OFF-BROADWAY: “Audrey: The New Musical”
“A mesmerizing, delicate demi-détourné between a woman’s desire for happiness and the projections and machinations of others that stand in her way.”
Marina Yiannouris as Audrey Hepburn (Photo Credit: Eric Bandiero)
Belgian-born British actress and humanitarian Audrey Hepburn is a household name around the world, recognized and beloved globally not just as a film and fashion icon, but as the seminal, quintessential face and legacy of the Classic Hollywood era. While she is best known for her roles in films such as Roman Holiday (1953), Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), and My Fair Lady (1964), where she commanded the screen opposite the likes of nearly every leading man of her day, her personal life was far less charmed than that of the lucky-in-love heroines she so poignantly portrayed.
Enter “Audrey: The New Musical,” a mesmerizing, delicate demi-détourné between a woman’s desire for happiness and the projections and machinations of others that stand in her way.
From the official billing:
“From her days as a ballerina-turned-spy in Nazi-occupied Holland, to her heartbreaking attempts, with multiple men, to create the family of which the war robbed her, through her accidental revolution of style and singledom for generations of women, “Audrey” re-examines the life of the legend through song, dance, and the technicolor lens of her most iconic screen performances.”
Director and choreographer Kelli-Ann Paterwic leads this massive undertaking with an inquisitive eye, finding exceptional beats of quiet heartbreak for our leading lady in a tumultuous swarm of fast-paced fame. The choreography is simplistic delight, reveling in its light-handed homages to sweeping Classic Hollywood elegance rather than barraging us with overwrought sequences.
There is more room to grow, however, as the show develops toward a bright future. Writer Danielle E. Moore’s eclectic song trunk is in-turn gripping, sumptuous, flirtatious, and above all begging to be expanded; each act’s approximately 14 songs run at a breakneck pace, drawing us into an intoxicated tease of character development yearning to be let loose and bring the house down if only given an extra minute or two to blossom into their full potential. Evident still, Moore’s command of the pen is masterful, a graceful tour de force that glides across genre and character with a preternatural clarity needed to propel this piece to greatness.
There are the moments of determined, astute desire riffing on traditional musical theatre ingenue ingenuity (Audrey’s solos “Piece de la Resistance” or “I’ve Got Plans”); comedic flair with the exceptional opportunity to show off Frances Lopez’s exquisite costumes (ensemble uptempo triumphs like “Givenchic,” “Fifth Avenue,” or “The Go-Go Lightly Drag”); or the malleable recurrence of the divine Charlotte Odusanya as Ella Fitzgerald delivering a sumptuous, cheeky invitation that “Paris is always a good idea.” Moore’s score allows each character moments to play and excavate the complexity of these historical icons for themselves, shining brightly during duets and face-offs where the score is at its peak in tension, intrigue, and fun.
Musical arrangements by Sara Linger, Courtney Anne McNally, and Kate Amrine for keyboard, drums, and trumpet paint a vibrant palette for the world of Moore’s music. The sound mix in The Players Theatre is always a nightmare by way of hollow, narrow venue design, so despite some hearing issues of lyrical clarity given the heavier-hitting instrumentation, it’s evident the piece has the core ingredients now poised to grow. A lighter handed string section could beautifully envelop Audrey’s frenetic yearning in future iterations, although the current selection of brass and percussion belies an inherently intriguing feminist commentary on the titular character’s bold demand to be heard.
Plot-wise, the life of Ms. Hepburn has been cherry-picked to whittle a complex lifetime down to a central exploration of her battle for family and belonging. Points of political intrigue are glossed over, her accidental fashion revolution is hapless comedic relief; “Audrey” is a love story at its core, laser-focused on the revolving wheels in her head, and the revolving door suitors in her stead.
This leaves us though with a piece that is a star-vehicle for an irreplaceable presence; the denizens of Audrey’s world shine bright but are mere stars sprinkled in near a supernova: breakout newcomer Marina Yiannouris, making her Off-Broadway debut as Audrey.
