Sick of movies remade as Broadway musicals? Weary of watching Sutton Foster star in what seems like everything? Tired of being crammed into a crowded mezzanine?
Here’s a little show for you: See What I Wanna See, an unusually smart modern musical neatly staged in a 70-seat theater where an excellent company of Asian American and Pacific Islander performers do well by its sophisticated charms.
The title of the tuner that opened Wednesday at Theatre 154 probably is familiar to musical theater aficionados since See What I Wanna See was originally produced in 2005 at the Public Theater with a cast led by Idina Menzel.
Missed it back then? Ever catch a production since? See What I Wanna See may as well be a new musical for most people.
You may as well also know that I am a longtime fanboy of Michael John LaChiusa, the maker of The Wild Party and Hello Again among other distinctive works, who wrote this musical’s words and music. Its plots and themes are suggested by the short stories of Ryunosuke Akutagawa, a Japanese writer from a century ago who believed that literature was a universal way to integrate different cultures.
Appropriately, See What I Wanna See offers three mini-musicals suavely crafted by LaChiusa to meld various Japanese and Western elements within their scores, situations and presentations. Bunraku puppets, flute and percussion effects that suggest Asian-style music, traditional Japanese robes and period American attire designed by Siena Zoë Allen, and a company consisting entirely of AAPI artists are employed to foster this cultural exchange.
A short yet steamy opening work that appears at the top of the show’s two acts, Kesa/Morito is split into separate solos to mirror the different thoughts of a pair of medieval Japanese lovers preparing to murder each other while in the midst of sex.
R SHOMAN, LaChiusa’s dark, inventive riff on the classic “Rashomon” film (drawn from an Akutagawa story) musically tells of a Manhattan murder in Central Park in 1951 from the conflicting points of view of several characters, including a medium who channels the voice of the victim.
LaChiusa’s jazzy music here fittingly suggests the dramatic soundtrack of a film noir. Warbled by a nightclub songbird, a swinging “See What I Wanna See” is the show’s finger-snappy takeaway tune.
The concluding work, Gloryday is set in the sorrowful post-9/11 New York City of 2002. A disillusioned priest cruelly spreads a rumor that a heavenly miracle will shortly arise from a Central Park lake. As many thousands gather, the priest is first elated and then horrified by what he has set in motion.
Like its companion pieces, this musical considers an event from various points of view. Initially the music tends to be laidback and poignant yet becomes driven by bursts of propulsive rhythm as the story moves towards an enigmatic conclusion.
This ambitious and adventurous musical theater work is staged very well by director Emilio Ramos using an elegantly simple setting by Emmie Finckel that suggests a rustic Central Park archway. Swiftly pacing the show with the smooth moves of Paul McGill’s choreography, Ramos makes the most of an eight-member company of assured performers, most of them enacting several characters.
In R SHOMAN, Sam Simahk dangerously smolders as a cocksure thief, a bright-eyed Zachary Noah Piser drolly depicts a Noo Yawker who doesn’t want to get involved, Marina Kondo blows hot and cold as a velvety singer who may want her hubby dead, and Ann Sanders portrays the medium with cat eye eyeglasses and an eerie intensity.
During Gloryday, Piser seriously animates his ever-anxious priest, Kondo goes quirky as a California waif and Sanders dryly plays the priest’s seen-it-all aunt who dishes out sardonic wisdom with her lasagna. Kelvin Moon Loh pops up for a riotous romp through a calypso number as a CPA turned Central Park nature boy.
Meanwhile in those opening episodes, Kondo and Simahk respectively depict their death-dealing Kesa and Morito with easy sensuality. Not incidentally, Kondo is also credited with translating her Kesa sequence from English into Japanese for this production.
Four musicians led by conductor-pianist Adam Rothenberg beautifully illuminate the many colors and sensitivities within LaChiusa’s sometimes shimmering score.
Illumination of a visual kind is provided by Kat C. Zhou’s rich lighting. The several Bunraku and shadow puppet characters designed by Tom Lee are neatly handled by Nikki Colonge, Takemi Kitamuta and Justin Otaki Perkins in solid support of their fellow players. In every respect, this welcome revival of a remarkable musical by Out of the Box Theatrics is an intimate pleasure to see, hear and savor.
See What I Wanna See opened September 18 at Theatre 154 and plays through September 29. Tickets and information: ootbtheatrics.com.
