Juno: Glorious Score, Bipolar Book

This was my first time at City Center, as well as my first Encores concert. I'm not really sure why I haven't attended one of these concerts before: nothing really grabbed my interest, I guess, at least not to the point where I'd give up one of my precious show slots to something that wasn't an on-Broadway musical. But now that I've been getting down to New York on a more consistent basis, I'm getting a chance to see more ancillary stuff, including concerts, Off-Broadway, and even straight plays.

As I posted last week, I was intrigued by the bright and cheery artwork Encores was using to promote Juno. From what I had heard about the show, I knew it was a bit of a depression-fest. Well, Marc Blitzstein's score is simply terrific, with so many glorious elements to it. I'm very familiar with Blitzstein's The Cradle Will Rock, and lately I've been listening to his challenging Regina, but I was unprepared for the tunefulness and brio of Blitzstein's Juno score. Much like Kurt Weill, Blitzstein proves himself at adept at both serious arty scores and lighter musical-comedy fare.

Ah, but therein lies the main problem with Juno, which is its lack of balance. Juno tries too hard to be a musical comedy, which makes the tragedy discordant. Although the opening number "We're Alive" clearly sets a somber tone, the rest of the first act and the beginning of the second act play like your typical 1950s musical comedy. The shifts in tone are abrupt and jarring, although this may be a function of David Ives' concert adaptation of Joseph Stein's original book.

Another inconsistency is the use of dance. I've seen a lot of online chatter about the show's "one-armed ballet," in which Juno's doomed son, who lost an arm fighting the British, dances out his terror at being targeted by the IRA and his guilt at ratting out one of his friends. The ballet certainly seemed to go over well, but I found it to be another indication of the uneven nature of the show: there's no ballet anywhere else in the show, which makes its use in the middle of the second act, and then never again, somewhat unsettling.

Again, I'm not sure if the concert version of the script added to the show's problems, but as presented by Encores, Juno has a number of insufficiently justified plot points, to wit:

- The burgeoning love between the daughter and the British solicitor comes out of nowhere
- There's nothing to justify the Brit later becoming a jerk and abandoning the now-pregnant daughter
- We're not really clear on what exactly the son did to get him in trouble with the IRA, and why he did it

But as I said, the Blitzstein score is a glorious discovery for me, and two key performances made this concert a more-than-engaging experience: Celia Keenan-Bolger was lovely and passionate as the daughter, rendering the popular ballad "I Wish it So" with fervor and grace. And the glorious Victoria Clark was a knockout as the titular Juno, although I would imagine that Clark's portrayal was a very different from that of the original star, Shirley Booth. Clark most definitely did not play the part for laughs.

The next Encores concert is No, No, Nanette in May, with Sandy Duncan and Rosie O'Donnell, but I may want to see it just to see Tony winner Beth Leavel. I had never seen her before The Drowsy Chaperone and am interested in seeing her take on another juicy part.

Comments

[Mondschein.us]

I'm guessing that Ms. Leavel is taking on the role played by Helen Gallagher , with Ms. Duncan in Ruby Keeler's role from the 1971 revival.

Wonder if Sutton has been approached about playing Nanette - it's right up her alley! If she's not available, I think Susan Egan would also be excellent.