Review: Rewritten PAINT YOUR WAGON at 5th Ave is Better but Still Has Problems

I'll admit unfamiliarity with Lerner and Loewe's "Paint Your Wagon" before recently. Never saw the original, never saw the movie, and had only a passing familiarity with the bigger songs in it. So to educate myself before seeing this production I watched the movie, which was also rewritten from the original musical version but what I had available to me. Wow, what a train wreck that is! Horrific story, songs that move nothing along and a movie that seems to be there solely for Lee Marvin to mug to the camera. So I was trepidatious to say the least about this rewritten version at the 5th Avenue Theatre and after seeing it I'm of two minds. Yes, the story is so much better than the movie. Still tons of racism and sexism in it but that's what the show was trying to point out (although the women's roles could have been better defined but we'll get to that). But the music, as pretty as it is, still doesn't move the story along. But then they weren't rewriting that.

In this new version it's Gold Rush times in California and everyone and their brother is heading out west to stake their claim. People are coming from all over the world to make their fortune including closed off and wandering Ben Rumson (Robert Cuccioli) who just wants to keep to himself but he can't as he's just acquired a new partner, Mexican postal carrier Armando (Justin Gregory Lopez), he's somehow butt heads with the new wealthy entrepreneur in town Jake (Louis Hobson) and oh, did I mention he just bought a new wife Cayla (Kendra Kassebaum) off an abusive Mormon man with two wives. And if you think that's a lot there's still storylines with an Irishman William (Eric Ankrim) with little to no self control, a free black man H. Ford (Rodney Hicks) looking to help free Jake's slave Wesley (Kyle Robert Carter), and two Chinese brothers Ming-Li & Guang-Li (Steven Eng and Mikko Juan) trying to make it rich and keep their heritage. And to top it all off Ben's estranged daughter Jennifer (Kirsten deLohr Helland) comes into town.

There's certainly a lot more going on in this new version of the book from Jon Marans than in either of the other two and a lot more for a modern audience to grab onto. Although the women still feel like their sole purpose in the show is to be consorts for the men and while that's indicative of the period of the piece as well as the period when the original show was written, with this rewrite they could have beefed up the ladies roles while they were beefing up all the rest. But as more engaging as the story is, it's those pretty songs that work and yet don't. Yes, they are lovely, soaring tunes but they're also so repetitive so once you get their point conveyed in the first verse, there's nothing moving forward as they repeat that verse 3 more times.

The cast, however, has nothing but engagement and power behind it especially when lead by the oh so powerful Cuccioli. If you're familiar with him you know what a gift from the Gods his voice is and he's got a beautiful slow burn of a character making him quite honest and real. Kassebaum matches his power and drive note for note as does deLohr Helland making them formidable presences in his world. Lopez manages an instantly likable counterpoint to Cuccioli with his high-energy adorableness and swoon-worthy rich voice. And I must mention Hicks who took his supporting role and made it a major force in the show.

The talent is there, the choreography from Josh Rhodes (whose choreography for "Bright Star" I was lucky enough to see on Broadway recently) is vibrant, alive and stunning and yes, that new story does manage to engage more. I just wish those songs didn't drone on so with such little to say. And so with my three letter rating system I give the 5th Avenue's revised "Paint Your Wagon" a bit of a split decision, a YAY- for the production and the rewrite and a MEH for the source material that didn't change. But the whole thing is still worlds better than that train wreck of a movie that I would give a WTF.

"Paint Your Wagon" performs at the 5th Avenue Theatre through June 25th. For tickets or information contact the 5th Avenue box office at 206-625-1900 or visit them online at www.5thavenue.org.

To post a comment, you must register and login.