DOG AND PONY, the new musical from Rick Elice and Michael Patrick Walker (Jersey Boys, Peter and the Starcatcher, Alter Boyz), is currently having its world premier at The Old Globe in San Diego. With the creds of this creative team, I was really excited about this show. As usual, I found myself having to remember to dial down the enthusiasm, at least until intermission, when, if deserved, I could cut loose a bit and get excited about the production. This way, I allow myself to avoid some of the disappointment that can accompany the first rendering of a brand new work (especially when the creatives are so prominent and have such a track record). In the case of DOG AND PONY, I’m glad i did.
DOG AND PONY is apt as a title, and as you can imagine, is about, literally a dog and a pony, as well as the complete dog and pony show that involves the characters as they progress through a few years of life. The title is perfect.
Screen-writing partners and co-dependent “work spouses,” Mags and Andy (Nicole Parker and Jon Patrick Walker), can’t get beyond their interwoven relationship that includes Andy’s wife, Jane (and eventually his new girlfriend, Bonnie) as well as Mags’ new beau Joe. Confused yet? Don’t worry. It sounds a bit whack-o (OK, it is), but whacked as it seems, it still makes sense. Sort of.
In reality, it wasn’t that the show was that bad. It was a fun concept with a good solid cast. And yes, it progressively became more interesting as the story moved on. To the point that by the end of the show I found myself actually attached to a few of the characters. Specifically the mothers of the two principal characters (both played brilliantly by Tony-winner Beth Leavel) and Andy’s girlfriend, Bonnie, played by Heidi Blickenstaff. This character was endearing in spite of her over-the-top word-altering wackiness. Eric William Morris was also convincing in his character-bending roles – playing the Host, Andy’s neighbor Jeff and Joe, Mags’ gentleman friend.
My problems with the show began with the characters’ personalities. In particular Andy’s incredible insistence that Mags be constantly at his beck and call, and Mags’ insistence on complying even as we see the (admittedly) narcissistic nature of Andy’s personality. Why does Mags, an attractive, single woman allow herself to be sucked into a non-romantic relationship with a man who is simply using her to further his career? Mags seemed too smart for this. Jane, Andy’s wife got it. Eventually.
At any rate, it’s all very dysfunctional. That in itself is not a problem. It’s that the dysfunction doesn’t allow us to feel that these characters could be real (even though we know they could). It just seems too far-fetched. The bigger problem for me was the score. Act One could have been performed completely without any musical numbers and there would have been no change in mood. The sore seemed to be an afterthought that was necessary in order to make sense of the fact that Act Two did, in fact, have a few musical numbers worth listening to.
I will say that DOG AND PONY gives credence to my reason for never (well, ok, almost never) leaving a show at intermission. Had I not returned from the interval I would have missed the fun of “Bonnie Doesn’t Get It,” “Mags Takes Flight” and the wonderful performance from Beth Leavel of “Problem Solved.”
I’d like to think that this show has some potential; however, there would need to be some intense refining for me to be interested in seeing it again. With the level of talent represented both on stage and off, this production should come out way ahead of being in reality a dog and pony show. It just doesn’t quite.
DOG AND PONY plays at The Old Globe in San Diego thru July 6, 2014. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.theoldglobe.org.
