Merry Musicals

Songs to sing as you dream by the fire.

by David Anthony Fox

Dracula

True to the nature of its fanged hero, Frank Wildhorn's Dracula slinked into town quietly in late summer and installed itself in the creepy Belasco Theatre. Box office has been iffy, and while it's hanging in there, it's not leaving much of an imprint. No wonder, since there's nothing memorable about the show. Not the score, certainly, which is an amalgam of slushy pop tunes with Celine Dion-esque titles (try "The Heart Is Slow To Learn," which proves only that composer Wildhorn is slower still). Something about Dracula-the-musical has defeated even the talented people involved. The book (by veteran writers Don Black and the formerly high-toned Christopher Hampton) manages to make the familiar story impenetrable, and the scenery (by Heidi Ettinger) looks like Charles de Gaulle airport spray painted black. Director Des McAnuff hasn't found any pulse (sorry) for the narrative and is content to let groups of people line up on the edge of the stage and stare at each other. The performers fare no better. Initially Tom Hewitt makes a game stab as Dracula, but he quickly gives up the ghost and lets the special effects act for him. Melissa Errico looks lovely but seems bloodless even before the big guy gets his teeth into her.

Dracula is the musical equivalent of a strip mall — shoddily constructed and suburban, it will satisfy only the least discerning customers.

Open run, Belasco Theatre, 111 West 44th St., 800-432-7250.

Brooklyn

New York Times critic Ben Brantley got all sniffy and disdainful about Brooklyn. I suspect it was a face-saving measure, since Brantley's credibility is strained after too many reviews that gush over leading ladies. Personally, I think it would be difficult not to enjoy the energy, invention, good will and talent behind Brooklyn, even if the show has rough edges. Here's the story (or rather the gist, since it has oodles of plot): Our Paris-born heroine, whose name is Brooklyn (just keep reading) seeks a relationship with her unknown father (an American hippie who had a short but passionate affair with Brooklyn's neurotic Apache-dancer mother) and fame as a pop diva. She has some luck with both, though there are the proverbial rocks to climb. The kicker is that all this is a meta-story performed by a group of street artists in … yes, Brooklyn.

Brooklyn features a throbbing pop score (Celine Dion again seems a model — what does this say about contemporary Broadway?), interpreted with maximum American Idol virtuosity. Some of the singing is magnificent, some of it almost life-threatening. But what really makes Brooklyn is a wonderful lack of cynicism on the part of everyone involved, from the writers (newcomers-to-Broadway Mark Schoenfield and Barri McPherson), the performers (Eden Espinosa as Brooklyn and Ramona Keller as rival diva Paradice especially), and most of all director Jeff Calhoun, who has staged the piece with breathtaking inventiveness and visual wit. Damned if I didn't laugh and cry, just as I was meant to. Go on, dislike Brooklyn — I dare you.

Open run, Plymouth Theatre, 236 West 45th St., 800-432-7250.

Opening Soon:

Pacific Overtures

The Roundabout continues its celebration of Stephen Sondheim by returning to one of his most elliptical, intriguing works.

Overtures tells the tale of Commodore Matthew Perry's forcible entry into Japan to open the country to Western trade interests. When the show first opened in 1976 (take that, American bicentennial!), critics found it dry, but the years since have invested it with a special cachet; even among Sondheim aficionados, Pacific Overtures is a cult work. The stars seem to be in fine alignment for this production: It is properly situated in the intimate, malleable Studio 54 space; helmed by an acclaimed Japanese director, Amon Miyamoto; features musical direction by the impeccable Paul Gemignani; and as the Reciter, stars B.D. Wong in a role he might have been born to play.

(In previews, runs through Jan. 30, Roundabout Theatre at Studio 54, 212-719-1300.)

La Cage aux Folles.

The Jerry Herman favorite about an off-beat nuclear family gets a snazzy revival … and just in time to celebrate the Bush re-election.

La Cage features some terrific Broadway vets, including Gary Beach, Daniel Davis and Michael Mulhern.

(In previews, open run, Marquis Theatre, 800-755-4000.)

Lone Star Love.

Shakespeare's Merry Wives Of Windsor has already proved ideal fodder for musicalization (Verdi's Falstaff). Now composer-lyricist Jack Herrick of the Red Clay Ramblers tries his hand and resets the story in the old West. Jay O. Sanders is Falstaff.

(In previews, runs through Jan. 6, John Houseman Theater, 212-239-6200.)