Off-Broadway Review: “ICON” at the New York Musical
Joseph Verlezza
- OnStage New York Critic
A tiny foreign nation, a people’s princess, a gay prince, an arranged marriage, a scandal, a revolution, and a fire that destroys lovers’ hopes and dreams certainly makes interesting material for good old-fashioned musical theater. “Perfect,” the opening number of the new musical “Icon,” is derivative of Kander and Ebb in style and tempo and explodes onto the stage to set an exciting tone for the story of Princess Constance - a cross between Princesses Diana and Grace. Unfortunately, about halfway through the first Act, the book by Sebastian Michael seems to lose energy and becomes disjointed and uneven in paralleled storylines and the surprise ending too easily deduced. The music and lyrics by Jonathan Kaldor seem to waver in the direction of an Operetta. The beautiful, lush orchestrations by Igor Kogan and Athan Gousios, match the royal setting and elegant costumes by Liene Dobraja, but it is difficult not to crave the romantic sounds of a string section which is missing.
Photo by Shira Friedman.
The overall cast is superb and does what they can to keep the plot moving at a good pace, but at times they are derailed by the hesitant direction of Paul Stancato, who fairs better with some entertaining choreography that livens up the production.
Charlotte Maltby gives a believable performance as the princess, with regal stature and a strong, clear voice exhibiting pure tonal quality. Sam Simahk has that vigorous quality of an operetta character, with a beautiful, full, dramatic and romantic vocal range. Tony Sheldon serves the character of Gualtieri with equal candor and discretion. Donna McKechnie gives us a respectful Miss Vine filled with charm, confidence and vulnerability but waiting nearly two hours to hear her wonderful familiar voice is unjustified with plenty of missed opportunities for musical numbers that could easily convey her emotional performance. At this stage of development there is a glimpse of a fine piece of musical theater but that comes with a great deal of work and many revisions. See for yourself and try to catch one of the final performances as part of the New York Musical Festival.
ICON
“ICON” is an Official Selection of the 2016 New York Musical Festival. Executive Producer/General Manager: Simpson & Longthorne Theatricals; Music Director: Jesse Warkentin; Lighting Designer: Isabella Byrd; Costume Designer: Liene Dobraja; Media Designer: Kevan Loney; Casting Director: Michael Cassara, CSA; Production Stage Manager: Lily Perlmutter; Assistant Stage Manager: Hai Alvarez-Millard; Production Assistants: Samantha Stevens; Publicist: Paul Siebold/Off Off PR.
“ICON” plays on the following schedule: Tuesday, July 26, 2016 at 4:00 pm.
Tickets are $27.50 and can be purchased online at nymf.org or by calling 212-352-3101. For more information, including the full cast, please visit http://www.nymf.org. The runtime for “ICON” is two hours, which includes one 15-minute intermission.