57.0°,
Mostly Cloudy The Road to Qatar
A Review by Elyse Trevers
The York Theater Company at St. Peter’s Church is an unprepossessing little theater that offers small new musicals as well as revivals of older musicals. The shows have short runs; many are unremarkable but occasionally you luck out and encounter a gem, e.g., Musical of Musicals, Avenue Q, Yanks. The theater has the ambiance of a slightly shabby living room.
Performances are introduced by funny and affable Producing Artistic Director Jim Morgan. The latest offering, The Road to Qatar, a small musical by Stephen Cole and David Krane, is based on the pair’s real-life experiences when they were commissioned via Internet to write a Broadway-style musical for the Emir.
The unusual story offered possibilities. It had opportunities. It aspired to a road show in the vein of the vintage Bob Hope-Bing Crosby Road movies. However, the ”Road” movies had charm and affability. Hope had humor, Crosby had the voice and there was always a girl.
Sadly, here the music is unremarkable, boring and un-melodic. The few jokes are overplayed. James Beaman (Michael) and Keith Gerchak (Jeff ) play the two “short Jewish writers” who meet and learn to work with one another. Their trip begins in New York City and later they travel to Dubai, Bratislava, London and Qatar. The Emir’s demands are outrageous and they have a very short time to complete their work, but the two do finish Aspire (The show is named after the domed soccer stadium in which it will be presented. )
Although the situation is silly enough to have made a cute musical, The Road to Qatar isn’t fun. It’s tedious and tiresome. The characters are sketchily drawn and the Arabs are one-dimensional stereotypes.
In the wonderful show 39 Steps, cut-out airplane and makeshift costumes under skilled direction and acting add to the overall humor of the show. However, when those same things are part of a weak show like The Road To Qatar, the show seems amateurish.
No matter what –The York Theater Company is to be commended for mounting new small musicals. Too bad they can’t all be winners.
