Imagine a low-energy version of Cirque du Soleil accompanied by visual projections reminiscent of an overly busy screensaver, and you have some idea of the new theatrical adaptation of The Little Prince. Based on the classic 1943 novella by Antoine de Saint-Exupery that has long captivated readers young and old alike (its charms have always been lost on me), this French production arrives for a limited Broadway engagement after previous runs in Paris, Sydney and Dubai.
If you’ve read the source material and thought, “What this material really needs is interpretive dance,” then this is the show for you. Librettist/co-director Chris Mouron, who also serves as narrator, recites excerpts from the book, including lines of dialogue from many of its characters, while an ensemble of dancers, aerialists, and acrobats go through their unexciting paces. The not-so-magical results will bring you back to your childhood, assuming you spent much of your childhood napping.
The production’s international travels seem appropriate, since audiences of every nationality are bound to be confused while watching it. Even if you’re familiar with the book, you’ll be unlikely to follow the abstract proceedings which feature many of the performers being lifted overhead, as if they were desperately attempting to escape the theater’s confines. It doesn’t help that green-haired narrator Mouron speaks in such a thick and cloying French accent that it becomes necessary to read the projected captions presented on both sides of the stage. Finally, a Broadway show that promotes reading!
Devotees of the book, involving the titular character (Lionel Zalachas) relating a series of allegory-laden, philosophical stories to a desert-stranded aviator (Aurelien Bednarek), will recognize many of the whimsical episodes involving such figures as The Rose (Laurisse Sulty), The King (Joan Bertrand), The Vain Man (Antony Cesar), The Drunkard (Marie Menuge), and The Snake (Srilata Ray), the last played so memorably by Bob Fosse in Stanley Donen’s equally misbegotten 1974 film musical adaptation of the book.
But almost none of the message-laden tales register, thanks to the blandly similar, abstract manner in which they’re presented. The modern-style dances created by director/choreographer Anne Tournie, mainly consisting of duets or solos, never make much of an impression, and the acrobatics and aerial work, while competent, pale in comparison to those seen in the much grander-scaled Cirque du Soleil extravaganzas. Peggy Housset’s costumes are suitably colorful, but perversely so often hide much of the performers’ bodies that there are times when you feel you’re watching a puppet show.
As for the trippy digital visuals projected on both the rear and floor of the stage, suffice it to say that they would presumably seem far more impressive if augmented by hallucinogenics. The sickly sweet, pre-recorded music (hey, live musicians cost money) composed by Terry Truck seems designed for people who think Yanni is too cutting-edge. There are a couple of songs, both sung in French, presumably so the few Parisians in attendance will feel at home.
It’s hard to say for whom the show is intended. Children, the presumed target audience, are likely to be bored out of their minds (thankfully, there’s an intermission to provide them the opportunity to vent), while baffled adults will find their stamina tested by the 110-minute running time which seems to go on forever. The overblown but underwhelming production seems lost in the vast Broadway Theatre, but probably would have seemed right at home in the intimate New Victory.
There will be some, no doubt, who will find the proceedings magical and transporting. After all, lava lamps were once all the rage.
The Little Prince opened April 11, 2022, at the Broadway Theatre and runs through August 14. Tickets and information: thelittleprincebroadway.com
