Far From Heaven at Playwrights Horizon is a weak musical adaptation of a 2002 Todd Haynes movie starring Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid, and Dennis Haysbert. The film deals with the emotional repression of suburban life complicated by homosexuality, adultery and racism. Julianne Moore’s portrayal in the film was a tour de force of control to convey suppression without becoming satirical. The film is an homage to Douglas Sirk’s melodramas made in the 1950s and which are now considered masterpieces of irony. Sirk’s use of setting, color, framing and costumes to deliver the melodramatic irony with subtlety is what set his work apart from most of the melodramas of that time. Haynes’ use of lush color throughout and a soft, and, at times, an almost vignette-like focus, sets the tone for his piece. The strong acting of Moore, Quaid and Haysbert kept the movie from being stereotypical and trite.
The setting is Hartford, Connecticut in 1957. It is supposed to be “heaven” for the solid middle class with trimmed lawns, executive husbands, stay-at-home moms and children. As things develop, it is anything but heaven given the racial and sexual undertones of the culture crashing in on the lives of the Whitakers.
Cathy Whitaker, played well and sung beautifully by a very pregnant Kelli O’Hara, is a suburban housewife married to David Whitaker (Steven Pasquale), a successful marketing executive. David has been acting different lately – getting home late from the office and being more irritable. Cathy has to go to the police station one evening to get him after he was picked up for “loitering,” an infraction police would often use if they thought the person was trying to “hook-up” sexually with a man or woman. Cathy accepts David’s explanation that it was a mistake by the police. Only later, when she goes to his office one evening, does she discover the truth: David in the arms of a man.
Adding to this mix is the “negro” gardener, Raymond Deagan (Isaiah Johnson), who is the son of the man who took care of the Whitaker property. Cathy is attracted to him and he to her, and the stage is formally set for the unraveling of a suburban idyll.
The supporting cast is generally good with special mention to Nancy Anderson. She is able to inhabit the character of Eleanor, Cathy’s supportive friend and confidant, as well as bring a strong voice to the stage.
Converting the themes of homosexuality and racism from a film to the stage are difficult enough. Making a musical of them is daunting. Although the cast work hard to make their characters come alive, Richard Greenberg’s book is not up to the task. To be sure, it is not easy to adapt the subtlety and characterization of the Haynes’ film, but Greenberg has made these characters two-dimensional bordering on stereotype, rendering the story trite.
The music must be an integral part of the story and work seamlessly with the action to move things forward. This is not the case with Scott Frankel’s music and Michael Korie’s lyrics for Far from Heaven. Although some songs work in certain scenes, the score does not achieve the lushness needed to capture the visual sense of the film, a thing critically important to the structure of the drama. The music does not engage us in the characters’ situations. Allen Moyer’s set design also fails to capture the richness of the film that is so important in establishing a sense of comfort and ease into which profound greyness is to intrude. The use of a group of skeletal structures moved from position to position implying a change of setting does not give the audience a sense of warmth. Uneven use of projections to introduce color is not sufficient to overcome the starkness and foreboding of the metal frames. Add to this staging Kenneth Posner’s gloomy lighting, and the needed dramatic setting is lost.
The only saving grace is Catherine Zuber’s costume design. Her recreation of the style of the suburban 50s and the strong use of colorful fabric gives a needed visual push to the action on stage. An interesting aspect of her costume design was the need to disguise as much as possible the advancing pregnancy of Kelli O’Hara, who is expected to deliver 6 weeks after the show closes. It is interesting to note that Julianne Moore was 7 or 8 months pregnant when she starred in the film, and those costumes were designed to disguise that fact. The voluminous petticoat-supported dresses of suburban 1950s America made it somewhat easier. Michael Greif’s uneven direction of Far from Heaven sometimes brings out the best in the cast but ultimately serves a show whose flaws can’t be masked with strong voices and dramatic explication.
Previews:
May 8, 2013
Opened:
June 2, 2013
Ended:
July 7, 2013
Country:
USA
State:
New York
City:
New York
Company/Producers:
Playwrights Horizons
Theater Type:
off-Broadway
Theater:
Playwrights Horizons
Genre:
Musical
Director:
Michael Greif
Review:
Parental:
adult themes
Cast:
Kelli O'Hara, Steven Pasquale, Isaiah Johnson (Raymond)
Technical:
Set: Allen Moyer. Costumes: Catherine Zuber
Critic:
Scott Bennett
Date Reviewed:
July 2013
