| My review of METEOR SHOWER: Amy Schumer making Broadway debut in new Steve Martin comedy | |
| Posted by: jesse21 04:11 pm EST 11/29/17 | |
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| - The laughs in Meteor Shower, a new comedy written by Steve Martin, come at the audience not so much like a shower but more like a few sprinkles every so often. It does help that the four actors -- Amy Schumer, Jeremy Shamos, Keegan-Michael Key and Laura Benanti -- are engaging, but this short play that opens tonight at Broadway’s Booth Theatre, doesn’t exactly radiate. The plot set-up: The year is 1993. The place is Ojai, California, the art colony near Santa Barbara that is billed as the magnetic center of the earth. So, the patio of Corky (Ms. Schumer) and Norm’s (Mr. Shamos) expensive contemporary home is an ideal place to watch a meteor shower. They invite over another couple, Norm’s occasional tennis partner Gerald (Mr. Key) and his wife Laura (Ms. Benanti) whom Norm hasn’t met but thinks was once a Vogue editor. The couple arrives and it turns out they are sexier, better dressed, more glamorous and way more self-assured than Corky and Norm. Plus they sure can hurl put-downs. So far, very straightforward, But then the same scene replays itself a couple of times with variations and you are puzzled as to why this is happening because playwright Martin hasn’t laid a foundation for the technique or the themes he is getting at. Perhaps Gerald and Laura are figments of Corky and Norm’s imagination, as in the couple they’d like to be. Or maybe. like meteor showers themselves, the scene variations are a comment on the randomness of life and love. In the final iteration, the tables are turned when Corky and Norm get the better of the other couple. This follows a near-death experience for Norm after he is hit by a meteor. Did it take the possibility of Norm losing his life for the couple to accept themselves and gain confidence? Maybe, but nothing in Meteor Shower ever feels like it is saying anything thematic, let alone insightful or meaningful in the gags or between the gags. Instead each scene in this comedy seems mostly like just another skit on Saturday Night Live, a show on which Mr. Martin appeared or guest hosted some 27 times. And the various versions of the same scene seem like a SNL rehearsal to determine which variation will get the most laughs. Come to think of it, maybe this play, with its battling two couples, is a parody of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. As for the overall engaging actors, Amy Schumer has good stage presence and comes off as likable in addition, of course, to being adept with a funny line. Broadway favorite Laura Benanti too is no stranger to comedy. She’s fine here despite her role might be the weakest of the four. Keegan-Michael Key (Emmy winner for Key and Peele; also Broadway debut) is straightforward and blunt in his delivery. I thought that fine actor Jeremy Shamos (Clybourne Park) was the best (and funniest) because he rooted the comedy by creating a more fully-realized character than the others did. (By the way, in early October Mr. Shamos replaced Alan Tudyk who departed during rehearsals, citing “creative differences.”) Veteran Jerry Zaks (current Hello, Dolly!) directed in a typical sock-it-to-em style. The production design was adequate. Beowulf Boritt created a turntable set of Corky and Norm’s living room on one half and their patio on the other. Natasha Katz provided the bright lighting and Ann Roth did the passable costumes. My performance of Meteor Shower ran only 75 minutes. I guess the idea behind this strictly commercial enterprise is that you not only get to see Amy Schumer up close in a small venue, but you have plenty of time for drinks and dinner too. ★ ★ ½ ☆ ☆ - Jesse SIDEBAR: METEOR SHOWER opens Wednesday, November 29, 2017, at the Booth Theatre, 222 West 45th Street, New York City. Running time: My performance ran 75 minutes (8:07pm to 9:22pm) even though the website lists it as 90 minutes. No intermission. Limited engagement, currently scheduled through January 21, 2018. Link to website. - |
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