Broadway Theater Review: SIDE SHOW (St. James)

A TWIN/LOSE SITUATION

Henry Krieger’s succulent score and the co-leads’ powerful, penetrating voices are among the few reasons to see Side Show, a dull bio-musical set in the first half of the 20^th century, about a set of conjoined twins—loosely based on the life of the British-born Hilton sisters—who go from being exhibited in a travelling freak show to performing on Broadway. The concept is intriguing. But Bill Condon’s bland direction, Bill Russell’s lumpy, on-the-nose lyrics and suspense-free book (updating the 1997 Broadway version with additional material from Condon), and Anthony Van Laast’s unremarkable choreography turn what could have been a fascinating and moving story into a wasted opportunity.

Ambitious young publicist Terry (Ryan Silverman) happens upon Sir’s (Robert Joy) travelling freak show, where he meets a pair of conjoined twins, Violet (Erin Davie) and Daisy (Emily Padgett). Terry offers to represent the young ladies, promising to make them into big stars. But Jake (David St. Louis), whose twofold duties at the carnival are to play the African Cannibal King and to look after the girls, warns his charges in a stage-shaking bass-baritone that as bad as Sir is—the sisters are effectively Sir’s slaves and he treats them as such—the people out there in the world could be worse. Here’s a spoiler—they’re not.

The performers do a fine job—it’s presentational musical theater acting but it works. There’s a clever visual bit involving projected shadows that captures one’s attention. And there is one musical number that’s memorable, the Vaudevillian “One Plus One Equals Three,” which poses a question: What’s going to happen in the bedroom when Buddy (Matthew Hydzik), who is Violet’s fiancé and performance partner, marries her? It’s the question we’re all asking, yet this is the only instance of it being broached.

There are however two wistful dream sequences in which the twins separate and dance individually. This kind of sentimentality suggests a lack of imagination on Mr. Russell’s part to be able to picture the realities of his characters’ lives, a lack which appears contagious—the stage is consistently too empty, blocking is lifeless, and although the painted backdrops please the eye, David Rockwell’s actual sets feel generic and want for versatility. Conspicuously immune are Paul Tazewell and his exciting costumes.