Will the Alliance Theatre’s current tryout run of Trading Places: The Musical make it from Peachtree Street to the Great White Way? Hmm.
Critics who have reviewed the glossy show, featuring actors and a creative team with major New York credentials, seem, with one exception, to think not.
But the musical is continuing its run through June 26, and its fate may not be decided by its closing at the Alliance.
For nearly three decades, the Alliance Theatre has been a go-to regional theater for producers staging shows they hope will score a Broadway run. Over the years, Atlanta’s biggest theater company has hosted more than 15 such tryouts in partnership with outside producing partners. Even the shows that ultimately make it to New York usually are considered works-in-progress at this stage, subject to improvements big and small.
Before opening, director Kenny Leon, the Atlanta theater icon and Tony winner, sounded careful with his words yet optimistic about Trading Places’ chances of making it to the Big Apple..
“I don’t want to get ahead of myself,” he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I want to have a great production here, and then everything will take care of itself.”
He added, “The play will have a future. We’re not just doing this for Atlanta.”
Here are excerpts from a quartet of reviews, the first three sounding similarly negative notes and the fourth much more positive.
Headline: Modern Touches Brighten Uneven Adaption of Reagan-Era Movie Comedy
- “This screwball switcheroo still has a long way to go before it’s a safe Broadway bet. At this stage, it’s off-balance in its leads, inconsistent in its tone and uneven in its comedy and tunes, while still managing to deliver some fun along the way.”
- “The role of Billy Ray Valentine — which [Eddie] Murphy played with comic abandon — is now gender flipped to Billie Rae (Aneesa Folds, who was so fine in the improvisatory Freestyle Love Supreme). But Folds, with a character that has been softened and sentimentalized, has no opportunity to showcase any comic riffs. With little edge and audaciousness, she has no chance to make a break-out impression. Folds’ singing chops are impressive, but her 11 o’clock number, the generic anthem ‘Not Anymore,’ feels unearned.
Part of the problem is the musical feels constrained by the film’s complicated and nonsensical plotting — not to mention the tutorial on the market fluctuations of orange crop futures. At least the second act has a greater sense of energy and fun once the revenge caper kicks in.” - “The film’s devotees may enjoy revisiting some lines and scenes, but at this stage of the musical’s development, the switch to the stage isn’t a trade up.”
Headline: Alliance musical updates “Trading Places” without making it vital
- “Though its cast is extremely talented and its vibe is fun, the musical adaptation of the edgy, problematic 1983 film Trading Places, feels much too safe to be memorable.
“This feels like an odd conclusion to reach when Trading Places: The Musical has gender-swapped the Eddie Murphy and Jamie Lee Curtis characters from the film, but that daring set of choices doesn’t lead the story down any surprising new paths. The story, though now technically more inclusive because it features gay characters and gives a one-note girlfriend character from the film a story arc, still ends up in the same places it did in 1983. And it’s feel-good and toothless now.” - “[Bryce} Pinkham is given a lot to play as the fussy, spoiled Louis Winthorpe III is arrested, fired, dumped and deloused. He is forced to pawn his beloved designer watch and is only able to survive thanks to the kindness of a campy Latin drag queen named Ophelia (Michael Longoria, replacing Curtis’ hooker character from the film). Winthorpe is selfish and ridiculous, full of racist and classist microaggressions, yet Pinkham manages to make the character childlike and naive enough to be sympathetic.
“A glorious, gifted singer, Folds gets lots of opportunities to show her vocal range. She’s really quite something. But her character Billie Rae Valentine doesn’t get as much to do within this story, thanks to a book by Thomas Lennon that gives the character very little opposition, conflict or plot complication that she has to overcome after the initial setup is played.” - “Much of the music, written by Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner, seems designed to evoke other modern Broadway hit numbers instead of the music of the 1980s.”
Headline: Kenny Leon returns with ‘Trading Places,’ and the news is not good
- “None of this [character and plot changes from the movie] is nearly confusing as it may sound, though Trading Places is nothing if not a head-scratcher.”
- “The ensemble number ‘I Don’t Know What (The [expletive] Is Going On)’ is not only great fun; it’s also an adequate description of my response to this show, which attempts to shine new light on source material that was already pretty wretched and offensive to being with. (If you don’t believe me, stream the movie.)
