Musicals may need a celebrity to survive

What makes a musical work? Talent, creativity, originality and story. What makes a musical successful? Ticket sales, of course. Sadly, a show that works may not be successful. This is evident with two recently-opened shows, “Lysistrata Jones” and “On A Clear Day You Can See Forever.” Last week’s box offices reports are in and sales are disappointing for “Lysistrata Jones” and respectable for “On A Clear Day You Can See Forever.”

After charming Off-Broadway audiences, “Lysistrata Jones” moved to the Walter Kerr Theatre. It is a rare commodity and inventive, quirky musical with intelligence, bawdy humor and sexuality.

Based on the Aristophanes anti-war comedy, Lysistrata (411 B.C.) in which the Greek women go on a sex strike to stop the Peloponnesian War, the show is set in the modern day. The perky, pretty cheerleader, Lysistrata Jones (Patti Murin), convinces her cheerleading squad to boycott sex until the basketball team finally wins a game. The musical, with a book by Douglas Carter Beane, has modern references to movies like “Charlie’s Angels,” and cell phones, calling Siri on the new Iphone to find a brothel, as well as historical references to Greek city-states. One of the show’s best features, aside the energy of the young, talented cast, is the use of basketball in some of the dance sequences.

Although inspired by an ancient play, “Lysistrata Jones” is relevant and lively and feels like a new musical. So why isn’t it doing well? Perhaps, because it doesn’t play safe and doesn’t have a celebrity-star.

That’s exactly what “On A Clear Day You Can See Forever” does. This ‘re-imagined’ musical is based on the 1966 musical, which starred Barbara Harris as a quirky, young woman Daisy who talks flowers into growing and has premonitions. Under hypnosis, she reveals that she had lived before in 18th century England as a woman named Melinda Wells. With music by Burton Lane and Alan Lerner, the show ran for 260 performances, but got mixed reviews.

So why bring it back - in any form? This time the show highlights the psychiatrist, played by the wonderful Harry Connick Jr. The new version changes Daisy into David, a gay florist. Except for being cute and quirky in his own offbeat way, David is not extraordinary. When he regresses to his past life, David (played by David Turner) becomes Melinda, a big-band singer in the 40s (played by Jessica Mueller). Connick is attractive and appealing. However, throughout the play, he is a somber figure, mourning the death of his wife years before. The sad sack, misfit David provides the only upbeat part of the show.

The performers sing well and most of the music is comfortably familiar but the show is as problematic now, even ‘re-imagined’, as it was some year ago. Then, as now, the biggest plus of the musical is its score.

But Connick’s draw is undeniable and his fans are buying tickets just to see him. Too bad there are no stars in “Lysistrata Jones.” It’s a clever show that is worth seeing, but sadly, not enough people are going and so it closed. The box office sales just reinforce the notion that new and creative is a risk, whereas the familiar and popular will continue to draw, no matter how stale or unsatisfactory.