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‘Vanities’ off-Broadway: What did the critics think?

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It’s been a long, difficult road for ‘Vanities,’ which opened off-Broadway this week at the Second Stage Theater.

The musical opened at the Pasadena Playhouse in August 2008 with the longer title ‘Vanities: A New Musical.’ L.A. critics gave it mixed reviews, and then plans to transfer the production to Broadway’s Lyceum Theatre fell through.

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Adapted from Jack Heifner’s hit 1976 play, ‘Vanities’ follows three cheerleaders from a small Texas town as they become adults and learn the hard way that life isn’t a pep rally after all. Heifner adapted his own play, while music and lyrics were written by David Kirshenbaum.

The show is directed by Judith Ivey, who also staged the Pasadena production, and features the same principal cast: Lauren Kennedy, Sarah Stiles and Anneliese van der Pol. According to people close to the show, the revised version features five musical numbers composed since last year. Writers also have tweaked the book and made adjustments to the story’s framing device.

Have the flurry of revisions resulted in a better show? If the New York critics have their way, these girls should be sent back to finishing school.

Among the slew of negative reviews, Charles Isherwood of the New York Times writes that, ‘for a musical that charts radical transformations in the lives of its characters, ‘Vanities’ feels oddly static, stuck in plot grooves worn flat from familiarity. Give me a T, for trite.’ He complained that the score ‘provides little in the way of defining depth for the characters. Too often it reverts to the same musical moods and self-actualization clichés.’

Equally unimpressed was David Rooney of Variety: ‘There’s hardly a single original thought in this string of familiar Southern-fried female-friendship cliches, laced with platitudinous life lessons.... Despite the three talented actresses fleshing out the gal-pal stereotypes, the only surprise here is that the show was ever considered for Broadway.’ He reserved compliments for Anna Louizos’ sets, which feature three armoires, one for each of its heroines.

The New York Daily News’ Joe Dziemianowicz writes that ‘the actresses are hamstrung by thin material and monochromatic characters’ and that ‘Kirshenbaum’s unmemorable songs do nothing’ to change the clichéd story.

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Time Out’s David Cote said in his on-air review for NY-1 that ‘this version proves that sometimes tunes add nothing to a decent story. Just like a naturally pretty woman who cakes on too much makeup, ‘Vanities’ gilds the lily.’ He added: ‘The cast is charming and it’s a relatively fast 90 minutes. Take your mother or grandmother. It’s disappointing, but not an effort completely in vain.

Among the relatively kinder reviews, Michael Kuchwara of the Associated Press calls the musical ‘sweet-tempered and unsurprising but enlivened by a trio of tireless performers ... who make the most of the added musical material. There are some nice riffs on girl-group music of the early ‘60s and an homage to some of the more mellow sounds of a decade later. Yet the songs primarily mark time, done in by lyrics that often settle for greeting-card sentimentality.’

The New York Post’s Elisabeth Vincentelli writes that ‘there isn’t a shred of suspense in Jack Heifner’s book.’ But she adds that the show zips ‘along smoothly in the hands of actress-turned-director Judith Ivey.’

— David Ng

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