BROADWAY SNAP-SHOT
by Russell Bouthiller

Dateline: December 22, 2005

THE WOMAN IN WHITE

Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber's first original musical to open on Broadway since SUNSET BOULEVARD some eleven years ago comes to the Marquis Theatre under the direction of longtime collaborator and three-time Tony-winner, Trevor Nunn. "Freely adapted" by Charlotte Jones from the Wilkie Collin novel and with lyricist David Zippel, THE WOMAN IN WHITE takes us on a mystical musical adventure in Victorian England.

THE WOMAN IN WHITE has had its share of problems since its arrival on The Great White Way. Most notably, the frequent absences of star Marie Friedman who recently had emergency surgery for breast cancer and showed commendable fortitude by making it to opening night. At the performance I saw, understudy Lisa Brescia stepped into the leading role of Marian Halcombe.

William Dudley's computer generated images (he also designed costumes) projected onto curved-wall set pieces that spin, separate and reconfigure on a huge turntable certainly present a whirlwind effect. They weren't whirling so well on the night I saw the show, which added an unexpected twenty-minute break in the second act with just a half-hour remaining. Consequently, the momentum was squelched.

THE WOMAN IN WHITE opens at a train station where Walter Hartright {Adam Brazier) encounters the eponymous lady (Angela Christian) as she eerily emerges through a heavy fog and tells of a man who has violated her unspeakably. So, unspeakable, she doesn't quite spell out what he has done or who he is. She, then, vanishes into the mist, launching what should turn out to be an intricate mystery. Meanwhile, the set turns and turns.

Hartright, an art teacher, gets caught in a tangled web where half-sisters Laura Fairlie (Jill Paice), and Marian Halcombe cope with one sister's betrothal and marriage to the nefarious Sir Percival Glyde (Ron Bohmer), though her heart leans another way. Throw in the ingratiating Count Fosco (Michael Ball) and we have the makings for emotional torment and inscrutable doings.

Brescia does a fine job as Marian, standing in for the ailing Friedman. Paice proves most delightful vocally and Christian makes an eerie apparition as the title character. But, Brescia Paice and Christian look so similar to one another that one must pay close attention to keep things straight. And, when one woman dresses like another to ensnare the villain, clouds of confusion intermingle with the billowing Victorian mist.

Bohmer plays the moustache twirling villain with aplomb. Hartright offers a convincing romantic figure and Walter Charles as Mr. Fairlie presents an avuncular elderly gentleman. Michael Ball is loads of fun as Fosco. Padded to the hilt and as oily as oily gets, Ball's corrupted count stops the show with his number "You Can Get Away With Anything" during which a large white rat runs up one arm and down the other.

Trevor Nunn's direction is more like choreography on a calliope. Webber's score conjures up the operetta style reminiscent of his record-breaking THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, though destined to be far less memorable. THE WOMAN IN WHITE, mystery, music and a maelstrom of high-tech theatrics.