Review: PROMENADE at The Marcelle Theater
The musical mayhem of Promenade runs through March 28.
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There really is no point to New Line Theatre’s Promenade. And that's intentional. This absurdist musical, written by María Irene Fornés with music by Rev. Al Carmines, premiered Off-Broadway in 1965. Experimental in nature, it abandons the traditional theater narrative framework in favor of bombastic attitude and satire.
The plot is almost nonexistent. It centers on two prisoners, identified only as 105 and 106, who escape from jail and wander aimlessly through an unspecified city. As they flee their jailer, they encounter surreal situations filled with upper-crust elites, servants, lovers, and authority figures.
Despite being told without a linear plot, Promenade entertains. Equal parts cabaret, vaudeville, and musical theater, the production uses vignettes to scald and spoof the ruthless, greedy and powerful.
The loose structure also lets Promenade be playful and subversive. Here, the rich, poor, high, and low tussle via songs ripe with biting social commentary. Catchy and melodic, they contain biting expositions on class, freedom, war, and wealth inequality. As a result, the music underscores the theme that “money makes you dumb.”
To help the songs pop, directors Scott Miller and Chris Moore placed a band at the center of the stage. This allows the zippy and upbeat songs to land. Oftentimes silly, these well-crafted tunes serve as a character of their own.
With Promenade, New Line Theatre has assembled a terrific ensemble. Ronmal Mottley and Tawaine Noah shine as prisoners 105 and 106. The duo excels in several numbers, including “Dig, Dig Dig, “The Passing of Time,” and “The Cigarette Song.”
Gifted with an incredible voice, Stephanie Merritt gives a powerful performance as a down-on-her-luck servant looking for a better life. In addition to great comedic timing, her vocals, especially on “Listen, I Feel,” are terrific.
Providing many of the show's funnier moments is Bee Mecey. Entering the fray late in the first act as a mother frantically looking for her babies, the New Line veteran nearly steals the show.
Other performances of note are Chelsie Johnston as Miss U and Ian McCreary as a persistent, but rather dim jailer.
This ridiculously hilarious romp is gloriously wacky. Audiences should set aside any expectations and go along for the ride. Giddy and wonderful, Promenade succeeds thanks to a stellar cast that relishes the ludicousness of it all. Happily devouring scenery as they goof off, they deliver an infectious burst of musical theater.
Raucous, crass, and gleefully off-kilter, New Line Theatre’s production of Promenade darts and weaves between the serious and the sublime. A funny and frivolous frolic, the show shows no signs of age as its critiques of social standing, wealth-driven buffoonery, and struggles of the poor and oppressed seem strangely relevant today. This is magical chaos.
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