I had seen Bierko in a couple of movies and on a few TV shows so he wasn't completely unknown, but definitely not a name that would sell tickets. He was just a fairly good actor from TV and movies making his Broadway debut.
I thought his blatant imitation of Robert Preston was a shockingly bad idea. He imitated his voice, his phrasing, his movements, everything. Frankly I've never seen anything like it in a major Broadway production. He definitely got some criticism in some reviews (see The TheaterMania Guide to Musical Theater Recordings), but I don't remember everything that was written about his performance. The show itself, Stroman's direction and choreography, Rebecca Luker's performance, and the rest of the cast were highly praised. The show ran 1 year and 9 months, which was respectable, but it did not recoup, probably because it was expensive to run.
I hated Bierko's performance so much in The Music Man that I waited until after he departed to see the show, which I did love. That said, I still think he's a decent actor. I've seen him in small roles, mostly on TV. In everything I have seen of his post-Music Man work, he has put his own stamp on the roles. |
