Reviews 2006
Reviews 2006
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music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman, book by Martin Short and Daniel Goldfarb, directed by Scott Wittman
Mirvish Productions, Canon Theatre, Toronto
June 15-July 2, 2006
Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me is just the latest in the recent genre of musicals that make fun of musicals like The Producers or Canada’s own The Drowsy Chaperone, but it comes too late to say anything new. The premise is that Martin Short (played by himself) wants to star in a one-man show. Unfortunately he has had a happy life and will have to exaggerate the few interesting events of his past to fit the mold of soul-baring, Tony-winning one-man shows like Billy Crystal’s 700 Sundays.
Although Short and his five-person supporting cast, the Comedy All Stars, are immensely talented, the premise is exhausted before the first act is over and the show degenerates into a stale scattershot satire on show business in general. The unmemorable songs, with wittier lyrics than music, reach their height in a parody of Hair-cum-Godspell, but the best sequence involves Short in his Jiminy Glick persona interviewing a celebrity from the audience. On opening night it was Ben Mulroney. This improvisation was funnier than the rest of the scripted show combined that felt too much like small-scale sketch comedy played on too large a stage. Short and the Comedy All Stars, so adept at repartee, impersonation and song, deserve a proper showcase for their talent. This show isn’t it.
©Christopher Hoile
Note: A version of this review appeared in Eye Weekly 2006-06-22.
Photo: Brooks Ashmanskas, Nicole Parker, Martin Short and Mary Birdsong.
©2006 Paul Kolnik.
2006-06-22
Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me