New book by Larry Connors Click here Improve your trading - See how
Think "Middle School Musical" for the window of demographic opportunity between Disney and "Spring Awakening." Raunchier than "Bye Bye Birdie," more sanitized than Buffy, this 90-minute moptop package explores two familiar agonies -- pre-pubescence and kid-in-a-new school -- with smart-enough lyrics and canny-enough pop-rock pastiche and, despite a general lack of meanness, a bizarre glee in making fun of the dying crippled kid.
That the most original character is a saving grace for the show, which has been skillfully assembled -- yes, I'm afraid that's the verb -- by Tony-Award winning composer Jason Robert Brown and authors Dan Elish and Robert Horn. Played with sardonic adorableness by Aaron Simon Gross, the supporting character gets a bunch of the best lines and a jolly tin-pan-alley showstopper, "Terminal Illness," in which he gets to rhyme "unendurable" with "completely incurable."
If this raises your eyebrows, clearly, that's the intention -- a stab at adult-audience edginess amid the cute-kid irreverent inspiration. Except for some icky-erotic coarseness for hungry young tongues, Jeremy Sams' direction and Christopher Gattelli's streetwise choreography keep the show close enough to the nice side of the street-pee jokes, "Shrek" quips and Jonas Brothers posters -- to live a long and lucrative life on Broadway and in school auditoriums.
Did we mention that the 13 kid-performers and five-piece kid band are terrific? They are, including Graham Phillips as Evan, wrenched from happy New York sophistication by divorcing parents and sentenced to have his bar mitzvah in alien Indiana with mom. Allie Trimm is forthright and heart-tugging as the outcast, though we never know why everyone hates her.
Al Calderon is a standout as a pintsized contender for the future "Jersey Boys" of America. Delaney Moro has the willowy innocence of a nascent beauty queen. Elizabeth Egan Gillies is aptly old before her time as the hard-belting fast girl and Eric M. Nelsen deftly juggles the demands of being both greaser and jock.
There are no guns at this school, no depressed kids, no drugs, no racism, no serious anti-Semitism. There aren't any gays, though there is a shadow of homophobia. Sets by David Farley contrast a glistening New York with the dispiriting small-town vistas. His costumes have the impeccably observed childlike maturity. The authentic young performers will have to be constantly recast. A few even appear to age through the show.
WHERE Jacobs Theatre, 242 W. 45th St.
TICKETS $76.50-$111.50. 212-239-6200.
BOTTOM LINE The kids are all right
To see more of Newsday, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.newsday.com Copyright (c) 2008, Newsday, Melville, N.Y. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
More News:
Market Updates |
Stock Alerts |
All Trading News |
Stock Index
About TradingMarkets | Contact | Advertise | Careers | Link to Us | Site Map | Help | Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy | Return Policy | Testimonials | Feedback
The Connors Group, Inc. ("Company") is not an investment advisory service, nor a registered investment advisor or broker-dealer and does not purport to tell or suggest which securities or currencies customers should buy or sell for themselves. The analysts and employees or affiliates of Company may hold positions in the stocks, currencies or industries discussed here. You understand and acknowledge that there is a very high degree of risk involved in trading securities and/or currencies. The Company, the authors, the publisher, and all affiliates of Company assume no responsibility or liability for your trading and investment results. Factual statements on the Company's website, or in its publications, are made as of the date stated and are subject to change without notice.
It should not be assumed that the methods, techniques, or indicators presented in these products will be profitable or that they will not result in losses. Past results of any individual trader or trading system published by Company are not indicative of future returns by that trader or system, and are not indicative of future returns which be realized by you. In addition, the indicators, strategies, columns, articles and all other features of Company's products (collectively, the "Information") are provided for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice. Examples presented on Company's website are for educational purposes only. Such set-ups are not solicitations of any order to buy or sell. Accordingly, you should not rely solely on the Information in making any investment. Rather, you should use the Information only as a starting point for doing additional independent research in order to allow you to form your own opinion regarding investments. You should always check with your licensed financial advisor and tax advisor to determine the suitability of any investment.
HYPOTHETICAL OR SIMULATED PERFORMANCE RESULTS HAVE CERTAIN INHERENT LIMITATIONS. UNLIKE AN ACTUAL PERFORMANCE RECORD, SIMULATED RESULTS DO NOT REPRESENT ACTUAL TRADING AND MAY NOT BE IMPACTED BY BROKERAGE AND OTHER SLIPPAGE FEES. ALSO, SINCE THE TRADES HAVE NOT ACTUALLY BEEN EXECUTED, THE RESULTS MAY HAVE UNDER- OR OVER-COMPENSATED FOR THE IMPACT, IF ANY, OF CERTAIN MARKET FACTORS, SUCH AS LACK OF LIQUIDITY. SIMULATED TRADING PROGRAMS IN GENERAL ARE ALSO SUBJECT TO THE FACT THAT THEY ARE DESIGNED WITH THE BENEFIT OF HINDSIGHT. NO REPRESENTATION IS BEING MADE THAT ANY ACCOUNT WILL OR IS LIKELY TO ACHIEVE PROFITS OR LOSSES SIMILAR TO THOSE SHOWN.
The Connors Group, Inc.
15260 Ventura Blvd., Ste. 2200
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
© Copyright 2009 The Connors Group, Inc.
