On A Clear Day...

On A Clear Day You Can See Forever

January 13, 2012  8:00pm performance

St. James Theatre

It’s been weeks since Trish and I checked out Harry Connick in the (now closed) homoerotically-tinged re-write of a flawed musical classic.  And still, the thing I remember most about the production is the hideous set design.  Sad, huh?

It’s a bummer this gorgeous score is attached to such a problematic book. The original story is about Daisy, a young woman with telepathic powers who, under hypnosis, reveals several hidden past lives.  Through the course of the evening, the psychiatrist, played by Connick, falls in love with one of these past reincarnations.  

The current revisal tries to give the story a modern day sensibility by pulling a Chaz Bono on the lead character.  Daisy is now a flouncing gay florist named David.  As in the original, Connick’s character still falls in love with one of David’s past reincarnations, a 1940s jazz singer, Melinda (in the original, she’s an 18^th Century lady).

What does this little bit of gender bending do to improve the story?  Absolutely nothing - well, except give the director an opportunity to make Harry Connick look super uncomfortable and to tease us with (almost) a gay kiss between Connick and David.

Don’t worry you red-staters, there is a convenient black-out just before their lips lock.  Although they do get close enough to elicit a rather audible communal gasp from the audience - just in time for intermission!

There are some other added pointless subplots, mildly successful interpolations of other Loesser songs, some nice choreography and some really ugly costumes to go with the set.  The performances are all adequate with Jessie Mueller’s Melinda the standout.  David Turner does his best with the material he’s given.  Sarah Stiles, channeling a young Kristin Chenoweth (in a good way), is cute and charming.  Connick is bland, but sounds great. 

The orchestral arrangements have been changed to fit Connick’s rat-pack style crooning.  For a recording, they’d be beautiful, but for the stage, these arrangements drain the score of any dramatic heft or forward momentum. 

This current incarnation would have a have made a great concert, but as theatre it’s at best a mildly interesting riff on 70s-era gender politics, at worst, it’s a boring night at the theatre.