By Bart Greenberg****Goldstein, A New Musical About Family, attempts to do the impossible: an epic musical running 90 minutes, with seven actors and a unit set. The story of three generations of a Jewish-American family, spanning over almost a century, has enough drama, secrets, twists, romances and conflicts to fill several Belva Plain novels. The surprising thing about this production is how much of it works despite some major flaws.
The clever set up for the story (the book of Goldstein is by Charlie Schulman) is that protagonist, author Louis Goldstein, (Zal Owen) arrives at the Actors Temple Theatre (where the show is actually being performed) to speak about his Pulitzer Prize winning family chronicle. As he begins to lecture, he is interrupted by his family disputing the story he has set down. The fact that most of them are deceased doesn’t slow them down in the least. Unfortunately, there isn’t a great deal done with this interesting twist of varied memory and the accusations of family lies that are insisted upon. And at least one of the these secrets, having to do with Louis’ father, is never revealed, leaving a big hole in the narrative.
One device that does work well is that Owen always plays the unsuccessful suitors of both Goldstein’ grandmother and his mother. Each character is well defined by this excellent actor who creates three distinct personalities. In fact, the entire cast cannot be faulted; each contributes greatly to the specifics of the roles they are playing: Amie Bermowitz and Jim Stanek as the Goldstein grandparents, Megan McGinnis, Aaron Galligan-Stierle and Sarah Beth Pfeifer as the middle generation and Julie Benko as Louis’ sister. In addition to impressive dramatic skills, every one of them has a wonderful voice.
And that brings us to the score. Individually the songs by Michael Roberts (music and lyrics) are tuneful and intelligent; unfortunately, as a show score they are less than compelling. The most effective lyrics are surprisingly comic ones: “Visiting Your Mother” (a great show piece for Pfeifer) and “Have You Met My Parents” are specific and character-driven. But the many ballads, while certainly pleasant, could be reassigned to any other character or story with little alteration because they lack so much in period and character. For a show that covers multiple decades there is little shift in style or vocabulary. A moving collection of love letters (“Beloved”) are sung in English though identified as written in Yiddish, but nothing in the lyric or music suggests they are anything other than mid-century American notes. Roberts seems so determined to avoid melodic clichés (there are only a few bars of “Jewish” music for a wedding scene) that the score lacks any spice or texture.
Director Brad Rouse deals with the very limited stage space and limited entrances with great skill, keeping the story moving. Andrew E. Griffin provides atmospheric lighting that contributes to the shifting moods of the story.
Goldstein: A New Musical About Family plays at the Actors Temple Theatre, 339 W. 47th St., New York City. Tickets can be purchased via Telecharge.com or at the theatre. See Goldsteinmusical.com for more information.
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