海角大神

The Broadway musical, 鈥淭he Last Ship,鈥� which features a score by musician Sting, has opened to mixed reviews.

鈥淪hip鈥� centers on a town in England, Wallsend, which relies on shipbuilding for the livelihood of its citizens. Town resident Gideon (Collin Kelly-Sordelet) decides to leave the town to search for better things and tells his girlfriend Meg (Dawn Cantwell) he鈥檒l come back for her. When he does come back 15 years later (Michael Esper takes over the role of an older Gideon), the town is struggling financially now that its shipyards are closed and Meg (now played by Rachel Tucker) is dating someone else (Aaron Lazar). The musical is playing at the Neil Simon Theater.

According to many critics, the show, which opened on Oct. 26, is uneven. critic Charles Isherwood called the musical 鈥渁mbitious [and] earnest鈥� Rich in atmosphere 鈥� I half expected to see sea gulls reeling in the rafters 鈥� and buoyed by a seductive score that ranks among the best composed by a rock or pop figure for Broadway, the musical explores with grit and compassion the lives of the town鈥檚 disenfranchised citizens, left behind as the industry that gave them their livelihood set sail for foreign lands鈥� [there are] a host of vital performances from its ample cast.鈥� But the show 鈥渁lso has its share of nagging flaws,鈥� Isherwood wrote, writing that 鈥渢he book鈥� is unfocused and diffuse.鈥�

critic Marilyn Stasio wrote that the musical is 鈥渋ntensely felt鈥� and that 鈥渢he lyrical language of Sting鈥檚 mournful score gives poetic voice to the distressed shipbuilders, but depicting their story as a heroic allegory is regrettably alienating.鈥�

鈥淗别濒尘别谤 Joe Mantello has done a masterful job of translating Sting鈥檚 haunting musical idiom (especially in soulful songs like 'The Last Ship' and 'Island of Souls') into stark imagery,鈥� she wrote. 鈥淭he allegorical form of 'The Last Ship'聽sets聽it apart from such feel-good shows, asking that we view the story in the more ancient tradition of myth and fairy tales, where it鈥檚 perfectly okay for the hero to repent and return home after years, even decades of wandering. Being grounded in the very real world of collapsing industries and a redundant work force, Sting鈥檚 story doesn鈥檛 lend itself to this mythic treatment. Although the characters only go skin-deep, there鈥檚 enough humanity in them to make us fret about realistic concerns.鈥澛�

Meanwhile, Alexis Soloski of the wrote that the show鈥檚 two plotlines 鈥� the struggle of the town鈥檚 residents and the love triangle involving Gideon and Meg 鈥� are 鈥渢ied together with some fairly sloppy knots,鈥� calling the one involving the shipbuilders 鈥渕ore engaging.鈥�

鈥淪tephen Hoggett鈥檚 winning choreography [involving the shipbuilders is] compelling, catching stuff,鈥� Soloski wrote. 鈥淏ut if the structure is slack, the book indifferent, the love story lopsided, and the gender politics unreconstructed, Sting鈥檚 folk-inflected songs, with their bright percussion and yearning strings, are a pleasure and they are performed here with vigour and swagger and joy.鈥