Is Beloved “Girl” on Her Way to Broadway?
Just a short trip from the lovely San Diego is the La Jolla Playhouse, one of the country’s premier venues that attracts not only great talent and Broadway-bound shows, but theatre fans from near and far who need to see the next great thing.
Currently playing through December 14 is one such show: Working Girl, the staged musical based upon the 1980s Oscar-winning romantic comedy.
While they don’t come right out and say it, this show has Broadway written all over it. Maybe that’s its end goal?
The songs are by Tony (and Emmy and Grammy) winner Cyndi Lauper, who is perfect to take the story of Tess McGill and help Tess find her voice, as Lauper is known as the girl who just wants to have fun.
If that wasn’t enough pedigree to ensure a transfer to Broadway, then let’s talk about book writer Theresa Rebeck, who not only has written many well-received plays, but musical lovers will know her for creating the TV series Smash, which was on Broadway last season.
These two powerhouses, along with the Playhouse’s very own Tony-winning director Christopher Ashley, have taken the beloved movie and, while still set in the 1980s, have added modern sensibilities, making it relatable to a wider audience.
The movie focused on Tess’ solo struggle to climb up the ladder while being disregarded as a mere secretary and object of male bosses’ sexual advances. We still have that, but now Tess has a posse and support from most of the women in the secretarial pool, who also want a leg up and to help each other. By the end of the show, and with the title song, these women are more empowered than they ever were in the movie.
Die-hard fans should not come in expecting a musical duplicate of the show – it’s made some smart changes that make it better for the stage. Yet, it still keeps some of those quotable lines that the gays love to recite. So can something be faithful and yet different? If the answer is yes, than it’s Working Girl.
Then there’s that cast.
Joanna “JoJo” Levesque as Tess is spot on with her transformation from overly bedazzled Long Island waif to Manhattan woman of means. Levesque is no stranger to the stage and entertainment. She grew up before our eyes as a young musical star with powerful pipes and has become a woman of confidence who can belt it out with the best of them.
She is matched by Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer, who almost makes us forget the superior attitude of Katherine Parker, Tess’ first female boss who isn’t better than the men before her. Rebeck has written some very funny scenes for Kritzer while her character is recovering from an accident. These moments are riotous and quite a departure from the Katherine Parker of the movie – and, if it’s even possible, more cutthroat.
Harrison Ford played the love interest in the movie, and on stage, Anoop Desai instantly makes the part his own – thanks in part to an ingenious backstory written into the musical.
Desai is no stranger to music. He was a top ten finalist in one of the early days of American Idol and then he went on to a successful musical career – a lot of the time performing under the pseudonym TOTEM.
Everyone is great and in top form, but I wonder if the songs sung by Desai’s Jack were written with him in mind. Every one of his songs has a soulful, rich quality and that has always been the case when listening to him sing. These songs and his voice are a perfect match.
The songs as a whole are all very catchy and easy to sing along to (but please not at the theatre). Lauper has proven that’s she’s more than a pop star but an acclaimed songwriter, having her Tony Award for Kinky Boots.
Her songs do what a lot of other shows fail: they don’t take a break from storytelling to sing a catchy song – the story advances with every song and every note is important to learning about the characters while advancing the tale.
The show’s future and possible Broadway run have not been decided. A lot of this has to do with how well it does on the road and there is a theatre and investors for a Broadway run.
So while that could take a while, if at all, you have the chance to see it now at the La Jolla Playhouse.
Info: http://www.lajollaplayhouse.org
