PRAY FOR THE FUTURE OF MUSICAL COMEDY
Silly with an uncompelling story and no logical momentum, the new musical The Jerusalem Syndrome by York Theatre is surprisingly entertaining, but that’s due to the boffo cast and some bouncy Catskill revue-type songs. But it could have been so much more.
Chandler Sinks and Company
I say “new”, but The Jerusalem Syndrome has been in development for years (it premiered at NYMF in 2008). Given that, it’s clear that this Off-Broadway premiere with music by Kyle Rosen and book and lyrics by Laurence Holzman and the late Felicia Needleman, is a finished project which is definitely the creators’ intention: A 70s’-styled sit-com filled with caricatures and pleasant songs that are pastiche of that era with lyrics ranging from fun rhymes to serviceable to unremarkable. Five people visiting the Holy Land for various reasons are overcome by the Jerusalem Syndrome, a well-documented psychosis that affects ordinary tourists who find themselves channeling Biblical figures, stealing hotel bed sheets to wear as togas, and parading through Jerusalem as Moses, Mary Magdalene, Jesus, and other religious icons.
Farah Alvin
We have Phyllis (Farah Alvin), whose husband Alan (Jeffrey Schecter) won’t get off his cellphone despite being on vacation; Eddie (engaging Chandler Sinks), a well-meaning tour guide on his first assignment; and Charles (a knockout Alan H. Green), a queer man who’s just inherited some land in Israel that happens to be right across the street from a huge catholic church, so he plans to sell it to an ostentatious gay resort chain. Eddie’s tour group keeps going awry, Phyllis’s husband keeps wanting to go back to the hotel so he can work, and a representative of the church, Father Bernard (John Jellison), offers quite a bundle for Charles’s land.
The Company
Meanwhile, handsome soap opera actor Mickey Rose (Jared Zirilli, succeeding James D. Gish) is in town to film a movie, and a young divorcée named Lynn (Dana Costello) has come on vacation to recover from her ex’s secretarial betrayal. All develop Jerusalem Syndrome and are taken to the psych ward of the local hospital, where, watched over by Dr. Ben Zion (Josh Lamon) and his soap-obsessed nurse Rena (scarily over-the-top Laura Woyasz), they meet even more eccentrics (Jellison, Karen Murphy, Jennifer Smith, and Lenny Wolpe) who have become various biblical characters.
Alan H. Green and company
We aren’t really left with much to think about after leaving the theater. Without the excellent cast, who nonetheless resort to mugging and pushing under Don Stephenson’s snappy but broad direction, and fantastic orchestra under Miles Plant, the corny jokes, clichéd characters, and predictable resolutions would have you wailing. Despite a note in the program that says the creative team weighed their options given the current Israel-Gaza conflict, and felt this was actually more timely than ever, this misguided musical with an astounding premise doesn’t take its subject seriously enough to be compared with an overseas war. There’s potential in there somewhere, but Stephenson’s presentation pulls the plug out of any chance for a much-needed profundity and humor.
photos by Carol Rosegg
Lenny Wolpe, John Jellison, Karen Murphy, Danielle Lee James,
Chandler Sinks, Dana Costello, Jennifer Smith, Curtis Wiley
The Jerusalem Syndrome: A Musical Comedy of Biblical Proportions
The York Theatre Company
The Theatre at St. Jeans, 150 East 76th St (between Lex & Third)
ends on December 31, 2023
Tues-Sat at 7:30; Sat & Sun at 2:30 (check for holiday schedule)
for tickets ($20-$95), call 212.935.5820 or visit OvationTix
for more info, visit York Theatre