THEATER
Tales as Old as Time
Musical about youth, play about aging just more of the same
Brenock O’Connor and Jakeim Hart in “Sing Street,” with book by a book by Enda Walsh and a score by John Carney and Gary Clark,
directed by Rebecca Taichman, at New York Theatre Workshop through January 26.
BY CHRISTOPHER BYRNE
It’s time to call a moratorium on the “teenage
angst” musical. It’s not that there’s
anything inherently wrong with the Young
Adult medium. After all, novels targeted
to troubled teens sell millions of copies a year.
Yet after a string of musicals that are mediocre
at best, the genre on stage has palled, with
characters that have blended into one indistinguishable,
self-reverential herd facing all-too
similar situations. One can trace the current
rise of the form from the morally squishy “Dear
Evan Hansen” to the inane “Be More Chill,” the
turgid “Jagged Little Pill,” and now “Sing Street”
at New York Theatre Workshop.
“Sing Street” is based on a 2016 movie by
John Carney and has been developed for the
stage with a book by Enda Walsh and a score
by Carney and Gary Clark. The team comes
with an impressive pedigree. Walsh and Carney
had previously adapted another Carney
fi lm, “Once,” for the stage with great success.
“Once,” however, had a more sophisticated plot,
individual characters, and a much more coherent
structure… and it was about grown-ups.
“Sing Street,” by comparison, is a sloppy, generic,
coming of age story, that pits rebellious
youth in a Dublin school led by the dyspeptic
Conor, who want to create a band to escape
their dead-end world — an endeavor that puts
them directly in confl ict with a mean priest, insensitive
parents, Conor’s agoraphobic brother
Brendan, who wallows in self-pity, and his sister
who chafes at being the hope of the family.
MATTHEW MURPHY
It’s all about as hackneyed and formulaic as it
gets in terms of plot and characters, undermining
any authentic emotional connection with
the story.
The saving grace of the piece is the score.
Its pop-rock, ‘80s feel is alternately bright and
melancholy as the scenes require. The music
the boys create is heavily infl uenced by such
bands as Duran Duran, but the pastiche is
witty and inspired. It’s performed with amazing
talent, notably by Brenock O’Connor as Conor.
O’Connor and the rest of the young musicians
sing their hearts out with unmistakable passion,
even as the story’s triteness sparks eye
rolls. Understanding the lyrics, unfortunately,
is tough at times, whether due to poor sound
design or diction.
Rebecca Taichman’s direction is serviceable
as is Sonya Tayeh’s choreography, but neither
offers anything surprising nor elevates the piece
beyond a generic tale of disaffected kids. The fi -
nal anthem, “Go Now,” ostensibly inspiring and
sung wonderfully by Gus Halper as Brendan,
posits that Conor should take a risk since he
has nothing to lose. Sadly, in this retelling of
an overworked story, there’s not much to gain,
either.
Anyone who has dealt with an aging parent
and their care and safety — or appreciates
the craft of playwriting — can’t help but
be appalled by “Harry Townsend’s Last Stand,”
a new play by George Eastman. The play is a
ham-fi sted, superfi cial enterprise that pits a
selfi sh, egotistical son against an equally repellant
father. It’s all supposed to be oh-so-funny
as Harry, a crusty 84-year-old who is obsessed
with sex, spars with his son Alan, a would-be
controlling but previously absent presence in
Harry’s life, about Harry going into assisted living.
Instead, it’s just sad.
To begin with, these two-dimensional characters
don’t even speak like believable people,
and the labored, obvious, 50 minutes of blathering
before we get to the real issue is tedious
and decidedly unfunny. The labored exposition
does nothing to win us over to either character.
Harry likes his life in his home and doesn’t
want to leave it because it would be an admission
he’s entering the fi nal stage of life. Alan,
blind to anything other than what he wants,
railroads his father into the decision. There
could have been a play in here dealing honestly
with the dark realization that life is fi nite or the
challenges of the child becoming the parent.
Instead, Eastman’s play is a weak sitcom that
demeans what’s at stake for real live people.
No lesser actors than Len Cariou and Craig
Bierko take on the roles of Harry and Alan, respectively.
While it’s always a pleasure to see
these two, their talents are wasted. Cariou
manages to sparkle playfully at times and even
has a few serious moments that could be compelling.
Bierko is reduced to largely mugging
his way through his part. It’s not the fault of
these excellent actors; they simply have nothing
to work with.
As Harry is about to leave his cottage at the
end, he takes a last look around. Since we’ve
never gotten any idea of what his home and
leaving it means to him, it’s an empty moment.
Madame Ranevskaya saying goodbye to
her home at the end of the “Cherry Orchard” it
isn’t. Chekhov captures a world on the brink of
change and a life lost all in the sadness of one
old woman. Eastman gives us virtually nothing
approaching that. And that’s too bad. With the
clock ticking, an honest exploration of aging’s
many challenging could be timely, engaging,
cathartic, and legitimately theatrical.
SING STREET | New York Theatre Workshop,
79 E. Fourth St., btwn. Second & Third Aves. |
Through Jan. 26: Tue.-Thu., Sun. at 7 p.m.; Fri.-
Sat. at 8 p.m.; Sat.-Sun. at 2 p.m. | $129 at nytw.
org or 212-460-5475 | Two hrs., 30 mins., with
intermission
HARRY TOWNSEND’S LAST STAND | New
York City Center, Stage II | 131 W. 55th St. |
Through Mar. 15: Mon.-Tue., Thu.-Sat. at 7:30
p.m.; Thu., Sat. at 2:30 p.m.; Sun. at 3 p.m. |
$59-$89 at nycitycenter.org or 212-581-1212 |
Two hrs., with intermission
January 2 - January 15, 2 22 020 | GayCityNews.com
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