Dream Lover
A musical about Bobby Darin? Sure, "Beyond the Sea" is one of my favourite songs! This will be a fun distraction from current events.
I was not expecting it to rip my heart out.
Clearly, I did not know enough about the life of Bobby Darin.
Also, timing is everything.
Act 1 opened with Bobby singing "Mack the Knife" on stage, a consummate performer, completely charismatic. David Campbell was magnificent in the role. I mean, everyone was amazing - Caroline O'Connor, Hannah Fredericksen, Bert LaBonte, Martin Crewes, Marney McQueen - but he shouldered the bulk of the scenes.
The lights went down on him, and then brightened again to flash back to his childhood, his weak heart, his loving mother, his dear sister and her devoted husband, his singing talent, his determination to overcome the odds, his childhood band, and his first big performance. "Splish Splash" is so silly but incredibly catchy.
He fell in love with Connie Francis and wanted to marry her. But her father opposed the match, revealed that Bobby's father had been a mobster, and threatened to shoot Bobby. Connie sorrowfully left him. (On the other hand, I was earlier told by a Connie Francis fan that she loved him and he broke her heart.)
He met his agent, Steve Blauner, and they had some of the most lively duets of the evening, like "I've Got the World On a String" and later "The Best is Yet to Come".
He starred in a movie with Sandra Dee, and wooed her in the most cringeworthy stalkerish way. They eloped. On their wedding night, she was reluctant to be intimate with him, and revealed she was abused as a child by her stepfather. That got unexpectedly dark. They sang a slow and wistful version of "Dream Lover" together, as they found solace in each other. This was probably meant to be sweet, but it felt uncomfortably like magic healing sex.
Act 2 opened with the "I have a dream" speech by Martin Luther King.
We went to a montage of Bobby touring endlessly while Sandra and their son Dodd were neglected and unhappy. Their marriage fell apart, he collapsed on stage from his weak heart, he sold off his songs to a company that scammed him, and he broke up with his agent. Part of me was thinking, "Oh, another story of an ambitious man who ruined his personal life."
But then.
Bobby didn't want to be just an entertainer while people were fighting and dying in Vietnam. He wanted to help make a difference. He believed that Robert Kennedy was the man who could change things. The man who should be the next president.
And I started thinking, oh no, oh no--
He phoned Kennedy and said he would be happy to help any way he could, fundraising, concerts, whatever. And I was still thinking, oh no--
And then Kennedy got shot.
That was when I started crying. All through the funeral scene when the mourners were standing around the coffin draped with the American flag, and all through a devastated Bobby singing while the rain poured down. I don't even remember the song.
Then he reinvented himself as a folk singer, and gave a performance of the antiwar song "Simple Song of Freedom", only for his fans to boo him on stage. And he stopped singing, and told off his fans, unapologetic about his new direction, and said, "Why do those who preach hate climb to power, and those who preach love get shot down?"
Punch to the heart. Still crying. Applause from a good chunk of the audience. And I like to think that meant something.
Bobby wanted to run for office himself, but his sister Nina told him that the press would dig up all the secrets of his life. And she revealed to him, tearfully, the truth about his parentage. Another revelation I was not expecting. It was followed by one of the best songs of the evening, "More".
He went into seclusion after that shock, but was eventually convinced to return, and to finally be there for his loved ones.
"Beyond the Sea" was beautiful. And the show ended as it began, with him singing "Mack the Knife" until the lights went down. And then he woke in the afterlife surrounded by all the people who loved him.
If you want a fun frothy musical, this is not it. But it got a standing ovation anyway.
I was not expecting it to rip my heart out.
Clearly, I did not know enough about the life of Bobby Darin.
Also, timing is everything.
Act 1 opened with Bobby singing "Mack the Knife" on stage, a consummate performer, completely charismatic. David Campbell was magnificent in the role. I mean, everyone was amazing - Caroline O'Connor, Hannah Fredericksen, Bert LaBonte, Martin Crewes, Marney McQueen - but he shouldered the bulk of the scenes.
The lights went down on him, and then brightened again to flash back to his childhood, his weak heart, his loving mother, his dear sister and her devoted husband, his singing talent, his determination to overcome the odds, his childhood band, and his first big performance. "Splish Splash" is so silly but incredibly catchy.
He fell in love with Connie Francis and wanted to marry her. But her father opposed the match, revealed that Bobby's father had been a mobster, and threatened to shoot Bobby. Connie sorrowfully left him. (On the other hand, I was earlier told by a Connie Francis fan that she loved him and he broke her heart.)
He met his agent, Steve Blauner, and they had some of the most lively duets of the evening, like "I've Got the World On a String" and later "The Best is Yet to Come".
He starred in a movie with Sandra Dee, and wooed her in the most cringeworthy stalkerish way. They eloped. On their wedding night, she was reluctant to be intimate with him, and revealed she was abused as a child by her stepfather. That got unexpectedly dark. They sang a slow and wistful version of "Dream Lover" together, as they found solace in each other. This was probably meant to be sweet, but it felt uncomfortably like magic healing sex.
Act 2 opened with the "I have a dream" speech by Martin Luther King.
We went to a montage of Bobby touring endlessly while Sandra and their son Dodd were neglected and unhappy. Their marriage fell apart, he collapsed on stage from his weak heart, he sold off his songs to a company that scammed him, and he broke up with his agent. Part of me was thinking, "Oh, another story of an ambitious man who ruined his personal life."
But then.
Bobby didn't want to be just an entertainer while people were fighting and dying in Vietnam. He wanted to help make a difference. He believed that Robert Kennedy was the man who could change things. The man who should be the next president.
And I started thinking, oh no, oh no--
He phoned Kennedy and said he would be happy to help any way he could, fundraising, concerts, whatever. And I was still thinking, oh no--
And then Kennedy got shot.
That was when I started crying. All through the funeral scene when the mourners were standing around the coffin draped with the American flag, and all through a devastated Bobby singing while the rain poured down. I don't even remember the song.
Then he reinvented himself as a folk singer, and gave a performance of the antiwar song "Simple Song of Freedom", only for his fans to boo him on stage. And he stopped singing, and told off his fans, unapologetic about his new direction, and said, "Why do those who preach hate climb to power, and those who preach love get shot down?"
Punch to the heart. Still crying. Applause from a good chunk of the audience. And I like to think that meant something.
Bobby wanted to run for office himself, but his sister Nina told him that the press would dig up all the secrets of his life. And she revealed to him, tearfully, the truth about his parentage. Another revelation I was not expecting. It was followed by one of the best songs of the evening, "More".
He went into seclusion after that shock, but was eventually convinced to return, and to finally be there for his loved ones.
"Beyond the Sea" was beautiful. And the show ended as it began, with him singing "Mack the Knife" until the lights went down. And then he woke in the afterlife surrounded by all the people who loved him.
If you want a fun frothy musical, this is not it. But it got a standing ovation anyway.