SEDUCTION

A few weeks ago (as I blogged earlier) I finally got to see  (and enjoyed) Leap of Faith. What I loved most though  (and what really made the show magnificent) was Raúl Esparza's electric performance.  He was amazing...no, really, AMAZING (in an I-can't-get-it-out-of-my-head-amazing way).  Sure, I have had my musicals-du-jour throughout the years, but I can't remember the last time I saw one performer make a show work.  There's nothing terribly wrong with Leap of Faith as a whole (I like it), but its because of one performer (Esparza) that the show really worked as well as it did.  During intermission and post-show, I heard audience members everywhere around me excitedly buzzing about the strength of his performance.  The positive buzz about Leap of Faith was due in large part to Esparza.

The energy he brought to the stage almost became seductive because the way Esparza (as Jonas Nightingale) lured the audience into the story as much as he did the townspeople of Sweetwater made you really want to follow, trust and believe in his character - and when it was over, he left you wanting more .   When Esparza was on that stage, his presence was strong, but when he opened up his mouth to sing?  Forget about it, he owned it.  Esparza has an effortless vocal quality that is so clear, so strong and diverse - total rocker and yet 100% legit all within seconds of each other (while acting) - which is astounding!  And even now...after two weeks have come and gone since I saw Leap of Faith I am still thinking about the way he sounded.   He is phenomenal.

Lets be honest, since I left the theatre, I have been on a Raúl Esparza music kick - I am totally obsessed with the way he sings (lets just say that right now, my neighbors probably don't appreciate Being Alive, Petrified and select songs from tick, tick...BOOM! on continuous loop).  I am in complete awe over the way he uses his voice (the effect it has on phrasing and hitting some crazy notes) and how committed he is to his performance in whatever role he's in.  The man's voice was pretty fantastic when he first burst onto the scene in tick, tick...BOOM! (off-Broadway) in 2001 and his performance as Bobby in Company changed my perspective on a show that I thought I knew well.  

Cut to the 2007 Tony Awards:

Me:  Wait, that's Raúl Esparza...as Bobby...?  He's fantastic.  When did this happen?

How could I have missed  Raúl Esparza in Company prior to the Tony Awards?  When I saw the above clip during the awards telecast, I quickly got my musical theatre priorities straightened and then had to see more of the revival of this show.

In 2008, the Broadway Revival of Company on PBS Great Performances aired and though I was expecting him (after seeing the Tony Awards)  I was almost caught off guard by the brilliance of Esparza's portrayal of Bobby.  This was the first time I had seen the show in its entirety which also explains the added perspective to Company that I gained.  Over the years,  Company has easily become one of my favorite Stephen Sondheim shows.  When I saw it on PBS Great Performances though, everything changed - I gained a new perspective on the character of Bobby (post is forthcoming) and most importantly, I was reintroduced to Raúl Esparza.

It was 2001 when I was first introduced to Esparza when I  purchased tick, tick...BOOM! - the semi-autobiographical musical about the struggle the late Jonathan Larson endured to create and make an impression on the musical theatre landscape.  Esparza played Jon in tick, tick...BOOM! and I remember wondering what it was like to play someone who had only recently (and unexpectedly) passed away and to be the first person to bring this real person (not a character) to life...in which Larson's parents, family and friends would be present.  I remember thinking that only an exceptional actor could pull that off and I admired Raúl Esparza for being able to do so.

Clearly, Esparza's voice is extraordinary and it makes you stop and listen and really believe in what he is singing about.  I think this is the case with every song I've heard him sing.  I am just so grateful to have had the opportunity to see/hear him live - what he did with every song he sang in  Leap of Faith just blew my mind.

Clearly, I'm not the only one who sees the brilliance in Raúl Esparza.  He is not only an amazing singer (as I've been rambling on about) but actor - look at the number of Tony Award nominations he's received since he made his Broadway debut in 2001 (thanks for the info, IBDb!):

1.  Broadway Debut in The Rocky Horror Show - 2001
2.  Tony Award nomination #1: Taboo (best featured actor in a musical) - 2004
3.  Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - 2005
4.  Tony Award nomination #2: Company (best actor in a musical)  - 2007
5.  Tony Award nomination #3: The Homecoming (best featured actor in a play) - 2008
   
6.  Tony Award nomination #4: Speed-the-Plow (best actor in a play) - (how did I not remember he was in THAT media debacle?). - 2009

This means that in a 5-year period (between 2004-2009), Esparza was nominated for a Tony Award in every possible category for which he was eligible.   Only Boyd Gaines (who was coincidentally the first Bobby in Company that I ever heard)  is the other actor to also have this same distinction .  If you haven't been fortunate to have seen Esparza perform, watch these and you'll see/hear what a phenomenal talent he is:

Raúl Esparza singing Lonely House at Seth's Broadway Chatterbox, 2004

Listen to the the way he sustains those notes!  Seriously?  And.  He can do Defying Gravity...and its no surprise he kills this too.



