Running time: 1 HOUR, 20 MINS.Ī Paramount Theatre presentation of a musical in one act with book by Glen Berger, music by Mark Mancina and lyrics by Berger and Mancina, based on the Warner Bros.

We end up with a stylishly staged but thoroughly edge-less show, fully reliant on the appeal of unrestrained mawkishness. He goes from playing a few chords on piano and guitar to composing the climactic, Gershwin-ish “Rhapsody,” which generates the predicted supernatural result.ĭirector Doyle’s signature style, employing performers who play their own instruments, brought out deep characterizations in “ Sweeney Todd” and “ The Color Purple.” Here, however - with a cellist character playing a cello, a villain playing electric guitar, and our central character indicating rather than demonstrating his prodigious talent - depth never emerges. The show is forced to drop the idea that August has magical musical powers, though, at least any that can be depicted onstage. Some of the musical numbers do work, particularly as August learns to participate, ever so slightly, in the music-making. Dressed in a tuxedo and red cummerbund, Wizard becomes a villain straight out of a melodrama, armed with an electric guitar and a pair of dastardly magenta earphones. In addition to playing Lyla’s father - who forges adoption papers to give Lyla’s baby away - John Hickok plays the charming (we’re expected to infer) and manipulative (we see in spades) Wizard, who provides the boy with the name August Rush and introduces him into his “collective,” which may represent a group of buskers as in the film but comes across much more as a type of musical Borg. At least the storytelling is clear.Īfter that, though, there are some very bizarre choices indeed. Hunter, offering nothing to write home about). The couple’s brief love affair is depicted with music and choreography (from Joann M. The piece has the most personality when he’s present. As Lewis, Abud (“The Band’s Visit”) brings the only quirkiness to the stage, and his costume the only touch of grunge, albeit of the Bruce Springsteen-y kind. After McCarthy (“Finding Neverland”) sings the opener, we get a charming extended scene in which Lewis and Lyla fall for each over music. The show starts simply and appealingly enough. The whiteness of the show extends to the music.: out is the Oscar-nominated gospel song “Raise It Up ” in is the blonde Shepherd attempting to rap certain phrases while playing the cello. The fact that the significant black characters from the film never even appear (or are portrayed by performers who aren’t black) in Glen Berger’s (“ Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark”) book adds even more to the bland palette. Costume designer Ann Hould-Ward puts a lot of white on the musician-ensemble as well.

Set designer Scott Pask’s lovely white-on-white cut-outs transform with lighting (Paul Toben) and projections (Joe Burke) into a cityscape background, but the basic inspiration seems to be a classical concert stage.

This show, set in New York City, couldn’t be less urban. Music will bring you home is the key theme of the melodic (and childish) musical lesson “Circle of Fifths.” “You’re a Symphony,” one song tells us several times, with a typically swelling crescendo of horn and wind instruments from composer Mark Mancina, who also scored the film. “Follow the Music,” the story and score tell us. It’s an emotional fairy tale about an 11-year-old boy (Jack McCarthy) who never knew his musician parents Lewis (George Abud) and Lyla (Sydney Shepherd), and who seeks to express his true self so deeply in music that they will find him. This is not a show that attempts to appeal on the basis of a realistic depiction of character or narrative. Then the sappiness kicks in for good, and even the Broadway-caliber talent and some musical high points from the onstage musician-ensemble can’t overcome the treacle. This is a short show, so that possibility lasts about 20 minutes. film “August Rush,” now playing at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora, Ill., it seems like director John Doyle’s elegant minimalism (“ Sweeney Todd,” “ The Color Purple”) might just manage to transform the divisive, unabashedly sentimental source material about the unifying power of music into something theatrical, meaningful, moving and classy. For the first quarter of this world premiere musical adaptation of the 2007 Warner Bros.

August rush paramount reviews