Rock of Ages

 One pure guilty start to the summer pleasure, coming right up.  Let's just get this out of the way right up front.  This show is so bad, it's delicious!  There is marginal talent on the stage - certainly not much good dancing, plenty of loud 1980's power ballads and anthem like songs we all remember, and plenty of fairly decent, but not breakthrough acting going on.  Frankly, from a pure theater standpoint, it gets a C- at best.  But from the entertainment angle, it's a B+.  A simply enjoyable evening that includes lots of bad hair, fairly decent tunes, a giggin' rock band, a couple of sexy as all hell boys - and on top of that I could have a beer at my seat!

I did at times feel like I should have been at Madison Square Garden - partly because of the aforementioned beer and partly because of the strange non-traditional theatre crowd drawn in for the music.  Many yelled and pumped their pinkies and thumbs in the air and some just talked throughout the show, probably because their girlfriends did not inform them that they were going to a Broadway show rather than a rock concert.

All this aside, I was entertained.  James Carpinello  - hot and dripping with sex.  Kerry Butler (Sherry) finally got to make out with him (since he never made it to the opening night of Xanadu because of his injury!).  I didn't see Constantine Maroulis, but his understudy was darn good.  Fill in the comedy factor with Hertz and his son Franz (um, super funny and sexy and the boy could dance his cute little ass off!).

I've said it a few times this season - the show was good, but is this Broadway?  I think not.  I'd pay to see it at the Beacon Theatre or in this case even the Theatre at Madison Square Garden - I'm not happy that this crap ends up on Broadway!

Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris

First things first - the Zipper Theater is a bona fide dump!

Now that we have gotten that out of the way - this indeed was one of the best musical shows I have seen all year - a total surprise! Put together by Eric Blau and Mort Shuman in 1968 from the original French musical by the show's namesake - Jacques Brel - it will knock your socks off!

The show originated at a time of similar national discord - during the Vietnam War. Jacques Brel's music and lyrics speak volumes about the common man, the proletariat, love and war, and emotional loss. A theme that seems eerily relevant once again today.

There is no dialogue in this show - but there is a story. The story is artfully told through the lyrics and the emotion of each Brel song - a pastiche of sorts. Powerful and provocative, the four performers brilliantly bring this show to life. Robert Cuccioli, Constantine Maroulis (of American Idol fame), Jayne Paterson and Gay Marshall breathe a vibrant life into this gem.

Under Gordon Greenberg's direction - the actors take turns in this review - some solo, some ensemble - telling tales of joy and pain, of war and soldiers, of loves and lives lost, of happy gay times that are interrupted by war. The styles range from rock to ballad to lounge to tango to show tune and beyond. Gay Marshall sings some of the songs in French - but don't worry - you will understand and feel. The emotions are raw and powerful.

Despite the atrocious seating and dilapidated house, this play is honestly worth the value of a full price ticket. I don't say that very often -- and guess what-- you won't have to pay it - there are plenty of discounts out there - - to lure you into one of the finest off-Broadway shows you can find in 2007!