{"id":506465,"date":"2022-11-04T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-04T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/almost-famous-broadway-review-musical-doesnt-rock\/"},"modified":"2022-11-04T04:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-11-04T01:00:00","slug":"almost-famous-broadway-review-musical-doesnt-rock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/almost-famous-broadway-review-musical-doesnt-rock\/","title":{"rendered":"#&#8217;Almost Famous&#8217; Broadway review: Musical doesn&#8217;t rock"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a28a8a41208c\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a28a8a41208c\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/almost-famous-broadway-review-musical-doesnt-rock\/#%E2%80%9C%E2%80%98Almost_Famous_Broadway_review_Musical_doesnt_rock%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;&#8216;Almost Famous&#8217; Broadway review: Musical doesn&#8217;t rock&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9C%E2%80%98Almost_Famous_Broadway_review_Musical_doesnt_rock%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;&#8216;Almost Famous&#8217; Broadway review: Musical doesn&#8217;t rock&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<p>At the start of \u201cAlmost Famous,\u201d which <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vividseats.com\/almost-famous-musical-tickets--theater-musical\/performer\/114872?wsUser=1006\">opened Thursday night on Broadway<\/a>, the frontman of the fictional rock band Stillwater, Jeff Bebe, barks backstage in San Diego that a young Rolling Stone reporter in their midst is \u201cthe enemy!\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--review alignleft\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n        <span class=\"inline-module--review__eyebrow widget-heading-semi__label\"><br \/>\n            Theater review      <\/span><\/p>\n<p>        2 hours and 30 minutes, with one intermission. At the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, 242 W 45th Street.\n    <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Under the bright lights of 45th Street, though, the greatest foe of the musical \u201cAlmost Famous\u201d is most definitely the film \u201cAlmost Famous.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Cameron Crowe\u2019s 2000 comedy is a quirky, coming-of-age cinematic gem, which won him an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, and our fond memories of it \u2014 a manic-pixie-dream-girl Kate Hudson, Frances McDormand announcing \u201cMy son has been kidn<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ed by rockstars!\u201d \u201cTiny Dancer\u201d on the tour bus \u2014 are a persistent thorn in the stage version\u2019s side.<\/p>\n<p>Those classic bits are all still here, yes, but they\u2019re a wisp of the original. British director Jeremy Herrin, who should stick to plays and steer clear of Stratocasters, composer-lyricist Tom Kitt and book writer-lyricist Crowe do not present a compelling case for why the film must be a Broadway musical. It\u2019s pleasant and sweet and passes the time, sure, but should that be enough?<\/p>\n<p>Near the end of the show, Sapphire, a member of an elite clique of groupies called the Band Aids, observes that 20 years on, they\u2019ll all remember their time with groovy leader Penny Lane. Perhaps. But the audience completely forgets about \u201cAlmost Famous\u201d the musical by 43rd Street.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/Emily-Schultheis-Anika-Larsen-Casey-Likes_-Photo-by-Matt-Murphy-1.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Elaine (Anika Larsen, center) is the mom of William (Casey Likes) and and Anita (Emily Schultheis).  \" class=\"wp-image-24518929\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/Emily-Schultheis-Anika-Larsen-Casey-Likes_-Photo-by-Matt-Murphy-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/Emily-Schultheis-Anika-Larsen-Casey-Likes_-Photo-by-Matt-Murphy-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/Emily-Schultheis-Anika-Larsen-Casey-Likes_-Photo-by-Matt-Murphy-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Elaine (Anika Larsen, center) is the mom of William (Casey Likes) and Anita (Emily Schultheis).  <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Matt Murphy<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Semi-autobiographical, Crowe\u2019s stand-in is William Miller (Casey Likes), a meek 15-year-old in 1973 San Diego with a domineering mom and a rebellious sister who encourages his love of rock groups, like The Who. He starts to dabble in music journalism, and gets a chance to interview Black Sabbath for his mentor Lester Bangs\u2019 (Rob Colletti, a funny crank) Creem magazine.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s on that fateful assignment when he meets Stillwater, a middle-of-the-road band that William obsesses over. Even though the guys sneer that the kid is the enemy, he weasels his way backstage by flattering them \u2014 and they welcome them into their ragtag family.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s dangerous. In the back of William\u2019s mind is hardened Bangs\u2019 No. 1 piece of advice: \u201cDon\u2019t make friends with the rockstars.\u201d\u00a0Wide-eyed Willy does anyway. And soon he\u2019s assigned by Rolling Stone, who assumes he\u2019s much older, to follow Stillwater on tour for a 3,000 word story. Can he deliver something deeper than a puff piece?<\/p>\n<p>He also gets his first taste of love in the form of Penny Lane (Solea Pfeiffer), a free spirit who is also sort of dating Russell Hammond (Chris Wood), Stillwater\u2019s evasive guitarist.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/almost_famous_musical.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"William (Likes) dreams of being a rock journalist like his idol Lester Bangs. \" class=\"wp-image-24517862\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/almost_famous_musical.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/almost_famous_musical.