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THEATER REVIEW: ‘High Fidelity’ and
its music are sure-fire hits; Show delivers a wallop of entertainment
October 06, 2006
By IRIS FANGER
If the new musical ‘‘High Fidelity’’ were a recording
- and surely with its world premiere, razzamatazz score of top-10 sounds we
won’t be waiting long for the cast album - it would be guaranteed to
go platinum within a few weeks of launch.
Now in its pre-Broadway tryout (and we don’t get many of those nowadays), ‘‘High
Fidelity’’ could be retitled ‘‘High Decibel’’ or ‘‘High
Energy’’ without mistaking its effect, but the prophecy of a sure-fire
hit also will serve to describe the show.
Based on the Nick Hornby novel, published in 1995, and the subsequent film
by Touchstone Pictures starring John Cusack, the stage version of ‘‘High
Fidelity’’ recasts the story of Rob, an ordinary 34-year-old guy
who is the owner of an extraordinary record collection, into a nearly completely
sung-through musical.
Rob is the narrator of his own hard-luck tale, speaking directly to the audience
as he does in the film and in similar manner to the character in the novel
connecting with the reader in first person. The material was adapted for the
stage by South Boston native and playwright, David Lindsay-Abaire.
The score of raucous rock numbers, rhythm and blues, soul songs and even
a country-western tune, ‘‘I Slept With Someone (Who Slept With
Lyle Lovett),’’ was written by Tom Kitt, with lyrics by Amanda
Green. Many of the songs are staged a la Diana Ross and The Supremes or the
Broadway show, ‘‘Jersey Boys,’’ with lead singer and
backups performing the step-and-gesture choreography.
The basic plot concerns Rob’s break-up with Laura, the lady in his
life, which gives him license to check in on the list of his top five heartbreaks,
dating back to middle school. Rob spends his days in the grubby, run-down
record store he owns, introduced right at the top by one of the most rousing
curtain-raiser numbers in recent memory, ‘‘The Last Real Record
Store.’’ The place magically springs up on stage, transformed
from Rob’s apartment that folds up and slides off. It’s as if
we were watching a contemporary, urban recreation of ‘‘The Nutcracker’’ ballet,
with enchanted moving scenery, courtesy of set designer Anna Louizos.
The other subject that permeates ‘‘High Fidelity’’ is
the primacy of pop music to the generations that have come of age in the era
of high-tech, surround sound. Rob’s record store is headquarters for
the guys who spend their lives adrift in pop recordings, to argue the relative
merits of the musicians who make them, not to mention yearning for the experiences
described in the lyrics of the songs. Rob’s two assistants, the woebegone
Dick and the truculent, foul-mouthed Barry, know every cutting of every disc
and rate their friends according to their listening tastes.
While Will Chase as Rob and Jenn Colella as Laura have extensive theatrical
credits, they perform their roles as if they were on stage in front of an
audience of 30,000, with all the vocal and visual accents of the genre. The
audience at last night’s performance, filled with young people in the
seats, reacted in kind, cheering and screaming at each new song. Chase could
be a rock star himself, however, he’s also a charmer of a commitment-challenged
cad, a star in the making. Colella knows how to wring the emotion out of a
song. Jay Klaitz, with the timing of a stand-up comic and significant vocal
chops as Barry and the sweet-voiced Christian Anderson as Dick complete the
record-store trio that performs many of the songs.
Director Walter Bobbie, a sure hand at shaping musical material for the stage,
keeps the pace rolling, although the action peters out in the second act,
which needs some reworking.
One more purpose of ‘‘High Fidelity’’ is to lure
the demographic of 18- to 34-year-olds into the theater from the concert and
club circuit, hence the blurring of the borders between theatrical and rock
star concert style. Broadway is progressing in this direction, given the recent
success of musicals such as ‘‘Mamma Mia,’’ ‘‘Jersey
Boys’’ and ‘‘Movin’ Out,’’ where
the hit pop songs attracted a cross-over audience. No problem. Even for the
folks who can’t quite come up with the name of the latest garage band
or avoid carrying an iPod, ‘‘High Fidelity’’ delivers
a wallop of an entertaining evening. Don’t miss this one.
HIGH FIDELITY
at the Colonial Theatre, 106 Boylston St., Boston, through Oct. 22. Tickets,
$36.25-$110 by calling 617-931-2787 or ticketmaster.com.
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