With its classic musical scores, bright and colorful scenic designs and sensational dancing, the Broadway production of An American in Paris is wonderful and marvelously entertaining!
The show is currently playing at New York City’s Palace Theatre, and tells a story of romance and life after war.
Set in 1945, the musical follows the arrival of WWII veteran and artist, Jerry Mulligan, in Paris, France. Jerry falls for Lise, a French ballet dancer with a troubled past.
When Jerry and Lise become acquainted with each other, they begin to spend more time together during ballet rehearsals and outside of ballet rehearsals. Trouble looms over when the two begin to fall in love, despite Lise being engaged to another man.
In this performance, the role of Jerry Mulligan was played by actor and San Francisco Ballet dancer, Garen Scribner. As Jerry, Scribner was attractive, lovable, graceful and immediately swept the audience off of their feet. His biggest strength, aside from his remarkable dancing, was that he was able to display a very powerful set of emotions in every action that he took onstage.
As Jerry (Scribner) continued to captivate Lise onstage, the audience continued to fall in love with his charm and overwhelming innocence, hoping that he would receive his fairytale ending and win the heart of the girl he was madly in love with.
Jerry’s love interest, Lise, was played by actress and Miami Ballet Dancer, Sara Esty. Like Scribner, Esty’s dancing was beautiful and flawless. In her role as Lise, Esty presented a perfect and strong performance as an innocent, mysterious and sweet French ingénue, caught in the middle of a love triangle.
A sense of guilt overcame me as I watched Lise struggle to choose which man she should be with, without breaking anyone’s heart.
Therefore, when Max Von Essen took the stage as Lise’s wealthy fiancé, the audience had to decide if it was Jerry or Henri Baurel (Essen) who deserved to be with Lise. Falling in love with Henri was not a difficult process, as Henri made it clear that he desired nothing more than to protect Lise.
Essen portrayed Henri as being a very well-polished and refined middle aged man, especially when he was singing operatically and when he was in the presence of his parents. His struggle to remain refined and well -mannered was interrupted, however, by his secret desire to become a singer. Essen’s character was one of the comedic roles in the show, and he also kept the audience greatly entertained.
Meanwhile, Adam Hochberg, the musical composer for the ballet that Lise was performing in, was also easily relatable to. Portrayed by actor Brandon Uranowitz, Adam melted your heart in an instant, especially when you realized that he was also falling in love with Lise. Adam was portrayed as being a “victim” who found himself caught in the same love triangle as his two friends, Jerry and Henri.
However, he was able to change the mood of the show from bittersweet to upbeat and lively when he would nervously try to tell Lise how he felt about her.
The strong performances in this production would not have been complete without other characters such as Milo Davenport (portrayed actress Jill Paice), a wealthy socialite who took “interest” in both Jerry and his artwork. Veanne Cox, who played Henri Baurel’s overbearing mother, Madame Baurel, was another comedic role in the show. She expected her son to carry on the “family traditions” and family name.
The ensemble was very entertaining, lively, energetic and witty. Each cast member, if either illustrating modern lower class citizens of Paris or guests of parties that were held by the Baurel family, looked like they were enjoying themselves. They also portrayed each character’s persona very realistically.
But not only were the performances strong, the scenic designs were also incredible. The scenic designs sparked a creative and genuine story setting and ranged from outside views of where the lower class lived, the park where Lise and Jerry danced together, and a ballet hall where Lise rehearsed for her ballet performance.
Using pastel colors, mainly yellow, light blue, white and pink in the scenes with Lise and Jerry helped to set a romantic, innocent and sunny mood for the story. The colors in Lise’s costumes in Act One captured her purity, specifically in lightly shaded sundresses that she wore.
For Jerry, who was dressed in light blue, white and tan in Act One, he stood out from the rest of the performers who were dressed in dark brown, red and dark blue. His costumes matched his personality beautifully, presenting him as a foreigner in a distant country where he had to adjust to a different way of life.
Even Adam wore costumes that fit his personality and his character. Costume designer Bob Crowley dressed him in simple brown sweaters to make him look like he was a working class man. And Henri, who was dressed in black but wore a white suit jacket in most of his scenes, looked like he belonged to the wealthy upper class of Paris.
The lighting techniques also matched the sunny, romantic and charming mood in Act One and Act Two, but they also matched the dark and depressing scenes in the very beginning of the show as well. In Act One’s music number, “I’ve Got Rhythm,” the scene was supposed to look like the power went out in Paris. Every light was off onstage, until Adam lit a candle so the guests at his bar could see and continue celebrating.
This was a very realistic lighting approach, and so was the lighting approach when Lise and Jerry met in the park and Jerry sang, “I’ve Got Beginner’s Luck” and “Liza.” The light and scenic designers used very soft lights in this scene to portray daylight which captured the pleasant essence of the story.
All aside from the elegant and sophisticated scene designs came highly seductive passion in Lise and Jerry’s dancing. From the opening dance scene in Act One to to Lise’s ballet performance in Act Two, Lise and Jerry were stunning to look at onstage. Their chemistry and desire for one another was intense, romantic and agile when they danced in each others’ arms. It was evident that they were in love with each other in the story, and they told their love story through their dancing instead of through their words in such a beautiful, fitting and adoring manner.
With a presentational text, and a great number of props, this production was full of compassion, delight and excitement. Using props such as Jerry’s paintings that he hung meticulously on the wall in many of his Act One scenes, Lise’s ballet shoes, the flag of France and Adam’s piano, a realistic story was created that was very similar to the 1951 film starring Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron.
If you have not yet seen director and choreographer Christopher Wheeldon’s An American in Paris, I highly recommend you buy your tickets now. This production was everything a musical should be. By far, this was the most creative and highly captivating musical I have ever seen. This is definitely a musical I could see again and again, and never get tired of seeing it.