| An ambitious, often rapturous, take on the classic Henry James novella from 1903. Kander's score is consistently lovely and is the principle reason the show succeeds to the degree that it does. It's written entirely in 3/4 time and even though this seems anachronistic given the story has been updated to the recent past, the melodies have a romantic sweep that is alternately tender and sad. Stroman mostly matches the music's movement and feeling with simple, evanescent stage effects and dances that are interpolated as songs would be in a more traditional musical. This idea, which is really wonderful, could have been taken further than it was as much of the book, the least evocative of the show's elements, was extraneous. In all, this is an admirable, adventurous piece of musical theatre that plays with the form in interesting and exciting ways. |
