As Saturday’s concert performance of Randy Newman’s 1995 musical Faust came to an end, with a gospel choir belting out “Get on the Glory Train” and the Devil fleeing down the aisles of the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts, a shaft of heavenly light shown down on Randy Newman, seated in a wheelchair at the center of the hall.
As audience members spotted him and turned their standing ovation in his direction, it must have been a bittersweet moment for the singer-songwriter — sweet in the recognition for all he’s accomplished and bitter because the musical he loved so dearly never became a Broadway hit.
The show has mainly been known through its original concept album, which sported an unbeatable cast, including Newman, James Taylor, Don Henley, Elton John, Linda Ronstadt, and Bonnie Raitt. And no one sings Randy Newman like Randy Newman, with his 12 miles of bad-road voice and unique sense of joviality.
The Soraya revival certainly had its share of Broadway star power: Reeve Carney (who originated the role of Orpheus in Hadestown) as the Devil, Javier Muñoz (who took over the title character in Hamilton from Lin-Manuel Miranda) as the Lord, and Ryan McCartan (star of Wicked, Heathers, and more) as Henry Faust. Mezzo-soprano Joanna Lynn-Jacobs was Margaret, and jazz singer Veronica Swift was Martha. TV writer and comedian Jordan Temple delivered decidedly hip Saturday Night Live-style narration that he wrote in place of the musical’s original dialogue.
Unfortunately, to paraphrase a famous line of Shakespeare’s, the fault is not in the stars for Randy Newman’s Faust. The performances can’t make up for the misconstruction of the musical itself — its meandering plot, pastiche of styles, and mess of a second act.
The greatest misstep the musical takes is the title character’s sudden swerve in the second act, which is a letdown. When we first meet Henry, he’s a go-for-the-good-times college student in South Bend, Indiana (a setting that Temple lampooned with no end of snide asides).
If there was a rising star in this production, it was clearly McCartan. He’s a young John Travolta — he’s got the moves and the voice and attitude to spare. Faust’s duet with the Devil, “The Man,” was a star turn for McCartan, who definitely had his mojo working.
From there, however, the show shoots itself in the foot, although the actual blow comes in the form of Cupid’s arrow piercing Henry’s heart. In one moment, all of McCartan’s fantastic Travolta swagger turned into the lovestruck mush of Barry Manilow.
As one of the two combatants vying for Henry’s soul, Muñoz as the Lord combined the style of a gospel preacher with the casual cool of a country-club golf buddy. He totally got on board with the chorus for numbers like “Pass On Over” and “Glory Train.” But then, like a musical chameleon, he slid comfortably into a soft-shoe rendition of “Relax, Enjoy Yourself” — one of the many songs here that bear Newman’s unmistakable laid-back honky-tonk style.
In contrast, Carney came off as the purple prince of darkness, with a touch of Alan Cumming in Cabaret. In numbers like “Another Perfect Day,” “Can’t Keep a Good Man Down,” and “Bleeding All Over the Place,” Carney was convincingly sleazy and nasty.
For their parts, Lynn-Jacobs and Swift presented enjoyably contrasting characters: Margaret is the nice girl who sees Henry for the feckless macho man he is but falls for him anyway, and Martha is a leather-jacket-wearing bad girl straight out of the musical Grease.
The principals, ensemble, and chorus — the local vocal group Tonality — were conducted from the piano by Michael Roth.
Newman’s creation has its share of true believers, which is why it has never entirely faded away. And there are any number of songs that do their creator proud. But as musical theater, it just doesn’t work. The devil is in the details.
