Mask was a successful 1985 movie about Rocky Dennis, a teenager with a disfiguring and degenerative bone disease, and his pill-poppin' momma Rusty, struggling to have a “normal“ family life despite the doctor’s prognosis of Rocky having only a few months to live. This tearjerker was a highly successful vehicle for Eric Stoltz, Laura Dern, and the inimitable Cher.
They say that truth is less believable than fiction. Despite the fact that the story was based on real people, it was not the easiest movie to sit through despite its stellar cast and uplifting message. Add music to the mix, and believability is stretched too far; nevertheless this new musical has some really positive aspects. The story is still mawkish but moving, the performances are terrific, and the music and the singers often soar.
Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil (You’ve Lost That Lovin' Feeling) have a catalogue of winning songs to their names, and the songs here are no exception. The bike anthem Close to Heaven, as sung by the husky-voiced Michael Lansing, celebrates the adventurous wonder of the open road and could be a Kenny Rogers hit. Another show-stopper is Rocky’s song Planet Volturn, especially as sung by Allen E. Read, whose voice is reason enough to see the show. The sweet duet between Rocky and his blind girlfriend (the lovely Sarah Glendening) is also hit-worthy.
Not all the songs are winners, but as sung by this terrific cast they are worth hearing. The problem is that several of the numbers are delivered down center, as in a concert, doing nothing to further the action and serving only to tell us more about the character. This can make the show drag, especially at its staggering two hour and 45 minute length.
The acting is also a mixed bag. While the principals are all quite good, the chorus is often, well, chorusy. The scenes in the classroom are quite obnoxious, and a scene with the doctor is gratuitous. Michele Duffy, so good in Can-Can earlier this year, impresses as the mother and has a great set of lungs. Greg Evigan has a nice easy style as Ricky’s on-again-off-again lover and can sing a country song with the best of them. Still it is Allen E. Read’s Rocky who steals our hearts with his natural performance and emotive singing voice.
Article comments
1 - Mary
Michael Lanning did not sing Look At Me. He sang Close to Heaven.