“Trading Places: The Musical, despite the lofty achievements of nearly everyone it employs, is a jarring hodgepodge of a show with a creepy tone. The decision to reimagine a woman of the streets as a drag queen is especially troubling — mainly because it unpacks innumerable stereotypes. A lispy cross-dresser from Puerto Rico — are we insulted yet?” - “With Trading Places, the Alliance has produced a musical that displays its strengths (a world-class backstage team of costume makers, set builders and technicians) and its weaknesses (the lure of producing glitzy commercial material). Trading Places adds on layers — but fails to offer clarification, or insight.”
Manning Harris, Reporter Newspapers & Atlanta InTown
Headline: Alliance’s sparkling ‘Trading Places’ is Broadway-bound
- “This iteration of Trading Places is sassy, smart, and very funny, but its secret weapon is a big heart, which you will discover if you see it; and I hope you do. The songs are very witty with a big brass sound that says New York to me, although the show is set in Philadelphia. They are performed by a terrific cast of actor-singers, any of whom could carry a show by themselves.”
- “The opening night audience was pretty much delirious with joy and thunderous applause and whistles. This is a show that is probably bound for Broadway; in fact, you can bet on it.”
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Tony winner Kalukango makes Atlanta proud
Atlantans who knew Joaquina Kalukango back when she was a rising star on the city’s stages were bursting with pride for her big win at the Tony Awards — Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical, for Paradise Square.
“HUGE CONGRATULATIONS . . . We fondly remember Joaquina who starred in The Bluest Eye at Horizon in 2007!” Horizon Theatre Company wrote in a Facebook post, with an accompanying photo from the production, on its Facebook page.
“The Tri-Cities [High School] Drama club parents are proud of you!” commented Valencia Scott. “You had me crying all night! A proud cry!”
“As a season ticket holder at Horizon for more than 30 years, I have seen so many great shows there, including The Bluest Eye,” Atlanta realtor Jackie Goodman typed while sharing the troupe’s post. “Horizon Theatre absolutely knows how to choose talent!”
In 2007, Kalukango was the first national winner of the August Wilson Monologue Competition launched by Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company. This year, True Colors launched a successor contest, the Next Narrative Monologue Competition. In May, Kalukango was a star among talented and hopeful students like herself 15 years ago as she co-hosted (along with True Colors Artistic Director Jamil Jude) Next Narrative’s first national finals, at New York’s historic Apollo Theater.
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Actor’s Express’ 2022-23 season
Actor’s Express recently announced productions planned for its 35th season. Here’s a quick look:
- Oh, to be Pure Again, November 3-27. The world premiere of playwright Kira Rockwell’s examination of faith and rebellion at a fundamentalist church camp in Texas. An idealistic young counselor works to shepherd the campers in the girls’ cabin through a delicate phase of self-discovery, only to be confronted with challenges to her own faith.
- Urinetown, February 2-19, 2023. The Tony Award-winning musical comedy is about what happens in the not-so-distant-future when a 20-year drought has depleted the land of water and citizens are forced to pay a corrupt megacorporation for the “privilege to pee.” This fires up a ragtag group of rebels. A co-production with Oglethorpe University Theatre.
- Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train, March 2-26, 2023. In Pulitzer-winner Stephen Adly Guirgis’ play, a frightened young inmate at Riker’s Island confronts complex issues of faith when he crosses paths with a charismatic serial killer, a sadistic guard and a jaded public defender.
- Prayer for the French Republic, April 20-May 21, 2023. Following five generations of a French Jewish family, Joshua Harmon’s (Bad Jews, Skintight) drama is a sweeping look at history, home, and the effects of an ancient hatred. Atlanta premiere.
- cullud wattah, June 8-July 2, 2023. Erika Dickerson-Despenza’s Afro-surrealist play, a hit at New York’s Public Theater, hits the stage with its story of a family of women facing conflicting choices amidst the Flint, Michigan, water crisis.
- Hedwig and the Angry Inch, July 20-August 20, 2023. “Internationally ignored” rock singer Hedwig searches the world for stardom and love. This all-new production is Actor’s Express’ third incarnation of the cult hit musical.
Additional programs:
- Amplify Season Three: Sunset on the Dogwood City by Addae Moon, Natasha Patel and Avery Sharpe. The third season of Actor’s Express’ anthology podcast series is an Atlanta-set thriller that will explore the underbelly that is revealed when something that seems to be pure becomes corrupted. Available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and elsewhere. Release dates to be announced.
- Libby’s at the Express, December 9, 10, 16, 17 and 18: Singer-actress Libby Whittemore returns to ring in the holiday season with her classic revue, Ho, Ho Home for the Holidays and a Connie Sue Day Christmas.
