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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"
align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial"><FONT style="face: georgia"
face=Georgia>Porthouse talent rises above mediocre musical
‘Bklyn’</FONT></SPAN></B></P>
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style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
style="face: georgia" face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
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style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"
align=center><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: "><FONT style="COLOR: " color=#222222
face=Georgia>Bob Abelman</FONT></SPAN></P>
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style="FONT-FAMILY: ; WHITE-SPACE: normal; WORD-SPACING: 0px; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none; COLOR: ; ORPHANS: 2; WIDOWS: 2; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LETTER-SPACING: normal; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); TEXT-INDENT: 0px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial"
align=center><I><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: "><FONT style="COLOR: " color=#222222
face=Georgia>Cleveland Jewish News, The News Herald, The Morning
Journal</FONT></SPAN></I></P>
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style="FONT-FAMILY: ; WHITE-SPACE: normal; WORD-SPACING: 0px; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none; COLOR: ; ORPHANS: 2; WIDOWS: 2; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LETTER-SPACING: normal; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); TEXT-INDENT: 0px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial"
align=center><I><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: "><FONT color=#222222
face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN></I> </P>
<P class=MsoNormalCxSpMiddle
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; mso-add-space: auto"><FONT
face=Georgia><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: ">W</SPAN><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'>hile
sitting in your seat in Porthouse Theatre’s outdoor amphitheater, it is likely
that </SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: ">“Bklyn: The Musical” will<B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"> </B>seem particularly </SPAN><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'>familiar.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It is not because the show is tapping
universal truths, resonating with social relevance, or conjuring commonly held
slice-of-life scenarios, which it doesn’t.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>It’s just that the work – written by </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: "><FONT color=#333333>Mark Schoenfeld and Barri
McPherson, and first staged in 2003 – is </FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'>astoundingly
unoriginal. </SPAN></FONT><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face=Georgia> </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormalCxSpMiddle
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; mso-add-space: auto"><FONT
face=Georgia><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'>If
you’ve read “Oliver Twist,” seen a production of “Annie,” or watched the film
“August Rush,” then “Bkyln’s” core story about an orphan coming of age and
seeking a long-lost parent believed to be alive will ring a bell. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Its plot </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none; BACKGROUND-REPEAT: repeat; BACKGROUND-ATTACHMENT: scroll; BACKGROUND-POSITION: 0% 0%; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial"><FONT
color=#4d5156>revolves around a young Parisian singer </FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'>who
was raised in a convent and, recalling an unfinished lullaby written by her
Brooklyn-born father, crosses the ocean in pursuit of the man she has never
known.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The show is grounded in so
many recognizable tropes that every twist and turn is
predictable.</SPAN></FONT><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face=Georgia> </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormalCxSpMiddle
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; mso-add-space: auto"><FONT
face=Georgia><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none; BACKGROUND-REPEAT: repeat; BACKGROUND-ATTACHMENT: scroll; BACKGROUND-POSITION: 0% 0%; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial"><FONT
color=#4d5156>If you’ve seen </FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: "><FONT color=#333333>“Dreamgirls” or any one of
the 19 seasons of “American Idol,” then you’ll certainly recognize the frequent
R&B-flavored anthems and the </FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none; BACKGROUND-REPEAT: repeat; BACKGROUND-ATTACHMENT: scroll; BACKGROUND-POSITION: 0% 0%; COLOR: ">high
decibel, note-holding belting being performed on this stage.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>High risk/high reward vocal calisthenics
are called for so early and often in this musical that one quickly takes for
granted the immense skill and effort they require.</SPAN></FONT><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face=Georgia> </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormalCxSpMiddle
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; mso-add-space: auto"><FONT
face=Georgia><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none; BACKGROUND-REPEAT: repeat; BACKGROUND-ATTACHMENT: scroll; BACKGROUND-POSITION: 0% 0%; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial"><FONT
color=#4d5156>The story is served up as a highly implausible, frequently
schmaltzy, modern-day fairytale as told by the troupe of homeless street
performers who amble onto the stage to earn some loose change.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>But the show’s infusion of staggeringly
saccharine</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none; BACKGROUND-REPEAT: repeat; BACKGROUND-ATTACHMENT: scroll; BACKGROUND-POSITION: 0% 0%; COLOR: "><FONT
color=#ff0000> </FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none; BACKGROUND-REPEAT: repeat; BACKGROUND-ATTACHMENT: scroll; BACKGROUND-POSITION: 0% 0%; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial"><FONT
color=#4d5156>ballads and the beatific depiction of the central characters –
particularly the troupe’s leader who also serves as the show’s narrator and
calls himself the “Magic Man” – fail to find the heart required to drive this
form of storytelling.</FONT></SPAN></FONT><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none; BACKGROUND-REPEAT: repeat; BACKGROUND-ATTACHMENT: scroll; BACKGROUND-POSITION: 0% 0%; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial"><FONT
color=#4d5156 face=Georgia> </FONT></SPAN></P>
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style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; mso-add-space: auto"><SPAN
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face=Georgia><FONT color=#4d5156>Porthouse’s Eric van Baars’ well-intended
direction and always interesting but constrained choreography – clearly impacted
by COVID-19 restrictions – does little to bring out the sorely needed magical
realism encoded into “Bkyln’s” script and score.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The same can be said for Cynthia R.
Stillings’ no-frills lighting design.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>But it is better embraced in scenic designer Ben Needham’s romanticized
rendition of urban squalor.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It
features a stand-alone, center stage section of street corner complete with a
graffiti-covered wall, chain link fence, assorted trash cans from which props
are pulled, and a functional traffic light. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Costume designer Suwatana (Pla) Rockland
is similarly inspired but, with COVID-19 regulations prohibiting close-quarter
costume changes, she is limited in what she can add to this production.
</FONT></FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none; BACKGROUND-REPEAT: repeat; BACKGROUND-ATTACHMENT: scroll; BACKGROUND-POSITION: 0% 0%; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial"><FONT
color=#4d5156 face=Georgia> </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormalCxSpMiddle
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; mso-add-space: auto"><FONT
face=Georgia><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none; BACKGROUND-REPEAT: repeat; BACKGROUND-ATTACHMENT: scroll; BACKGROUND-POSITION: 0% 0%; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial"><FONT
color=#4d5156>So, not a great musical or particularly compelling staging.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Fortunately, Baars has pulled together a
seven-member cast </FONT></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: ">that is
remarkable.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Watching them perform
is the reason to see this show.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=Georgia><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none; BACKGROUND-REPEAT: repeat; BACKGROUND-ATTACHMENT: scroll; BACKGROUND-POSITION: 0% 0%; COLOR: "></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=Georgia><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none; BACKGROUND-REPEAT: repeat; BACKGROUND-ATTACHMENT: scroll; BACKGROUND-POSITION: 0% 0%; COLOR: ">For
more of this review, go to: </SPAN></FONT><A
title=https://www.news-herald.com/things-to-do/porthouse-talent-rises-above-mediocre-musical-bklyn-the-musical-theater-review/article_f90863c4-e4c7-11eb-9252-8baa33d6ac3b.html
href="https://www.news-herald.com/things-to-do/porthouse-talent-rises-above-mediocre-musical-bklyn-the-musical-theater-review/article_f90863c4-e4c7-11eb-9252-8baa33d6ac3b.html">https://www.news-herald.com/things-to-do/porthouse-talent-rises-above-mediocre-musical-bklyn-the-musical-theater-review/article_f90863c4-e4c7-11eb-9252-8baa33d6ac3b.html</A></P></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>