At the Culture Club at 530 W. 27 St.
When Duncan Sheik, the writer of the musical “Spring Awakening” and singer of the song “Barely Breathing,” unexpectedly died last month at age 56, his new off-Broadway show was about a week away from starting previews.
asserted
show → breathe → previews
That’s tough for a work in progress, which should be making changes nightly.
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which → ’ → changes
Without one of the creators, they’re stuck in a state of paralysis.
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they → stick → paralysis
But Sheik’s score, while far from perfect, is not really the main problem for “Memoirs of Amorous Gentlemen,” the clumsy and uncomfortable musical that opened Thursday in the old “Sleep No More” compound in the depths of Chelsea.
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that → open → Chelsea
Although not his best work (that’s still “Spring Awakening”), some of the songs — particularly those sung by Sophia Anne Caruso as Colette — are emotive and rousing; a wall of pure sound that’s more transportive than anything else in this awfully familiar nightclub.
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that → ’ → nightclub
What troubles “Memoirs,” a musical set in a Parisian brothel that caters to men’s fetishes, is that it’s not arousing.
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it → trouble → fetishes
Repeatedly calling the audience “perverts” and cracking Borscht Belt orgasm jokes doesn’t really get the blood pumping so much as the mind wandering.
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mind → call → jokes
And Rob Ashford’s direction has all the elegance of a meat mallet.
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direction → have → mallet
I started to feel bad for the supporting actors on the sidelines who spent minutes awkwardly petting each other during other people’s numbers.
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who → start → numbers
It’s especially cringey when the rota of Johns are turned into easy jokes.
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rota → ’ → jokes
Think a guy with a circus kink dressed as a clown, a dude in a pink corset who likes getting shaved and a tongue-wagging man on a leash who dreams of being a Labrador.
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who → think → leash
The show isn’t sure if we’re supposed to celebrate these horn dogs letting their freak flags fly or cruelly mock them for it.
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flags → suppose → it
And eerie quiet is deafening in this cathouse called the Night Egg, since the scantily-clad actors are often less than a foot away from you.
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actors → call → you
Like a slew of other productions in recent years — “Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812,” the recent “Cabaret” revival and “Moulin Rouge!” — it’s set in an immersive club.
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it → set → club
There’s a round stage in the middle, cocktail tables all over and I suspect the Garment District is completely out of red velour.
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District → ’ → velour
The environment brings to mind a French phrase: Deja vu.
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environment → bring → phrase
That can work sometimes.
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That → work → ?
But too often, and definitely here, it’s akin to sneaking veggies in your kid’s food.
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it → ’ → food
Let’s trick the audience into going to the theater!
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’s → trick → theater
Just plop one down whenever and wherever you need it.
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you → plop → it
Worse, Ashford makes no fun or creative use of the large room.
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Ashford → make → room
It’s a whole lot of walking in circles and writhing in the middle of the stage.
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It → ’ → stage
But Leah Nanako Winkler’s terrible book is a ham-handed collection of cliches and cartoons that are hard to take seriously.
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that → take → cliches
Its 2-D quality could be because it’s based on a Japanese Manga comic book.
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it → base → book
In fact, it’s billed as the first-ever American musical to be.
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it → bill → musical
The only character with some heft is Colette (Caruso), a young spitfire of a prostitute who’s smarter than all the rest.
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who → ’ → rest
She’s our Emcee and our Satine rolled into one lesser creation.
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She → ’ → creation
One night, a boring man named Mr. Sakae (Marc delaCruz) stops by the Night Egg.
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man → name → Egg
A blocked writer, he’s not in the market for a roll in the hay, but for inspiration.
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he → block → inspiration
Sakae gives Colette a notebook and pays her to answer four questions: What makes you laugh? What makes you cry? What do you long for?
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you → give → What
With its struggling author and courtesans in France, “Memoirs” has grand aspirations to be an edgier, downtown “Moulin Rouge.”
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Memoirs → struggle → aspirations
Colette’s passion mostly lies in her loser boyfriend Leon (Cory Jecoma with a very pretty voice), a smooth-talking jerk who takes her money and cheats on her with a high-end lady of the night named Nana (Nkeki Obi-Melekwe).
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who → lie → night
Really, the only times during “Memoirs” we care about anything is when Caruso is powerfully belting out her feelings, vague though they are as written.
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they → care → feelings
And for three minutes here and there, the show abruptly switches into being good.
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show → switch → minutes
The late Sheik’s music certainly isn’t — it’s much more Sheik than chic — but it is tuneful soft rock with an occasional side trip into “nntz nntz” beats and even a hint of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” at the end.
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it → ’ → end
The lyrics are choppier, but there’s nothing to be done about that now.
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lyrics → ’ → that
Once recorded, it’ll make a nice addition to a connoisseur’s collection.
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it → record → collection
The Aporia
