Entertainment :: Theatre
Musical ’High Fidelity’ comes back to life by Joseph Erbentraut
EDGE ContributorWednesday Aug 19, 2009 When Stef Tovar, Route 66 Theatre Company artistic director, made the decision to bring High Fidelity to Chicago, he must have known he was playing with fire.
The musical based on the 1995 Nick Hornby novel (made famous by the 2000 film starring John Cusack) was universally panned during its 13-performance Broadway run in late 2006. "Still," Ben Brantley wrote in the New York Times, "High Fidelity definitely deserves a place in my own catalog of Top 5 lists. That would be on the roster of All-Time Most Forgettable Musicals. Now if only I could remember the names of the others."
With reviews like this, it leaves one with a simple question for the man responsible for the show’s re-appearance, opening this week at Piper’s Alley: "How will this be different?"
"We’re taking a small story and keeping it small," shared Tovar, who also plays Rob, the show’s lead. "On Broadway, they took a small story and made it a big Broadway musical and that’s a lot of pressure, even for big shows. It’s a Chicago story, and it’s about the music."
Tovar originally pitched the idea to remount the musical about a neurotic record-store owner who spends much of his time summarizing life experiences into "Top 5" lists to the American Theater Company (ATC). ATC decided to mount Hedwig and the Angry Inch instead. Tovar, part of a mass exodus from ATC, then discussed the project with Michael Mahler, who was immediately interested in Tovar’s Flight of the Conchords-styled approach to the story.
"When [the Broadway producers] took the band and put them in the back where you couldn’t see them, that simply was not the way to do the show," continued Tovar. "The best part of the show is seeing the actors as musicians and seeing what they bring to the table."
In the vein of the popular HBO series, Tovar and his creative team moved the band to the front of the stage, shifting the show’s central focus from Rob’s romance with Laura (played by Tricia Small) to the three-way bromance of Tovar and his employees, Dick (Mahler) and Barry (Jonathan Wagner). The result is a show that feels true to the essence of a live music concert touching on genres and influences as far ranging as gospel, Springsteen and rap.
The score is by recent Tony-award winning composer Tom Kitt (who took home the medallion for the current hit Next to Normal) and lyrics by Jonathan Larson Award-recognized Amanda Green (who rears from musical-comedy royalty: her mother is actress Phyllis Newman and her father is the late lyricist and book writer Adolph Green). The book is by Pulitzer Prize-winning David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole), whose approach is far closer to Hornby’s novel than that used in the popular film.
"The material was written by really talented people," shared Tovar. "When I hear [the criticisms of the Broadway show] I ask, ’Did you see the show? Have you ever read it?’ I think people will be surprised by what they see, and I think our concept helps that."
Tovar said audiences for the show’s previews last week gave him a lot of positive feedback for the show that is taking over the theater space previously home (for 16 years) to Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding. He sees it as an enjoyable, not-so-serious night out at the theater for Windy City dwellers, able to marvel at the pretensions and idiosyncrasies of a Wicker Park hipster living out a rock star fantasy.
"It’s about a guy going through a breakup. We’re not curing cancer here, but we’re just having a fun night," Tovar said. "And besides, who hasn’t sang in the shower or imagined themselves as a rock star? For Rob, that’s the big thing for him. He gets to be a rock star every night and that’s key to playing my part."
High Fidelity plays at Piper’s Alley, 1608 N. Wells St., through October 11. Performances run Thursdays and Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 4:30 and 8:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3:30 p.m. Tickets and more information are available at www.hifichicago.com or by calling (312) 664-8844.
Joseph covers news, arts and entertainment and lives in Chicago.
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