Hayley Levitt — Theater Critic

And then there’s “When E’re She Looked at Me,” the infectious jig that feels like both remembering and discovering giddy romance. It could be a staple at any Dublin pub, but in this tale, it recounts the beginnings of the great love story between Benjamin and barmaid Elowen Keene. Andrew Durand, a proven commodity from oddball shows like Dead Outlaw, Shucked, and last season’s revival of Rocky Horror, delivers an understated and vulnerable performance in the title role. Most importantly, his journey of de-aging is wholly believable in its subtlety. Delicate shifts of voice and posture (paired with the most minor modifications in Anna Kelsey’s costuming) are all this fable needs when imagination is already in the mix.

Slam Frank is proof positive that a decisive vision will not, and cannot, win everyone’s favor. As the show spirals into increasingly untamed territory, even the most amenable to boundary-pushing might start to sweat. You may even decide that it crosses the Rubicon, trading satire for outright antisemitism. No doubt, Slam Frank is a bucking bronco in a world of pony rides. But if you can hang on till the end, you might find that getting knocked around can jostle new things loose.

Ruffin’s fingerprints are all over the musical’s barrage of punchy one-liners, but much like the mayor’s ploy, it’s not enough to distract from the overall flimsiness. Everything in the writing, and in Danny Mefford’s direction, is geared toward quick laughs, which only magnifies the unattended details: sloppy lyrics with lazy rhymes, music that ignores the aural gifts of the Reagan era, and unpunctuated beats of slapstick.

Ruffin’s fingerprints are all over the musical’s barrage of punchy one-liners, but much like the mayor’s ploy, it’s not enough to distract from the overall flimsiness. Everything in the writing, and in Danny Mefford’s direction, is geared toward quick laughs, which only magnifies the unattended details: sloppy lyrics with lazy rhymes, music that ignores the aural gifts of the Reagan era, and unpunctuated beats of slapstick.