Raúl Esparza singing Defying Gravity at Seth's Broadway Chatterbox, 2004

In May 2005, Esparza appeared in the American Theatre Wing's Working in the Theatre seminar in which he said (in reference to what makes a good actor), "I don't want to put Raúl Esparza onstage, I want to put whoever that person [character] on stage is and somehow disappear..."  Sounds like a pretty obvious statement but I've been to enough shows (plays and musicals), seen plenty of TV shows or films in which that was not the case.  I have to say that when I saw Leap of Faith, I didn't necessarily feel that every actor onstage was their character, but I certainly felt so about Esparza - I feel confident in stating that I think is brilliant in pretty much anything he does.  I'm not sure where Leap of Faith will go (rumor has it Broadway-bound in Fall 2011).  If it does indeed go to Broadway, I hope that -Tony voters will see and hear just how magnificent he is as a performer and will reward him accordingly.   NY has a ton of fantastic singers/actors, I have not heard anyone who can sing a range of styles the way he can all the while being a remarkable actor to boot.   It is about time Tony voters.  All I can say is, get ready!

To Raúl Esparza, I have two words for you:  SOLO ALBUM.  Oh wait, actually there are three more words too:  CONCERT IN LA!  Ok, thanks...oh and, BRAVO!!!

Am I the only one utterly obsessed and amazed (other than Seth Rudetsky) with  Raúl Esparza's voice?  Tell me what you think: [theaterfan (at) aol (dot) com]!

STEP INTO THE LIGHT

After I waxed poetic about The Music Center/Center Theatre Group's productions, I figured a real review of Leap of Faith should follow.

Since I saw the show last week, I have been thinking about the music, plot, dance numbers and overall performances wondering why I am so drawn to the story.  There is so much I love about the show with one overwhelming factor leading the charge (that I finally recognized) - familiarity.  Its amazing that it took this long to figure out.  I realized that maybe the reason I feel this way about Leap of Faith is because it is very similar to one of my other beloved old-school musicals.  Leap of Faith, meet The Music Man.  Consider this:

A con-man comes to a smal town, falls for a local single woman, befriends a child who is has "special needs" and is changed because of this relationship (with the child).  The con-man isn't exactly forthright with the woman or the child about why he is really in the town or who he really is.  Then, someone outs this con-man and said con-man must own up to who he really is.  Somehow the con-man does something to make good with the people of the small town, helps the child he has befriended and eventually gets the girl.  

Not sure which show I'm describing? Of course you're right because it refers to both shows.

Robert Preston as Prof. Harold Hill

Raúl Esparza as Jonas Nightingale

So Leap of Faith (the musical) is based loosely on the film of the same name starring Steve Martin and though it has (almost identical) similarities, it isn't a rip off of The Music Man (film or musical).  Leap of Faith and The Music Man are very similar stories and you might think that the similarity ends there (at the plot) right?  Sort of.  If we take a look at the performances of the lead actors in these two musicals, you will find two, highly dynamic, remarkable actors who really carry the show they are in.  In The Music Man, the incomparable Robert Preston created the role of Harold Hill...he is incredibly charismatic and really, who wouldn't follow and want to believe in him?  Leap of Faith has an equally dynamic and multi-talented actor in Raúl Esparza who plays Jonas Nightingale.  Watching and listening to his character...who wouldn't want to follow and believe in him either?

Have I convinced you that the central storyline in Leap of Faith really is similar to The Music Man and that Harold Hill/Jonas Nightingale are the ones who really carry their respective shows?  When I think about The Music Man, I immediately think Robert Preston and then I think that though sweet and classic, the show really isn't anything without Preston. Actors come and go and while many have played Harold Hill, nobody could nail it like Preston did.  So when I think about the the entire production of Leap of Faith, the show too really succeeded because of Raúl Esparza. 

From the moment he walked onto the stage, dressed completely in black with sunglasses on, Esparza  convincingly carried himself as a smarmy, charismatic con-man.  This attitude mixed with the words he spoke only reinforced this character. When in the "tent" as the evangelist persona,  Esparza's inflections were spot-on.  Esparza's energy was undeniable and it was hard to tell if he put every ounce in his being to become Jonas or if Esparza was Jonas.

