The story is lifeless and plot lines are eviscerated. Relationships and characters are undeveloped and we really don’t care about them. Singer’s soliloquy at the end is an attempt to tie things together and explain what we’ve just seen, but it’s too little, too late.
Ten reasonably intelligent people were in our group, and one understood what we were seeing (because I was the only one familiar with the 1968 movie). Thankfully we had a lovely pre-show dinner at Cottage Bar so the evening was not a total loss.
Watch the movie of the same name and you’ll come away with a much richer appreciation of this story. The sign language placement in the movie is so well done that no projections or subtitles are ever used, unlike this production. Mick (Sondra Locke) and Singer (Alan Arkin) were both Oscar-nominated performances.
But on to Sunday afternoon that brought me to Flashdance at DeVos. I’m a big fan of musicals and love powerful singing/dancing numbers, and they are present here. Generally based on the 1983 movie, this production has yet to hit Broadway.
The basic musical numbers and story are still here but suddenly we have Vegas showgirls and their stories, ear-popping loud music, and way too much skin and gratuitous body writhing. The flashing and strobe lights were killers but there were warning signs in the lobby.
I pity the mothers who took their very young daughters to this show and were treated to “Manhunt”, complete with male dancers gyrating in animal masks and tights. Yes, girl makes good in the end and gets with Prince Charming, and both of them are incredibly talented actors. Emily Padgett plays Alex and Matthew Hydzik is Nick Hurley (son of her boss, and her love interest). He is more natural with the dialogue and she is an amazing dancer. "Justice" was an outstanding number feature Hydzik.
