Lysistrata Jones
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Cititour.com Review
In the current economic climate, is a flimsy, sophomoric show about a college basketball team lusting to finally win a game worth a Broadway ticket price? Probably not. Unless you score some major discount, the musical Lysistrata Jones (an off-Broadway transfer) is the lightest piece of fluff around masquerading as a smart, cutting edge, tongue-in-cheek, clever show, this silly "High School Musical" parody sets its story, based upon the classic Greek comedy, at Athens University, but forgets to change the maturity level from 9th grade hi-jinks to Seniors at college. The result is a first Act that shuffles along until the second Act finally gives off some legitimate fireworks.
Book writer, Douglas Carter Beane, used the same playbook for the campy summer hit Xanadu far more successfully. All the wink-wink, nod-nod, that went over well then seems hopelessly desperate here. Beane is an incredibly intelligent scribe and he injects plenty of humor into his libretto but not until the second Act does any of it truly land. Until then, exposition substitutes for an actual plot. The score from Lewis Flinn is pleasantly pop but easily forgettable.
A captain of the loosing basketball team’s girlfriend convinces the other player’s girlfriends to withhold sexual favors until the pathetic team wins a game. This journey takes the audience on a tour of the local brothel, along with lessons in learning to follow your passion and dispense with the popular belief that proclaiming “whatever” can get you out of engaging in life to the fullest.
The pluses include a wonderful cast headed by the powerhouse Liz Mikel, in her Broadway debut, Patti Murin with a terrific stage presence, and Josh Segarra oozing charm. The show is also staged with precision by director-choreographer Dan Knechtges with clever choreography for both cheerleaders and their pom-poms, and basketball players dribbling while leaping.
While Lysistrata Jones probably won’t make anyone’s ten best list, if all you want are breezy laughs then it can certainly offers that — but don’t hold out for that pot of gold.
By Lesley Alexander
Visit the Site
http://lysistratajones.com
Cast
Patti Murin, Liz Mikel, Josh Segarra, Jason Tam, Lindsay Nicole Chambers, Alexander Aguilar, Ato Blankson-Wood, Katie Boren, Kat Nejat, LaQuet Sharnell, Teddy Toye, Alex Wyse
Open/Close Dates
Opening 12/14/2011
Closing 1/8/2012
Preview Open/ Preview Close Dates
Preview Opening 11/12/2011
Closing Open-ended
Box Office
212-239-6200
Theatre Info
Walter Kerr Theatre
219 West 48th Street
New York, NY 10036
Map
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