Contemporary pop music generally has been a muted soundtrack in my life, so I am scarcely expert regarding the songwriter-performer who lends his name to David Byrne’s American Utopia, which opened on Sunday for a Broadway sojourn through mid-January.
The only exception to such ignorance is my fanboy admiration for Here Lies Love, Byrne’s lush and inventive off-Broadway musical about Imelda Marcos that incarnated her life and times as glitzy doings in a disco club. How producers have not yet been able to secure a suitable venue to give Here Lies Love an extended run in New York is baffling.
Meanwhile, the Hudson Theatre, among the nicest and most comfortable of Broadway houses, hosts American Utopia, an excellent musical event that Byrne has devised from his 2018 studio recording.
[Read Elysa Gardner’s ★★★★★ review here.]
Half a dozen American Utopia selections as well as several of Byrne’s greatest hits are among the 20-plus numbers staged as an extremely stylish 100 minute-long concert.
Striking minimalist looks enhance the entertainment. Byrne and 11 musicians are all barefoot and identically dressed in pale gray suits. As they play their instruments—which are worn on harnesses—everyone energetically dances and travels around the stage in various choreographed patterns playfully devised by Annie-B Parson to the rhythms of the songs.
Their often angular and repetitive moves reflect the hypnotic quality of Byrne’s music.
Looking trim and elegant, Byrne introduces the numbers with brief, germane anecdotes. Often flanked by snazzy dancer-vocalists Tendayi Kuumba and Chris Giarmo, Byrne masterfully incants the songs in his declamatory style amid warm, close-harmony singing from the company. Their fine musicianship blends complex percussion/keyboard instrumentals with sharp guitar and bass lines. And they do it all while in nearly ceaseless motion around the stage.
Beginning with “Here” and concluding with “Road to Nowhere,” Byrne’s song stack presents existential studies in perceptions, connections, and unusual points of view concerning daily life.
Not all of them being human. Part of “Everyday is a Miracle” wonders about heaven from a chicken’s perspective. “Bullet” traces a projectile’s path through a man’s body. And then of course, the classic “Once in a Lifetime,” with its “same as it ever was” chant, is a how-did-I-get-here study in midlife crisis. Byrne’s powerful cover rendition of Janelle Monae’s “Hell You Talmabout,” a protest song that calls out the names of victims of racial violence, becomes a transcendent expression for a better world.
Future ticket-buyers take note that I was seated six rows back from the stage and experienced trouble comprehending lyrics due to dense sound mixing and nearby equipment placement. That’s a pity, since the wordplay is so crucial to appreciating Byrne’s work. The seating locations further back in the house, or even upstairs, likely offer a better view of Parson’s quirky choreography, too.
Alex Timbers, the director of spectacles such as Moulin Rouge, is billed as production consultant, so likely his input contributes to this concert’s handsome visuals. The ultra-cool surroundings involve thin beaded chains that create a silvery screen effect, dramatically lit by Rob Sinclair with looming shadows and various colors.
Of course everything blazes into fiery oranges and reds for that lusty “Burning Down the House.” By this time, later in the concert, many spectators are standing up and singing along.
A choice gallery of thoughtful songs given a classy staging and headlined by a charismatic star, the exhilarating American Utopia will please David Byrne fans and probably win him plenty of new ones.
American Utopia opened October 20, 2019, at the Hudson Theatre and runs through February 16, 2020. Tickets and information: americanutopiabroadway.com
