadway Theatre, NYC, April 24, 2015
Reviewed by Elizabeth Ahlfors for Cabaret Scenes
Kelli Barrett and Tam Mutu
Photo: Matthew Murphy
So, you want a super-successful theatrical experience, something like Les Misérables and The Phantom of the Opera. First step, find a prize-winning saga of historic scope, add a stirring love story and, for a final fillip, put in a big musical score. Voila! You have Doctor Zhivago.
The novel won the 1957 Pulitzer Prize for literature and, in 1965, David Lean produced and directed the film version starring an indelible pair of star-crossed lovers, Julie Christie and Omar Sharif, oozing passion. The film has a lovely leitmotif written by Maurice Jarré, still identified as “Lara’s Theme,” that drives the story throughout the film. It even has a Russian focal point, the balalaika.
Doctor Zhivago was probably not the best historical saga to choose for a musical stage blockbuster, now at the Broadway Theatre. Written by Michael Weller and directed by Des McAnuff, this complicated mass of characters and events feels like a speeding train through a historic half-century, making pit stops at the 1905 Russian revolution, WWI, and the civil war between the Communists and Czarists. Politics mixes with romance between poet/doctor Yurii Zhivago (Tam Mutu), and Lara Guishar (Kelli Barrett). Lucy Simon’s music, with lyrics by Michael Korie and Amy Powers, add up to a largely forgettable score of soapy ballads and fierce war anthems (“End the war and feed the people!”).
While there are snippets of the famous “Lara’s Theme” here and there, “Lara’s Theme” is only sung once by a group of nurses in the war zone. Not a balalaika is to be seen nor is the melancholy sound of this classically Russian instrument heard.
The extent of the weighty and complex book is demanding and the vital chemistry that should drive the burning passion between Yurii and Lara through the traumatic war and revolution lacks enough electricity to spark attention. Yurii is married to Tonia Gromeko (Lora Lee Gayer) and being high-minded and sensitive, he feels a deep responsibility to their vows. However, there was something about Lara—he first spotted her at his wedding party as she tries to shoot her long-time abuser Viktor Komarovsky (Tom Hewitt). She has insinuated herself in his head and inspires him to write poetry. “Day after day, year after year/Can I resist when she is near?”
Lara is also married to a fierce young revolutionary, Pasha Antipov (Paul Alexander Nolan), who morphs into Strelnikov after WWI. During the war, Yurii and Lara meet again on the war front and as they fire up their romance, destiny steps in. They are separated and later find each other and that’s how it goes, responsibilities and revolutions, always in the way. The story concentrates more on events than characters’ subtext.
The vocals are fine. Mutu defines his noble nature and sings with strong authority, Barrett’s vocals are full-throated, but her portrayal of Lara is weak. Hewitt’s Viktor is a compelling singer but the crowd-pleaser is Pasha/Strelnikov, the revolutionary, played to the hilt by Nolan.
Director McAnuff keeps a dark aura on the stage, designed by Michael Scott-Mitchell with proscenium arches and a wide sky, a lot of chairs and Soviet posters, with loud bursts of gunshots and explosions blasting before, during and after the play. Yet, even during the cruel winter on the war front, Russia never looks all that cold or snowy and when Yurii and Lara flee at the end to the ice palace, evidence of icicles is weakly represented by stringy white fringes.
Costuming by Paul Tazewell is questionable. During the war, there is talk of rags and suffering, but everyone’s clothes are intact. Only Yurii, when he escapes the Red brigade and makes an arduous journey to find Lara, finally reflects the horror he witnessed. Tonia, even working hard on the farm, is always chic, and Lara is identified by blue. (In the movie, blue was used to match Julie Christie’s eyes, so I guess it became a signature color here as well.)
All these years and all this oversimplified action in fast motion and still Doctor Zhivago adds up to tiresome.
Category: Broadway Reviews, Musical Theatre Reviews, New York City Musical Theatre Features
