AN AMERICAN IN PARIS sings and soars at Fox
– By Cate Marquis –
The 1951 classic movie musical AN AMERICAN IN PARIS featured Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron as an American ex-soldier who falls in love with a elusive young French woman, in post-World War II Paris. The color-drenched film is packed with romance, dance and music by George and Ira Gershwin. The Broadway musical adaptation keeps the basic story but with new twists, and wraps it all up with eye-popping sets and energetic production numbers.
The Fox Theater hosts the Broadway tour of this spectacular production from January 17-29. Winner of four Tony Awards, it is a true crowd-pleaser with gorgeous costumes, awe-inducing staging and spirited dancers, all set to beloved, memorable music. Those who have seen the film will notice some changes to story and characters, but the production charms in its own right. If this energetic show has a flaw, it is that it is so packed with impressive production numbers that the nearly overwhelm to the plot. Not that anyone minds, as the show is a complete treat for fans of musicals – of which St. Louis has plenty.
The basic outline of the plot is similar to the film but details are changed, some significantly. The musical starts out with three friends, two Americans and a French man, who unknowingly are in love with the same woman. Beautiful young Lise Dessin (Sara Esty) is largely unaware she is the center of all this romantic interest, because she is focused on her budding career as a ballerina. Jerry Mulligan (Garen Scribner) and Adam Hochberg (Etai Bensen) are a pair of American ex-soldiers who stayed on in Paris after the war to pursue their ambitions, one to be a painter and the other a composer. The third friend is a French man, Henri Baurel (Nick Spangler), the son of wealthy, aristocratic and traditional parents (Gayton Scott and Don Noble), but who is secretly following his dream to become a song-and-dance man. Jerry gets a lucky break when a wealth American woman, Milo Davenport (Emily Ferranti), takes an interest in his art and launches his career, although her patronage comes with some strings.
You do not have to have seen the film to enjoy this wonderful, toe-tapping show but, of course, many audience members will have. The biggest change fans of the film will notice is to the character Henri, who is an aging musical hall star in the movie rather than a young man secretly launching his song-and-dance career. In the film, the wise-cracking musical friend was played by concert pianist Oscar Levant, who gets a sly reference in one scene of the stage version.
In the Gene Kelly role, Scribner beams the right mix of confidence and clean-cut All-American. As Lise, Esty is the right mix of shyness and mystery. Both performed those roles on Broadway but are joined other cast for the tour. Bensen carries much of the comic weight as wise-cracking musician Adam, in the role played in the film by concert pianist/comic actor Oscar Levant (who gets a sly reference in one scene), but Bensen adds a little wistful sweetness to the part. Spangler is all hesitation and uncertainty as Henri, possibly conceal that he is gay as well. But when Spangler sings and dances, Henri emerges as a budding star, much to the audience’s delight. One of the show’s surprises is Mrs. Davenport, which Ferranti plays with considerable charm and a knowing wit, making her a more sympathetic character than expected.
The performers are all excellent, with strong voices and winning stage presence, but frankly, this show is all about the dancing and the lavish sets. The story really is secondary to the production numbers. One of the biggest and glossiest is the “I’ll Build a Stairway to Paradise” number featuring Spangler, an homage to 1930s Busby Berkeley musicals and the Ziegfeld Follies, framed by an Art Deco arch that could have come straight off the Empire State Building. It gives a spectacular finish to the first act.
The musical is a virtual short tour of Gershwin hits, including “I Got Rhythm,” “The Man I Love,” “’S Wonderful,” and “They Can’t Take That Away From Me,” and of course the “An American in Paris” ballet. The staging of that featured number, which takes up about 17 minutes in the film, is very different on stage. Rather than creating images of bustling Paris streets, the Broadway show employs geometric graphics, color-blocked costumes that suggest the 1960s and yards of flowing, bright fabric. The result is different, but none the less breath-taking. The Gershwin music is there, but songs take a backseat to dance, presented in fabulous production numbers built around amazing, oft-movable sets with projections. The Gershwin production numbers are a big reason to see this gorgeous show.
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS is a Broadway extravaganza to delight the whole family, one in a series of outstanding shows the Fox has offered this season. Brave the cold, and let you heart be warmed by this hit show.
© Cate Marquis