I have been aware of Esparza as an actor since I bought the off-Broadway cast recording of tick, tick...BOOM! in 2001 in which he played Jon (the semi-autobiographical show about Jonathan Larson).  Throughout the years, I have seen Esparza perform on TV and the internet from various roles.  Yet, when I saw him as Bobby in the revival of Company in 2006, I knew that I finally saw the quintessential Bobby.  He brought such passion and intensity to the role that I had not seen before or since.  His Bobby was darker and more multi-dimensional than I had seen before.  But I digress.  There are some performances that you know while sitting there in the audience that you are watching an actor playing a role.  There are others that completely transform while onstage into the role...whose performance you know is something special (i.e., Patti LuPone in Gypsy and Alice Ripley in Next to Normal; Raúl Esparza as Jonas Nightingale comes pretty close to making this list too).  Its quite a grand statement, I know, but the night I saw Leap of Faith, I thought he was just that good.  The interesting thing is that while both Gypsy and Next to Normal hold their place in theatre history because of their respective books, Leap of Faith doesn't exactly come close to being a Pulitzer Prize winning show.

There are aspects of Leap of Faith that weren't amazing - some of the characters were not developed enough which (to me) affected the outcome of the storyline.  When looking at the all of the characters in Leap of Faith, none is more developed than that of Jonas (which is good and yet...obviously bad).  Of the more major characters, every other is a distant second to Jonas - Marva, Sam, Boyd.  If it weren't for Ricky Sturdevant, there really wasn't any need to have Ida Mae in the show.  Would there be?  When Leslie Odom, Jr. was onstage, his stage presence was evident which is why the part was memorable.  The character though?  Ricky Sturdevant wasn't a weak character, only he wasn't strong either.  Brooke Shields played Marva McGowan well...as I stated in a previous post, she was a perfect mix of strong and sensitive and could be considered to be a stabilizing force in the show; she played safe well.  I don't think it was Shields who was the problem though; she couldn't have played the role better, it was the character that way dry.  One could say that was purposeful...the dry, somewhat-boring character of Marva was a representation of the drought-ridden town of Sweetwater...yes, I think its stretching things too.

If the story was lacking, the music and lyrics by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater (respectively) and choreography by Rob Ashford were just incredible.  During the Rise Up number, while watching the dancers, I was so taken by the choreography, feeling that it was reminiscent of musicals from days-gone-by; it was gloriously old-school.  The rhythmic gospel music was a high point of the show that I can't get out of my head.  Days after seeing the show, I still find myself going back to CTGLA's YouTube page so I can hear at least some of the music and see bits of the choreography again.

I find great pleasure when musicals make their world premieres in Los Angeles then go on to be successful Broadway shows.  Shows like 13, The Drowsy Chaperone, 9 to 5: The Musical and Curtains made their mark here in Los Angeles, at Center Theatre Group before becoming darlings of Broadway.  With a little bit of revision, I am certain (and hopeful) that Leap of Faith will follow the steps of the Center Theatre Group's shows that came before it. 

DO WHATCHA GOTTA DO

Since the 90s, I have been a very consistent patron at the Center Theatre Group's productions back when I referred to its collective theatres as The Music Center (before the Kirk Douglas Theatre) back when The Phantom of the Opera was in residence at the Ahmanson (and held the record for the longest running musical in Los Angeles' history.)  After Phantom closed and the theatre was refurbished, naturally I returned to see the musicals that had finally made their way to Los Angeles from the Great White Way from Showboat to The Light In the Piazza and Spring Awakening (in which I was lucky enough to get stage seating); I saw groundbreaking productions like Caroline, or Change and joint productions with Deaf West Theatre Company: Big River and Pippin; there have also been Broadway-bound shows like 13, The Drowsy Chaperone and Flower Drum Song as well. Shows like these have been feeding my theatre-hungry soul for years. Of course there are some unmentioned productions that I didn't love, yet I am still grateful that the theatre can be so accessible and that I have had the opportunity to see what I've seen, good, bad and ugly.

Its amazing that the quality shows that have most recently played at  Center Theatre Group's theatres because all have truly been such satisfying productions.  I have had the pleasure of seeing shows like  Parade, (see my gushing blog entry here), Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, The Glass Menagerie and most recently,  Leap of Faith.  I'm typically not as big a play-goer as I am a musical go-er, but the last two plays I have seen have definitely struck a chord with me and made me want to see more plays.

Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo was not the kind of play I typically run out to see for many reasons including that it is somewhat fantasy based and that it is about war...the Iraqi War.  I have never been so impressed and so amazed at a story about the aftermath of war that is as hauntingly beautiful as it is tragic and funny.  Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo opened my eyes and gave me a new perspective that I would have never had if I had missed this show.  Prior to seeing this, I had a hard time believing I would enjoy it, but did I ever!  For days, I was left thinking about the story and wishing I could see it again though not sure if I had the energy knowing I would be emotionally exhausted when it was over.  It kept me thinking about it long after I walked out of the theatre's doors.

I saw The Glass Menagerie next - a play that I had read in high school (I think) and college and though I studied it in depth, I don't know if I was ever that taken by its storyline.   This production  however, was different and I left the theatre practically in tears because I had finally seen a production of this show that I understood emotionally and I was open to and able to really understand its characters and the purpose of the storyline.  Judith Ivey as Amanda Wingfield was superb and when I finally saw who the characters of Laura and Tom were; I understood who they were - that they were bits and pieces of a lot of people I knew (including myself); I saw that some of the people I knew could  (and would) have fates similar to Laura's and it just broke my heart.  Every actor in stage was phenomenal and I left the theatre feeling changed by the production.  Somehow, in those three or so hours, something changed in me and I had a new perspective on my own life and career.

Perhaps it was the idea of hope and faith that drew me to the Ahmanson's most recent production (that I hope goes to Broadway), Leap of Faith; maybe it was the beautiful score by Alan Menken, but either way, I really, really enjoyed it.  I loved the energy of the cast when they sang gospel-y numbers like Step into the Light and Rise Up:







I thought the dancing evoked dance numbers from the Golden Age of Broadway and I found myself bopping to the beat of the music in my seat with a silly grin plastered on my face throughout most of the show.  Typically, I am not the biggest fan of movie turned musicals (however I did enjoy Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) but Leap of Faith really delivered.  At one point as I was discussing the show, I even forgot that this was a movie to musical adaptation.  Since I was trying to be open-minded and keep a positive attitude, I walked into the show not really having any expectations.  Prior to seeing it, I didn't read any reviews, I didn't listen to or watch any clips online because I knew if I did see it, I wanted to go in with a completely unbiased attitude.  Even though I wasn't 100% sure I really wanted to see the show, there were finally two factors that finally made me purchase tickets:

1. I figured it was likely going to Broadway sometime soon and I didn't want to miss it.
2. The recent revival of Company with Raúl Esparza as Bobby gave me a new perspective on him as an actor (ok, I thought he was one of the best Bobby's I've seen/heard) and since then, I have been wanting to see him perform live.

Ok, there were three factors, the third was that I have been desperately wanting to go to the theatre to see a good musical...and I was hoping that this would fulfill my musical theatre fix.

Before I go on, I will say that Esparza is nothing short of amazing in this production as Jonas Nightingale and if it goes to Broadway, I am certain that at the very least, he will be nominated for a Tony Award.  He was that good. During the number (the one to the right) Last Chance Salvation, Esparza was so dynamic, I thought he might be getting a standing ovation before intermission.  The character of Jonas Nightingale walks a very thin line between brilliant and completely overdone and  Esparza was perfectly brilliant - a greasy and smarmy showman in the beginning and transformed into a more sensitive morally aware guy.  As an evangelical con-artist with a heart, Jonas Nightingale has to border the overly exaggerated, high energy, showy performer with some humanity (which Esparza does superbly).  As Marva McGowan, Brooke Shields was a perfect mix of strong and sensitive and could be considered to be a stabilizing force in the show.  Sometimes I thought Esparza overpowered her, but I think that he was supposed to.  When I think of the brilliance of this show, it is Esparza who clearly steals the show with a great supporting cast including Leslie Odom, Jr. as Ricky Sturdevant who also made a pretty substantial impression on me. 

Leap of Faith isn't the kind of show that will keep you thinking about the story long after you leave the theatre in an attempt to try to better understand it but it is the kind of show that will make you smile and remind you about life and hope and humanity.  It is a feel-good musical in the truest sense of the word and I really hope this show goes to Broadway.  With a just a smidge of tightening up, I think it will do quite well.  It was well received by audiences when I went even with the technical difficulties in which everyone kept spilling liquids  onstage, the cast had the audience eating it up (not literally).  At one point, Esparza stopped the show to get the spilled lemonade cleaned up since it would be dangerous to dance on a slick stage. Though the fourth wall was broken, the audience didn't care and loved that the actors were breaking on-stage, trying to hold it together. All in all, this show is fantastic with a first rate cast of actors and dancers who all really shine as a company.  BRAVO!

Leap of Faith closes Sunday, October 24. Such a fun show and this cast isn't to be missed!