Yiannouris is impossible to take your eyes off of. Her voice and presence are piercing, delivering a commandeering vulnerability that never slips into pale impressionism. Like a doe calm in the headlights, Yiannouris sprints and bounds through the marathon musical with the graceful ease of a seasoned professional poised and perfectly suited for the challenge. Delivering piercing axioms with a quiet defiance, her juxtaposition of heartbreak with hope in lines like “The roadmap to happiness didn’t show you next to me” captures the pining, heart-squeezing essence of our heroine’s struggle to find contentment and fulfillment from the men around her.
Her revolving door of suitors is played with charm and chagrin by Brenton Cosier as Bill Holden (a smooth Tommy Kaiser at the performance I saw), debonair Bradley Lewis as Gregory Peck, beguiling Christopher Cheng as Humphrey Bogart, and a scene-stealing James C. Harris as Hepburn's first husband Mel Ferrer. Inhabiting the orbit around a star is often a thankless position, but these men step up to the plate with thoughtful, un-caricatured earnesty as Audrey matures through heartbreak and infatuation through the years.
In anyone’s attempt to find happiness, it would seem at times that trying men on like dresses is our unfortunate only option; thankfully this show has two expert dressmakers to save the day: Sam Asa Brownstein as Hubert de Givenchy and Charlotte Odusanya as Edith Head, guiding Audrey through Hollywood couture with wit and humor somewhere between “Aida”’s “My Strongest Suit” and “Anastasia”’s “Paris Holds the Key” (only “A” name shows apparently excel at finding the humor and charm in women’s fashion. Sorry, “Devil Wears Prada”). Rounding out the stellar ensemble is the charming Tiffany Furicchia as Marilyn Monroe, star-dancer Hannah Beemer as Young Audrey, and Sasha Spitz as Audrey’s firm mother.
A quibble in an otherwise solid showcase is an aimless ending, unsure of the clarity Audrey is so desperately searching for in her own love life. Ending on a moral petition to not waste your shot or your dreams falls flat after a (too short!) 11 o’clock number “Take Two” searches to sum up the growth we’ve spent the last two hours trying to discern in our heroine. The trouble is that growth hasn’t really been the focus, with the plot hopping from happenstance to happenstance like watching a biopic, not a stakes-driven drama where we are concerned she won’t get what she wants. Everyone wants to be loved, but drawing the explicit evolutions of Audrey’s “why” could be further tapped for audience empathy. An unhappy byproduct of adapting real life is the stickiness of resolving a dramatization; clear stakes and resolutions aren’t exactly tidy IRL, so the piece yearns for more breadcrumbs of Audrey’s progression in her thinking and attitude toward love and family to feel a fulfilled satisfaction where the show lands. But, shooting for the moon and landing among the stars is still pretty damn good.
Production credits
“Audrey: The New Musical”
Presented by Green Light Group.
Book, Music, & Lyrics by Danielle E. Moore.
Directed and choreographed by Kelli-Ann Paterwic.
Creative team features Sara Linger (Music Direction), Margaret Fortuna Yassky (Stage Manager/Sound Design), Frances Lopez (Costumes), Jessica Choi (Lighting Design), Nicholas Primiano (LED Curtain Technician), Andrew Colin Beck (Key Art), and Sara Linger, Courtney Anne McNally, and Kate Amrine (Musical Arrangements).
Cast features Marina Yiannouris, Brenton Cosier, Charlotte Odusanya, Bradley Lewis, Sam Asa Brownstein, Christopher Cheng, James C. Harris, Tiffany Furicchia, Hannah Beemer, Lara Strong, Sasha Spitz, and Tommy Kaiser.
Performances run July 28–August 28 at the Players Theatre. The performance runs approximately 2 hours, including an intermission. For more information visit https://www.greenlightgroupproductions.com/