Off-Broadway: English premiere of French musical “The Ten Commandments”
An earnest sampling of sumptuous melody and muted grandeur
“The Maximum Pain” is performed by Lawrence Neals, with background vocals by Lisa Monde, Mackenzie Tank, Kristyn Vario.
Almost 20 years after its world premiere in France, "The Ten Commandments" (Les Dix Commandements) has reached American soil, tiptoeing into the periphery of New York’s Off-Broadway scene with an unexpected gust of passion and heart that will sweep you off your feet. Created by the French team of filmmaker Elie Chouraqui, with music by Pascal Obispo and lyrics by Lionel Florence and Patrice Guirao, the original musical has played to over 3 million spectators across Europe to date, not including subsequent productions seen on virtually every continent. While this international smash hit’s book was previously used as the basis for the Patrick Leonard-composed “The Ten Commandments: The Musical” starring Val Kilmer and Adam Lambert, this is the first translation of the actual musical, cherried on top by an all-new English premiere cast recording with two singles out now. This ambitious undertaking belongs to David Serero-- baritone, producer, and Moses extraordinaire.
Endeavoring to condense the grand style of French mega-musical into a palatable, packageable, hopefully future licensable piece for American audiences to assimilate into our often smaller theatrical houses is a daunting reconstruction. In scaling down the ensemble and playing to tracked music, Serero’s understated production playing a limited run at Center for Jewish History lands more like a showcase, a tantalizing sneak preview of a “new” musical that can easily become a staple of American licensing repertoires in countless communities across the country one day who would be strongly interested in this exquisite, toe-tapping adaptation of one of the “greatest stories of all time.” Whereas the original work depends on breathtaking spectacle on par with its epic story, Serero proves that a small-scale intimacy can be embraced for this gem of French musical theatre to finally reach American audiences within a scalable, producible package emphasizing the tight ensemble and elegant music over opulence.
The French musical tradition meant for spectacle and visual storytelling here is stripped down to its bones, mostly hurting in the venue’s poor lighting in order to prioritize fun projection design. The space is a gorgeous hollow of the hallowed Center for Jewish History, the perfect alliance of venue and show messaging. However, in practice the space lends itself to a lectern more than legato acoustics, with diction and sound design floating lost in this grand hall without the searing precision of balanced audio placement that a complex rock musical requires to land moments of impact and intensity. It’s spatial restraints also means the Hebrew slave ensemble roams down the lecture hall aisles like a limp community theatre Lion King, one example of what should be a triumphant moment in the script that here feels like we can fill in the blanks on the show’s possibilities dependent on venue scale.
Much like the wandering people it’s about, the book meanders to and from key story beats with a lackadaisical free-flow, with blind faith we’ll get where we need to get. This is, after all, one of the most well-known stories of all-time, passed on through at least the three Abrahamic religions that span the globe, so little time is spent on exposition or world-building. The key foible I had with the piece is actually the same twinge of ennui experienced at Dreamworks’ tragic misstep adapting their own The Prince of Egypt on stage in Denmark and London; both biblical stage adaptations understate the fantastical, miraculous, and supernatural in favor of grounding their pieces in character-driven, humanist intimacy. This would be perfectly fine, especially given this adaptation’s quest for palatable producibility onward, except here Moses appears less like an endearing protagonist to cheer on and cry alongside, and more like a pawn moving dutifully from scene to scene. Serero has cut out the air pockets of musical interludes that pepper the original in overwrought unspoken acting between songs, so here the work is tight driving from song to song with relentless speed and intention. As the lead, Moses deserves a bit more time to milk and marinate in the spotlight that we want to watch him find ownership and identity in. However, Serero is magnificent as the musical’s central pillar, rooting us in strength and supplication with an auteur’s grip on the material that radiates an infectious passion.
While the book may stagnate and sputter over character development, the spiderweb of relationships that surround Moses (and indeed some are sticky!) leave a broad swath open for emphasis on lead performances and star quality lead singles. Songs like “The Maximum Pain” and “I Choose to Abandon” stir and spur vivid imagery in lyricism and musicality, painting notes of colorful storytelling in hummable, delightfully delectable snippets that are skillfully translated in perfect linguistic harmony. Repetitious melodies with simple lyrics reflect the conflict of a world-weary people yearning to find rest in a cascade of powerful anthems one after another:
“And since we have for our prison / A unique land whose only horizon is the desert… / Since our love is unreachable today / And our new dream too high / To be free someday / But may God forgive / If just to be only a man is my maximum pain”
The cast includes David Serero (Moses), DaShaun Williams (Ramses), Caroline Purdy (Nefertari), Stephanie Craven (Sephora), Lisa Monde (Bithia), Cale Rausch (Joshua), Zachary Harris Martin (Aaron), Kristyn Vario (Myriam), Andy Donnelly and Julia Anne Cohen (Various roles and U/S), with the majority making outstanding off-Broadway debuts as fine soloists that mesh flawlessly as a cohesive, strong ensemble. Highlights include Stephanie Craven’s endearing “He is The One I Wanted,” Cale Rausch’s soaring “I Had Never Prayed,” and Serero’s fraternal duet with DaShaun Williams’ subtle yet firm Ramses in “My Brother.” The show is a true ensemble piece allowing each cast member to shine in the gloriously overwrought pop-rock music, finding moments of joy and heartbreak with acting choices of deft decisiveness deserving every praise under Serero’s gentle direction.
Under David Serero’s auteur craftsmanship, The Ten Commandments is très belle, an earnest sampling of sumptuous melody and muted grandeur that ultimately leaves you wanting more, anticipating when we’ll see this delightful piece next.
Production credits
This limited engagement ran at the Center for Jewish History (15 West 16th Street, New York NY 10011) on May 5th (3pm), 8th (6pm - Premiere), 10th and 12th (8pm), and the 15th (6pm). Run time is 1hr 15min (0 intermissions). For more information visit thetencommandmentsthemusical.com.
Originally Created by Elie Chouraqui with music by Pascal Obispo, lyrics by Lionel Florence and Patrice Guirao, Libretto/Book: Elie Chouraqui, and English Adaptation by David Serero.
Show directed and produced by David Serero. Original choreography by Kamel Ouali.
Cast includes David Serero (Moses), DaShaun Williams (Ramses), Caroline Purdy (Nefertari), Stephanie Craven (Sephora), Lisa Monde (Bithia), Cale Rausch (Joshua), Zachary Harris Martin (Aaron), Kristyn Vario (Myriam), Andy Donnelly and Julia Anne Cohen (Various roles and U/S).