IF ONLY THIS MUSICAL WAS CONSTRUCTED WITH
THE SAME EFFICIENCY AS THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING
Empire, at New World Stages, is unquestionably a musical created with an adult public in mind, particularly tourists. Considering that it is about the construction of the Empire State Building, you would expect acrobatics on steel beams and creative scenery to portray both the construction of the tallest building on earth (at the time) and the Great Depression. Caroline Sherman and Robert Hull, who wrote the book, music and lyrics, and Cady Huffman, who directed it, opted for a sober operetta causing the younger tourists seated in front of and behind me to fall asleep after 30 minutes.
The story is interesting: it’s 1976, and Sylvie (Jessica Ranville) is scolding her daughter Rayne (Kiana Kabeary) because she wants to be an ironworker; Sylvie knows that her father, Rayne’s grandfather, died while doing the same job building the Empire State Building. Later we find out that he was a Polish poet named Joe (Devin Cortez). He secretly married a colleague, Rudy Shaw (Kabeary), a member of the Mohawk Nation, famous for their sky walking; she disguised herself as a man to do ironwork on the tallest building “to touch the sky.” When her daughter leaves, Sylvie has a vision: Frances Belle “Wally” Wolodsky (Kaitlyn Davidson) appears and brings her back to 1929, to the demolition of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, the place where they wanted to build the Empire State Building.
Wally is executive assistant to Al Smith (Paul Salvatoriello), the former governor of New York. Smith and John J. Raskob (Howard Kaye) are in charge of the project and they are the only characters that correspond to real people. Wally is fast; she orders tons of steel beams, millions of bricks, thousands of windows, she is the woman behind the building and Davidson gives us a brilliant performance, elegant and decisive. She often flirts with Charles Kinney (Albert Guerzon), the lead architect. Salvatoriello and Kaye, representing politics and business, are both perfect for their roles; charming, oozing confidence, an ideal couple always in sync with each other. Unfortunately, between a charleston and a glass of champagne, a grin and a wink, they talk about disturbing subjects like pushing workers to build two stories a day, making their objective sound nobel while it was just greed prevailing over people. In their office we find Goody Goodheart, played by gifted, spunky, and hilarious Alexandra Frohlinger, who is also ideal as nasty Mrs. Arthur, the aristocrat.
The cast is multinational, as it was in reality, filled with brand new legal and illegal immigrants, but Empire is chock-full of stereotyped characters: the Irish is hot-tempered and ready for physical confrontation and the Italian sounds like Super Mario; the bookwriters do not take the time needed to make credible characters. Impeccable in all their numbers, the ensemble (Joel Douglas, Danny Iktomi Bevins, Joseph Fierberg, Ethan Saviet, Robbie Serrano, and J Savage) deliver with energy and pathos, as does Morgan Cowling (who plays Emily and Lois) and April Ortiz (a grandmother and speakeasy chanteuse). The cast’s commitment is faultless.
Walt Spangler‘s single set does not help; various steel beams standing here and there, a dirty sky window hung in the center and the two opposite corners downstage at the orchestra level, arranged as two rooms where important scenes take place — yet I could barely see them and I had a perfect seat. Lorna Ventura‘s choreography gives Empire sparkles but the score is unremarkable and tepid, with lots of themes you have already heard with very few exceptions; and the lyrics are banal. Costume designer Tina McCartney and lighting designer Jamie Roderick, like all the actors, did what they could to brighten the picture and they succeeded but without a good script and a strong score you are left with just a pleasant operetta.
photos of the company of Empire by Matthew Murphy
Empire: A New Musical
New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street
run time 2 hours, 30 minutes
Mon at 7; Wed at 2 & 8; Thurs at 7; Fri at 8; Sat at 2 & 8; Sun at 3
ends on September 22, 2024
for tickets ($49-$129), visit Empire
