'Calvin Berger'
"Calvin Berger," the new musical, loosely based on Edmond Rostand’s comedy "Cyrano deBergerac," is a charmer, but one whose charms are only loosely hung on a gold-plated chain bracelet.
We’re in high school, somewhere in the United States, in the present, and our four principal characters are seniors with problems. Rosanna is just too pretty to be appreciated for her mind; Matt is too vacuous to make a sane and responsible statement on any subject, whatsoever; Brett has big butt issues; and Calvin has an overly self-conscious sense of his appearance, which has become centered on his hook-nose.
In author Barry Wyner’s world here are the dynamics that control the relationships among the foursome: Calvin loves Rosanna and Matt wants her. Rosanna loves Calvin as a brother and desires Matt. Bret is Calvin’s confidante and loves and want him but he is obsessed with Rosanna.
Two hours later everyone gets what they really want. It seems.
Not surprisingly, there are few surprises in this script. It is fairly obvious from the get-go that the outcome will be what it eventually turns out to be and everyone is happy by the end of the finale. Equally without surprise or shock, this is an audience pleaser. Opening night there were teenagers galore in the audience and they cheered and rocked with laughter at every obvious turn of events. The older element in the audience was having a fine time with the show as well and that’s to the advantage of the show. It is a pleaser. It is nice to have things turn out the way we want them.
Calvin Berger serves up a light supper that pleases and satisfies, but it is still a light supper, not a hearty meal.
When I was in high school, we had a Calvin Berger-type named Ira Lipschitz. Self-conscious about his name. and socially shy as a result, he always planned to change his name when he was of age. When we were 21, he followed through on his plan and at a party he announced his new name, the change that he knew would alter the course of his life.
He was forever to be known as Larry Lipschitz — not the outcome any of us expected. In this new musical, Calvin changes his appearance, but not his nose, and comes to an understanding about attractiveness and what it is and what it means and how it functions. He is, like Larry/Ira, a contented human being with a brighter future. Even though it is exactly what we expected all along, we say "Good for Calvin!"
A rather beautiful cast of four players is performing this new show at The Athenaeum in Pittsfield through July 14. It is the first play in this year’s series in the Barrington Stage Company’s Musical Theater Lab under the watchful eye of William Finn. The gorgeous and curvaceous Elizabeth Lundberg is Rosanna. The blonde and hunky Aaron Tveit is Matt. Gillian Goldberg plays Bret. As Calvin we have David Perlman. All four performers are young, attractive and very, very talented. They act, sing and dance with a professional aplomb that overwhelms. With not a flaw among them, except the ones their characters claim hinder them (and we never really see those — only they do), they give us a delightful evening of teenage angst, teenage power and teenage romance. It’s like a beach-blanket movie without the extras, without the conflicts.
Where, we wonder, is that fifth wheel, the anchor that holds the conflict in place? Why is there no one else in this mix to add that bit of confusion or distraction or suspense about decisions? What happened to Rostand’s deeper concern about the social status of his characters, about the parental intention that needs to be over-ridden by the determinations of youth? What, I personally wonder, would that have brought to this modern-day Cyrano, to Calvin the boy, Calvin the man, Calvin the play?
But taking the show as it is, there is much good entertainment here, if no suspense, no drama. The songs are delightful, if not memorable musically. The lyrics are superb and the dialogue funny and sometimes touching. Calvin sings of his concerns to a Mister Potato-Head, changing its nose to suit his face. Matt makes every mistake possible in his untutored dialogues with Rosanna; for example: She says "...my sense of direction is, like, infantile." and Matt replies, "My dad sells tile." Sexual inuendo becomes a way of life in the simplest conversations between them and the younger set in the audience adore it while their elders in the next row remember those moments fondly, and with that remembered embarrasment, blush a bit.
Among the highlights are the songs "We’re The Man", "Never Know," both sung by Calvin and Matt, "Perfect for You," performed with so much heart by Bret that you can die from the honesty in it, and Rosanna and Calvin’s duet "More than Meets the Eye." Director Stephen Terrell is the only movement person credited so the choreography in the show must be his as well and particularly in "We’re the Man" he delivers a perfectly wonderful sense of that youthful exuberance that so clearly defines both the guys.
Brian Prather has delivered a fine set in this three-quarter thrust performance space. Amela Baksic knows the right clothes for the right characters in the right moments. Scott Pinkney delivers excellent lighting for the show, focusing our attention where it needs to be.
This is a light evening of amusing musical theater, a perfect family show as long as the kids aren’t too young. For a summer entertainment it approaches perfection, but it is a slight piece with only just enough real substance to amuse for a brief time. We’re not talking great musical theater here, only the promise of great things to come from Wyner and his superb quartet of players.
Calvin Berger plays at The Athenaeum, 1 Wendell Avenue, in Pittsfield, MA through July 15. Tickets are $25-$30. For schedules and tickets contact the Barrington Stage Company's box office at 413-236-8888 or go to their website: www.barringtonstageco.org.