REVIEW: Broadway's Lempicka
Homophobes, grow the fuck up.
Lempicka is a bio musical about a once-forgotten artist who, despite a rough start in Warsaw, finds her footing and herself in painting intimate portraits. Unfortunately, her strength of connection with her subjects becomes her eventual downfall. This is not your classic Broadway show with tap numbers and space chords, but rather captures the edgy qualities of Lempicka in both the dance and musical notes. Read further for my review and overall thoughts.
I felt conflicted about this show nearly from the moment I sat down until writing this review now. I typically hate modern music in a period musical but the edgy themes of the music was fantastic, I loved the variety of genres explored in the music. The costumes for the ensemble were BAD which is a rarity as I normally find costumes to wonderfully fit the show. The dancing and some of the lyrics reminded me of David Byrne's American Utopia, with straight arms and skipping in place, not your typical choreo but I loved it for this edgy show. The show is mostly sung through which I often want more of in musicals, but this show could use a few breaks and felt a little too ‘cliche Broadway’ at times of singing lines that didn't need to be sung. Still, Lempicka's life is a captivating story, though maybe not motivating enough for a musical. What is compelling about other bio musicals of flawed characters is their epic downfall towards the end of the show - HLL, Ham, Jersey Boys, even Cher. Lempicka didn’t have the same degree of downfall (and thank goodness writing liberties weren’t taken to make her have one in this show), so the arc of the story isn’t as satisfying as other shows. Overall I’m glad I saw this show, but with such a crowded field I wouldn’t prioritize this show over the clear breakaways (ie. I’m highly anticipating The Outsiders, Cabaret, The Notebook, etc)
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Price: I got a $35 online rush ticket at 3p for a Fri night show, there are $35 lottery and in-person rush tickets - needless to say, this show is very accessible right now!
See this if you like: Lempicka is similar to other chronological bio musicals with flawed/humanlike main characters (HLL, Ham, Jersey Boys)
Best time to see it: Now! With such a crowded field this season I can’t see this show lasting too far beyond the summer.
Know before you go: I had a left balcony seat, and while the Longacre has intimate enough seating to feel close enough to the stage, there were some projections on the left hand side of the stage that I nearly missed, and the folks on the very ends of the balcony missed entirely. $35 is a steal on Broadway but it does come with its risks!
If I only have so much time, should I see it? I would skip this one (ahem along with Great Gatsby), I haven’t seen much yet of the newer shows but I’m convinced there’s much better out there.