{"id":71098,"date":"2018-07-25T00:27:11","date_gmt":"2018-07-25T04:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/new-rock-opera-from-hedwig-creator-this-aint-no-disco-is-right-about-that-review\/"},"modified":"2018-07-25T00:27:11","modified_gmt":"2018-07-25T04:27:11","slug":"new-rock-opera-from-hedwig-creator-this-aint-no-disco-is-right-about-that-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/new-rock-opera-from-hedwig-creator-this-aint-no-disco-is-right-about-that-review\/","title":{"rendered":"New Rock Opera from \u2018Hedwig\u2019 Creator, \u2018This Ain\u2019t No Disco\u2019 Is Right About That: REVIEW"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Rock Opera from \u2018Hedwig\u2019 Creator, \u2018This Ain\u2019t No Disco\u2019 Is Right About That: REVIEW<\/b>
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There\u2019s no shortage of stories to tell about Studio 54. Ian Schrager will spill the whole teapot in a <\/span>definitive doc<\/span><\/a> out later this year. Miramax dished up a splashy and hollow celluloid treatment in Ryan Phillippe vehicle\u00a0<\/span>54<\/span><\/i>. And of course there are the legendary tales that will likely be taken to the grave.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s tough to discern what story the creators of <\/span>This Ain\u2019t No Disco<\/span><\/i>, a rock opera that opened off-Broadway tonight, aim to tell about the famed nightclub. It could, at various moments, be one about access and escape, fame and artistry, the primordial uptown-downtown tug-of-war endemic to pop culture. But it is rarely any one of these for long, and the result feels like a shopworn grab bag without much clutch.<\/span><\/p>\n

This ain\u2019t no disco, indeed.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The gang of stock characters is all here on Atlantic Theater Company\u2019s main stage, including Steve Rubell himself (Theo Stockman); Warhol, known simply as \u201cthe artist\u201d (Will Connolly, disguised under an unfortunate wig and shades); a gaudy loudmouth publicist (Chilina Kennedy), the D.A. with a hidden agenda and taste for young hunks (Eddie Cooper); the coat check girls<\/a>, who are lovers and aspiring artists (Krystina Alabado and Lulu Fall). <\/span><\/p>\n

The trials of tandem protagonists are woven throughout: One is a self-professed \u201cteenage<\/a> hustler runaway\u201d (Peter Laprade) who knew it was time to go when Dad found his \u201cfag rag and Jean Genet.\u201d The other is a young single mom (Samantha Marie Ware) whose brand of Joey Ramone punk bears an unmistakable resemblance to \u201cRhythm Nation\u201d Janet. They are both aimless until convinced by the vague allures of fame (and its makers) to become an artist and a singer-songwriter, respectively. How else to spend your youth? <\/span><\/p>\n

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Stephen Trask teamed up with Peter Yanowitz (of The Wallflowers) on a new-wavey pop-rock score that lacks the boldness and tart flavor of his cult hit <\/span>Hedwig<\/span><\/i> and the Angry Inch<\/span><\/i>. (True to the show\u2019s title, cribbed from a <\/span>Talking Heads song<\/span><\/a>, discernable disco influence is scarce.) <\/span>Jersey Boys <\/span><\/i>co-author Rick Elice collaborated with the pair on a book peppered with rhyming couplets and overstuffed with plot, including a rivalry with the edgier Mudd Club that winds up buried. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Director Darko Tresnjak (Tony winner for <\/span>A Gentleman\u2019s Guide to Love and Murder<\/span><\/i>) struggles to differentiate uptown from downtown, or outside club doors from interior splendor \u2014 extremes that make the city tick. As a chorus of \u201csupplicants\u201d clamors to be let in, it\u2019s tempting to confess they\u2019re not missing much. Jason Sherwood\u2019s two-tier scaffold set, well suited to a rock opera, only modestly transforms with the descent of a disco ball and multi-colored bulbs (Ben Stanton designed the moody club lighting). <\/span><\/p>\n

For a musical about dance clubs not to employ a choreographer seems like an odd choice (Tresnjak doesn\u2019t receive dual credit in addition to directing). When the coat girls<\/a> sing a seat-of-their-pants anthem, \u201cwe just make it up as we go along,\u201d they might be speaking for half of the show\u2019s uninspired steps. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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In the end, Warhol\u2019s unnamed proxy delivers an eleven o\u2019clock number that belies his dispassion, singing \u201clife is suffering, life is pain.\u201d He\u2019s right, of course. Isn\u2019t that why people go out in the first place? \u201cStop thinking and you will know,\u201d he insists. \u201cStop wanting and you will have, stop looking and you will see.\u201d It\u2019s a ballad about the false promise of obvious pleasures. Now that\u2019s a unifying theme for a musical. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Follow Naveen Kumar on Twitter: @Mr_NaveenKumar
<\/a><\/em>(photos: ben arons)<\/p>\n

The post New Rock Opera from \u2018Hedwig\u2019 Creator, \u2018This Ain\u2019t No Disco\u2019 Is Right About That: REVIEW<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad Gay News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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New Rock Opera from \u2018Hedwig\u2019 Creator, \u2018This Ain\u2019t No Disco\u2019 Is Right About That: REVIEW<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n