On A Clear Day You Can See Forever Review

It is a swooning moment to hear Harry Connick Jr. sing the title song of a musical now remembered mostly because of that melody, as sung by Barbra Streisand. But Connick sings it only at the very end, after some two and a half hours in which this appealing piano-playing soloist has only a few solos and never plays the piano.

His fans might feel let down, but it is difficult to call the new Broadway production of “On A Clear Day You Can See Forever” a complete disappointment. That is because even its director, Michael Mayer, has said the original 1965 Broadway show was unsuccessful, and its plot “extremely problematic.” (A reviewer in 1965 called it “labored and creaky.”) So how can you be completely disappointed when expectations are so low? Long in love with Burton Lane’s score, Mayer decided he would revamp everything else, hiring playwright Peter Parnell to rewrite Alan Jay Lerner’s book. The director’s efforts have yielded any number of satisfactions: The songs are tuneful, the singers know what they are doing, there are some amusing moments; as a bonus, there is even something of a gay twist that already has disturbed a troglodyte or two. But none of these satisfactions are enough to make “On A Clear Day” much more than an intermittently entertaining oddity.

The original “On A Clear Day” was a convoluted tale involving a wacky clairvoyant named Daisy Gamble who goes to a psychiatrist to kick a cigarette habit and, under hypnosis, reveals she is the reincarnation of a 19th century seductress.
The new production has taken the seemingly bold step of changing Daisy into a gay man. When David Gamble (David Turner), a florist, goes to psychoanalyst Dr. Mark Bruckner (Connick) to be hypnotized, the therapist discovers David is the reincarnation of a 1940s jazz singer named Melinda Wells (Jesse Mueller). Dr. Bruckner, a widower who has been unable to open himself up to anybody new, finds himself falling in love with Melinda.

Mueller, making her Broadway debut, is a show-stopping singer in such numbers as “Ev’ry Night at Seven”; “On A Clear Day” is likely to be a star-making vehicle for her. Turner, who has been on Broadway some half dozen times before, has a sweet presence that helps avoid what comes close to a tiresome stereotype. But this character change is not necessarily a smart move; it is certainly not the brave one it appears at first glance.

The original stage version gave Barbara Harris the opportunity to play both the present-day neurotic chain-smoker and her past lives; the 1970 movie offered the same to Barbra Streisand. With the past and present characters now split up into two different performers, neither has much opportunity to portray any kind of range. The characters are basically one-note except when they are singing.

The therapist is now supposed to be the protagonist, but he has no distinct personality to speak of; we know that he is sad that his wife died, and that is about it. There was potential for intriguing drama or comedy in the straight doctor’s realization that he is in effect falling in love with a gay man, but the production is careful to avoid the kind of risks that were in the similarly gender-bending 1990 play by Craig Lucas, “Prelude to a Kiss” – or for that matter even in “Victor/Victoria” in 1982. We only see Harry Connick romancing Jesse Mueller. David’s role during those scenes is to be unconscious, off-stage. It is true that David is given a boyfriend, Warren (Drew Gehling). There is also one song where Dr. Mark, David and Melinda are waltzing together, chastely (the only memorable choreography), and a moment when the straight doctor seems about to kiss his gay patient, but just at the point of contact, the stage goes dark! This is hardly game-changing theater.

The agenda of the Mayer’s enterprise is very clearly to rescue the score for a commercial run. Added to the original stage musical are songs from the 1970 movie, and from the 1951 movie musical “Royal Wedding” – those last are the songs in jazz singer Melinda’s repertoire. And so it is another odd choice to set the current day of the musical in 1974, the early dawn of the disco era; Burton Lane’s songs, for all their loveliness, are not from that era. The set and costumes in the show, however, are a constant reminder of a fashion that, let’s just say, has yet to entrance a succeeding generation — bell bottom pants, love beads, swirling flower patterns, old men in bright green jackets.

It is odd and interesting that the evergreen music of Burton Lane seems doomed to be associated with shows with (at best) dated plots; he was also the composer of Finian’s Rainbow. “On A Clear Day You Can See Forever” might have worked better skipping the book, presenting instead a Harry Connick Jr. concert of Burton Lane melodies.

On A Clear Day, You Can See Forever
Music by Burton Lane
Book by Peter Parnell based on the original book by Alan Jay Lerner,
Directed by Michael Mayer
Choreographed by Joann M. Hunter.
Scenic design by Christine Jones, costume design by Catherine Zuber, lighting by Kevin Adams, sound by Peter Hylenski,
Cast: Harry Connick Jr. as Dr. Mark Bruckner, David Turner as David Gamble, Jessie Mueller as Melinda Wells, Kerry O’Malley as Sharone, Drew Gehling as Warren, Sarah Stiles as Muriel, Paul O’Brien, Heather Ayers, Lori Wilner, Benjamin Eakeley, Alex Ellis, Kendal Hartse, Grasan Kingsberry, Tyler Maynard, Zachary Prince, Alysha Umphress, Philip Hoffman, Sean Allan Krill, Patrick O’Neill, and Christianne Tisdale.