NO matter how passionately someone sings “I will never leave you/I will never go away,” that promise may or may not be kept. But when Violet and Daisy Hilton belt those words to each other in “Side Show,” they mean it. After all, they’re joined at the hip — literally.
Set in the world of human oddities, “Side Show” itself is a bit of a curiosity.
Based on the true story of the Hiltons, vaudeville stars in the ’30s, the musical didn’t fare well on Broadway when it opened in 1997. Now it’s back in a version so drastically revised that figuring out the forensics would require the team from “CSI.” Several numbers are gone, replaced by new ones by Henry Krieger (“Dreamgirls”) and Bill Russell, the original composer and lyricist.
Russell also extensively reconfigured the book with director Bill Condon, who’s making an impressive theatrical debut after helming the “Twilight: Breaking Dawn” movies.
What hasn’t changed is the punch delivered by those symbiotic girls.
Here Erin Davie plays the retiring Violet, who wants to be “like everyone else/So no one will point and stare.” She’s attached — via strong, hidden magnets — to Emily Padgett’s bolder Daisy, who wants to be “like everyone else/But richer and more acclaimed.” Both actresses are impeccable, funny and affecting.
When we first meet the twins, they’re eking out a living as the most popular attraction in a Texas freak show run by the seedy Sir (Robert Joy). One day, they’re discovered by sleek talent scout Terry (Ryan Silverman) and his assistant, Buddy (Matthew Hydzik), who help them develop a singing-and-dancing act. New numbers “Ready To Play” and “Stuck With You” are period-perfect, surreal additions to the show.
Inevitably, love complicates matters. If you think relationships are hard, try having one with a conjoined twin. Just as daunting is the race barrier: The sisters’ old friend Jake (powerful singer David St. Louis) falls for Violet — but he’s black and she’s white.
Even after all the surgery, “Side Show” is far from a great musical. The second act piles on heavy-handed calls for tolerance. The production’s also handicapped by the blandness of Silverman and Hydzik, who have matinee-idol good looks but little acting depth.
Yet this show also has a strange, slightly demented charm, especially in the vaudeville and carnival scenes. And while it makes its plea for tolerance with a big heart, it’s not afraid to unleash even bigger anthems.