By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“)
After several decades in development and through various iterations, Empire, the musical that tells the story of the construction of the Empire State Building during the early days of the Great Depression and the men and women who literally bolted it into place, has finally bowed in the city that boasts the monumental and iconic structure. Following several weeks of previews in June and early July, the show opened at New World Stages on July 11.
Directed by Tony Award winner Cady Huffman in her Off-Broadway directorial debut, Empire boasts an enthusiastic cast of young, talented singers and dancers who tell the story in flashback beginning from the year of the U.S. bicentennial.
The history of the iconic building, erected at almost breakneck speed, was accomplished through the girder wizardry of crews of Mohawk Native American iron workers from Canada who were as at home in the sky as the rest of New Yorkers were on solid concrete and schist. The 104-story structure was built over the course of a mere one year and one and a half months – a total of 145 days from beginning to completion – and at the astounding average rate of four and a half stories per week. In addition to the Native American steelworkers, a group of Irish, Polish and Italian immigrants figured mightily in the workforce that raised the building. Empire is largely their story.
With a book and music and lyrics by Caroline Sherman and Robert Hull, the book of Empire runs rather long in its first act with an inordinate amount of clunky exposition.
The opening “Prologue” gives way to “Everybody Up/Heyday,” a dancing and singing tribute to the spirit of the Roaring Twenties and the dedication and fervor of the work crew.
Two musical numbers – “Precision and Rhythm” and the first act closer “Don’t Look Down When You’re Going Up” – are among the more enjoyable and faster-paced numbers, but the book does drag as it tells the tragic story of a family forever shaped by being part of this historic endeavor.
The story of the Mohawk Indians and the immigrants who joined them on the girders high above Manhattan is a compelling tale. In the beginning we find ourselves back in the 1976 timeline. A woman of Mohawk descent has recently passed away and we discover she is also a widow of an immigrant iron walker who was accidentally killed during the project. Spiritually guided by the Mohawk-Grandmother, (April Ortiz), her daughter Sylvie Lee (understudied by Julia Louise Hosack) and granddaughter Rayne (Kiana Kabeary) discover a ceremonial golden rivet. It is the key to her story and that of her husband, both members of the dedicated crew that raised the impressive structure.
We move back in time to 1929 and soon meet Paul Salvatoriello, who plays larger-than-life (former) New York Governor Al Smith. Along with capitalist John J. Raskob (Howard Kaye) of DuPont and General Motors fame, Smith reveals plans to build a giant skyscraper on the site of the former Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Governor Smith and Raskob employ the services of fictional architect and designer Charles Kinney (Albert Guerzon), whose vision transforms the Al Smith Building into the ambitious project that will eventually dwarf the recently-completed Chrysler Building. In “Moxie” the three consider their plans and brazenly push the schedule ahead.
And who would best guide this project? Why, yet another fictional composite character: Frances Belle “Wally” Wolodsky, of course, played by Kaitlyn Davidson. As the project manager, Davidson steals the show with her terrific singing and dancing. She deals with keeping the iron walkers on schedule and making sure they operate safely. Wally stays one foot ahead of the crusading press, steers past probing city officials like Mayor Jimmy Walker (Devin Cortez) and socialite citizens like Janet Arthur (Alexandra Frohlinger) while making sure the men stay on the rigorous schedule dictated to them by Kinney, who also seems to have designs on her as well.
Wally does it all and like Ginger Rogers’ famous quote does it backwards and in high heels. She’s just terrific, but Davidson is blessed to have a director with tremendous skills herself.
Being a Broadway hoofer and belter for four decades on Broadway, Huffman is in a perfect position to help shape the dancing and singing of the young cast members as they relate their specific stories. She knows innately what makes for good musical theatre, but the material on which Empire is based from first time writers and composers Sherman and Hull could have used a number of structural tweaks to improve its overall chance of scaling successful heights.
There are many stories – perhaps too many stories – to adequately focus on all of the couples affected by the building of the Empire State Building as it later became known. There are the O’Dowds – newlyweds Ethan and Emily – who have heavy Irish brogues as would be expected of Irish immigrants looking to begin a family. There’s poet Joe Pakulski (Devin Cortez) who is connected forever to Sylvie and Rayne and then there’s Billy Betts (Joel Douglas), a newcomer who just wants to be a part of the big build. All of these are stories deserve more attention than we have time for in this ambitious musical.
The second act culminates with the rousing “Empire,” a catchy number that would have been enhanced had the stage shown a vintage projection of the tall building or a historic movie against the rear of the stage. A simple theatrical device like that would have signaled the completion of the structure in the mind of the audience.
Empire (2 hours and 30 minutes with a 15-minute intermission), directed by Cady Huffman, continues its Off-Broadway run at New World Stages, 340 W. 50 St., in New York, through September 22. Tickets are available through Ticketron.
