Daniel J. Vasquez
Daybreak French and Jennifer Saunders, British comedians par excellence, used to do very humorous skits of pop songs and TV reveals. Certainly one of these, The Home of Fool, parodied The Home of Eliott, a BBC drama from the Nineties set in a Twenties vogue home run by two sisters. French and Saunders brilliantly poked enjoyable in any respect the absurdities of that present, with a recurring joke a couple of storyline that concerned… lacking buttons. Buttons, buttons, buttons. The place had been they?
And it was to The Home of Fool’s buttons this critic’s thoughts returned throughout Solely Gold (MCC Theater, by Nov. 27), a brand new musical-with-dance set in Twenties Paris with music and lyrics by singer-songwriter Kate Nash, who additionally stalks across the stage narrating occasions. The guide is by Ted Malawer and Andy Blankenbuehler, the multi-award successful choreographer—together with the Tony for Hamilton—who additionally choreographs and directs the present. As a substitute of buttons, there's a necklace—and simply as in The Home of Eliott/Fool, the saga of the necklace, the mentioning of the necklace, the every part of the necklace, is limitless.
The unique necklace is a misplaced merchandise of cherished lineage—a present from gruff King Belenus (Terrence Mann) to his spouse Queen Roksana (Karine Plantadit) a few years earlier than in Paris. Since then the enterprise of operating a rustic referred to as Cosimo (nice title for a fictional nation, however sounds confusingly like Kosovo!), residing in a palace, carrying fabulous garments (the present’s beautiful costumes are by Anita Yavich), and usually being wealthy, have mysteriously taken a toll on the couple. Many of the present includes them grouching at one another for no basically main cause, whereas a substitute necklace is being ready by jeweler/designer Henri (Ryan Vandenboom).
Henri looks like a pleasant man, till inexplicably he turns into a sexist asshole, insisting his piano-loving spouse Camille (Hannah Cruz) ceases her inventive pursuits to be the type of accomplice that befits the best necklace maker in all of Paris. The story takes occasional detours into Camille’s half-heartedly drawn private liberation narrative.
Whereas the necklace is being ready—critically, sufficient with the necklace!—a B-storyline includes their daughter Princess Tooba (Gaby Diaz), who's being lined as much as marry a Rely (Tyler Hanes), who's effeminate—ooo what a villain he have to be!—when she simply needs to…
Ryan Steele, left, and Gaby Diaz in Solely Gold.
Daniel J. Vasquez
Truly, what does Princess Tooba need? She is much less princess-heroine and extra a sulky, entitled brat, who, slightly like her mom and father, you don’t sympathize or empathize with as a result of she’s wealthy and simply fantastic. Clocks preserve being wheeled throughout the stage to depend down the household’s time in Paris, and the passing of time itself, which the musical is portentously preoccupied with. You might also end up preoccupied with the identical factor, although for various causes.
Anyway, romance followers, worry not; Jacques (Ryan Steele), a scorching muscular man who works for the luxury lodge the household stays in, likes books and is delicate, and wears a really not-Twenties wanting tank-top... however perhaps this can be a Twenties with Equinox memberships… anyway, he, clearly affected by an unspoken psychological ailment, likes Tooba.
Solely Gold circles these boring romantic tales repetitively, particularly the necklace-of-no-return. The songs are fantastic, and Nash easily speak-sings her contributions as she sleekly orbits the characters round her. However there’s no actual rigidity or allure to Solely Gold. As with so many reveals, its ensemble ought to be thanked 1,000,000 occasions over for doing a lot work with flashy, gorgeous dance routines, which change into extra important than supposed given how wan the story and music are. Nonetheless, we will solely hope a sequel is likely to be set in Cosimo.