The only show anyone’s talking about these days is “Hamilton,” Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hip-hop musical that opens Tuesday at the Public.
Has he trimmed the running time? (Not enough.) Will there be a critics’ backlash? (Possibly.) Will it move to Broadway before the Tony cutoff in April? (I think so.)
Pity the other musicals this season. They’re being produced in the Bermuda Triangle.
“Something Rotten!”? Dangerous title. “Gigi”? Is Louis Jourdan in it? I love him! “Fun House”? Sorry, “Fun Home.” I think it had a run at the Public years ago. Or was it the Roundabout?
“Finding Neverland”? Unless Harvey Weinstein’s making somebody walk the plank, it slips below the surface.
The one new show that may have some currency is “An American in Paris,” which opens April 12 at the Palace.
Based on the Oscar-winning 1951 movie, it played to sold-out houses in its December tryout at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. Local critics gave it ze raves, as did some London critics who chunneled over for the premiere.
“Bold, satisfying and witty,” cooed the Daily Telegraph. “A poetic cocktail of French chic and Broadway pizzazz,” said the Financial Times. “Comme sur des roulettes!” cheered Le Monde — which I translate, loosely, as “Does your dog bite?”
Jean-Luc Choplin, the impish head of the Châtelet, told me that “An American in Paris” was the most successful musical he’s produced since taking over the theater in 2006.
Choplin’s made it his mission to bring Broadway musicals, in English with French surtitles, to Paris. His other productions have included “A Little Night Music” and “Sunday in the Park With George.”
The French always turned their noses up at Broadway musicals, preferring instead home-grown comic operas by Offenbach. Choplin says that’s because past Broadway shows that came through Paris were third-rate European touring productions.
“I remember seeing a ‘Hello, Dolly!’ from Germany when I was young,” he says. “It was awful.”
Choplin uses American creators and performers for his Broadway-style productions, and Paris audiences have responded enthusiastically. “An American in Paris” is his first New York-bound production.
Ballet’s Christopher Wheeldon is directing and choreographing; Robert Fairchild, New York City Ballet, and Leanne Cope, Royal Ballet, play the Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron roles. Supporting them are Broadway vets Veanne Cox, Jill Paice and Max von Essen.
Paris is a long way to go for an out-of-town tryout, but the cast isn’t complaining. The food, the wine, the museums. Better in Paris than Boston!
One area for improvement, I’m told, is Craig Lucas’ book, which some think could use some sharper jokes for New York. No complaints about the score: You can’t go wrong with “Stairway to Paradise,” “Our Love Is Here to Stay,” “S’Wonderful,” and bits of the “Concerto in F.”
After the show, I headed to the Peninsula Hotel, formerly the Majestic, where Gershwin wrote “An American in Paris” in 1928.
I ordered a kir, made some honking sounds and hummed a few bars.