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/almost_famous_musical.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>William (Likes) dreams of being a rock journalist like his idol Lester Bangs. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Almost Famous Musical\/<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The plot, exactly the same as the film\u2019s, is not the problem. Coming of age works well in musicals. The No. 1 issue, as it so often is, is Broadway vs. Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll.<\/p>\n<p>Real rock songs from the film\u2019s soundtrack such as Elton John\u2019s \u201cTiny Dancer,\u201d Cat Stevens\u2019 \u201cThe Wind\u201d and Lynyrd Skynyrd\u2019s \u201cSimple Man\u201d are back. Paired with Tom Kitt\u2019s sappy score, which is one Smooth FM number after another, they stick out like an oboe in Metallica.<\/p>\n<p>Kitt has decided on a musical theater soundscape for when characters are offstage to contrast the headbanging. That makes sense. But tunes like \u201cLost in New York City\u201d and \u201cListen to Me\u201d have even less edge than his faux-rock music for \u201cNext to Normal,\u201d which was set entirely in an upper middle-class suburban home.<\/p>\n<p>And the lyrics by Crowe and Kitt are dismal.<\/p>\n<p>When Russell and Penny duet on \u201cThe Night-Time Sky\u2019s Got Nothing on You,\u201d the married rocker praises, \u201cThe way you turn a hotel room into a home.\u201d What is this? A musical or a Marriott ad?<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/Drew-Gehling-and-Chris-Wood_-Photo-by-Matt-Murphy.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Drew Gehling plays Jeff, the frontman of Stillwater, and Chris Wood is Russell Hammond in &quot;Almost Famous.&quot; \" class=\"wp-image-24518128\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/Drew-Gehling-and-Chris-Wood_-Photo-by-Matt-Murphy.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/Drew-Gehling-and-Chris-Wood_-Photo-by-Matt-Murphy.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/Drew-Gehling-and-Chris-Wood_-Photo-by-Matt-Murphy.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Drew Gehling plays Jeff, the frontman of Stillwater, and Chris Wood is Russell Hammond in \u201cAlmost Famous.\u201d <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Matt Murphy<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Penny, played capably but not magically by Solea Pfeiffer, also has a clunkier song about her dream of moving to Morocco.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo you long for better than this, a way to escape the abyss? Morocco!\u201d it goes and goes some more.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignright\">\n    <\/aside>\n<p>As William\u2019s mother, Elaine, Anika Larsen is eerily like Frances McDormand in voice and mannerism. The actress is maternal and does nothing wrong, but she lacks McDormand\u2019s electric unpredictability.  <\/p>\n<p>And the members of Stillwater \u2014 Wood as Hammond and Drew Gehling as Bebe are most visible, just as the singer and guitarist would be in reality \u2014 amp their gags up the right amount. Most of the jokes are theirs, yet they shrewdly avoid going full Spinal Tap. <\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not the fault of Wood and Pfeiffer that their characters\u2019 not-so-secret romance drags down the show and feels B-side the point.<\/p>\n<p>They all inhabit Derek McLane\u2019s overly straightforward set, which falls far short of more exciting behind-the-music designs like \u201cTina: The Tina Turner Musical\u201d or even the final heart-pumping arena scene of \u201cMJ.\u201d Like the scenery, the lights by Natasha Katz are too Broadway and not enough rock concert.  <\/p>\n<p>Keeping \u201cFamous\u201d from face-planting is its best find, newcomer Likes. Of course, the 20-year-old actor is helped along by a naturally endearing role, but he plays the part more eagerly than Patrick Fugit did in the film and he has a wonderful voice. He often chooses softness over loud pop stridency, and it\u2019s refreshing to see a Broadway performer in an assembly-line musical have the confidence to hold back. <\/p>\n<p>His number \u201cNo Friends,\u201d in which his lonely character wrestles with a desire to be a good journalist and his deeper craving for companionship, is the show\u2019s only good new song.<\/p>\n<p>If there is one thing that makes \u201cAlmost Famous\u201d come alive, it\u2019s watching two coming-of-age stories play out at once: One, about a young journalist figuring out his future. The other, about an exciting new Broadway actor stepping out onto the boards.\n                        <\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/11\/03\/almost-famous-broadway-review-musical-doesnt-rock\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;&#8216;Almost Famous&#8217; Broadway review: Musical doesn&#8217;t rock&#8221; At the start of \u201cAlmost Famous,\u201d which opened Thursday night on Broadway, the frontman of the fictional rock band Stillwater, Jeff Bebe, barks backstage in San Diego that a young Rolling Stone reporter in their midst is \u201cthe enemy!\u201d Theater review 2 hours and 30 minutes, with one&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":506466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/Casey-Likes-and-Solea-Pfeiffer_-Photo-by-Matt-Murphy-copy.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[135011,29467,58688,72707,70731],"class_list":["post-506465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-11-3-22","tag-broadway","tag-cameron-crowe","tag-musicals","tag-theater-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=506465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506465\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/506466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=506465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=506465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=506465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}