Chaplin

Theater

Musicals

Ethel Barrymore Theatre

Until Sun Jun 2

$$$$

Photograph: Joan Marcus

Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Book by Christopher Curtis and Thomas Meehan. Music and lyrics by Curtis. Dir. Warren Carlyle. With Rob McClure. 2hrs 30mins. One intermission.
Photograph: Joan Marcus

Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Book by Christopher Curtis and Thomas Meehan. Music and lyrics by Curtis. Dir. Warren Carlyle. With Rob McClure. 2hrs 30mins. One intermission.
Photograph: Joan Marcus

Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Book by Christopher Curtis and Thomas Meehan. Music and lyrics by Curtis. Dir. Warren Carlyle. With Rob McClure. 2hrs 30mins. One intermission.
Photograph: Joan Marcus

Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Book by Christopher Curtis and Thomas Meehan. Music and lyrics by Curtis. Dir. Warren Carlyle. With Rob McClure. 2hrs 30mins. One intermission.
Photograph: Joan Marcus

Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Book by Christopher Curtis and Thomas Meehan. Music and lyrics by Curtis. Dir. Warren Carlyle. With Rob McClure. 2hrs 30mins. One intermission.

Photograph: Joan Marcus

Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Book by Christopher Curtis and Thomas Meehan. Music and lyrics by Curtis. Dir. Warren Carlyle. With Rob McClure. 2hrs 30mins. One intermission.

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Time Out says

Mon Sep 10 2012

Charles Chaplin had an amazing first act—a rags-to-riches tale of artistic triumph—and a crummy second one—personal scandal, political exile, and after The Great Dictator, a string of mediocre talkies. Such extremes don’t apply to the spunky, hopeful biomusical Chaplin, but after we see the origin of those iconic silent comedies featuring a bowler-hatted, square-mustachioed clown, the material does shuffle downhill. However, when this generally well-executed and likable piece works (for its first hour), there’s a surprising rush of wonder, excitement and childlike delight.

Resourcefully staged by Warren Carlyle (Finian’s Rainbow) around an impeccably charming, graceful performance by Rob McClure, Chaplin opens with the Little Tramp navigating his way across a high wire (riffing on a sequence from 1928’s The Circus). The image is apt; just as Chaplin mastered a balance of technical virtuosity and heart-tugging melodrama, the creators intercut Chaplin’s late-Victorian childhood with his formation of the character that would propel him to astounding success—and eventually drive him to seek adulation and total control. But once they’ve established Chaplin’s genius, book writers Thomas Meehan and Christopher Curtis don’t have very far to go. The filmmaker falls out of favor, appoints himself a moral scold, flees to Switzerland and stews in bitterness. The 11th-hour male-diva rant “Where Are All the People?” is too little, too late, and the final drippy tribute turns mawkish. Curtis’s score, a jaunty weave of ragtime, jazz and old-time show tunes, is nice on the ear. But too much is left unexplored: Chaplin’s creative process, his political ideals, his creepy penchant for underage girls. Ultimately, Chaplin fails to present its hero, out of makeup and baggy pants, as a truly compelling subject. He completely changed the way we saw movies; but the rest is silents.—David Cote

Follow David Cote on Twitter: @davidcote

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Venue details

MAP

Name:
Ethel Barrymore Theatre
Address:
Ethel Barrymore Theatre 243 W 47th St
Midtown West
New York

Cross Street:
between Broadway and Eighth Ave
Phone:
212-239-6200
Website:
shubertorganization.com/theatres/ethel_barrymore.asp
Transport:
Subway: C, E to 50th St; N, Q, R to 49th St; 1 to 50th St
Map
1. Ethel Barrymore Theatre
  - 243 W 47th St
    Midtown West
    New York
  - 212-239-6200
  - shubertorganization.com/theatres/ethel_barrymore.asp
  - 40.760033,-73.986182

Event phone:
212-239-6200
Event website:
chaplinbroadway.com

Categories:
Theater. Musicals
Good for:
Dating. Date night. Local talent. Quirky. Take a tourist. Take your parents
Event type:
Plays & Shows