*Maddie*: June 5, 2025

I saw Maddie on June 5, 2025. It's a musical that played on London's West End in 1997. It has music by Stephen Keeling and book and lyrics by Shaun McKenna and Steven Dexter, adapted from the book Marion's Wall which was turned into the movie Maxie, an early Glenn Close vehicle. It's the story of a young couple who moves to Greenwich Village in the 70s and learn that an aspiring actress, Maddie, had lived there in the 20s. The wife becomes possessed by the ghost of Maddie, who is determined to reclaim her place on earth and launch her movie career.

It had its New York stage premiere at the New York Theater Festival in November 2023. These performances were preceded by concert performances at 54 Below a few months before. Here's that cast doing the opening number:

It sounds a little like other shows, it doesn't quite land on every lyric, but clearly the song knows what it's doing and knows its purpose. That's how I would describe the whole show - - not amazing but well made. The individual songs weren't great but they had a nice variety, they furthered the story, and they had a consistent tone. I was drawn into the show and interested to see where it would go. These are all difficult things to achieve, I'm sure. A musical comedy is a minefield.

Kelly Maur played the dual role of Maddie and the woman she inhabits and was the standout in the cast. She did a great job of alternating between the sweet, inhibited Jan and the vibrant, aggressive Maddie. I should say that the role was very well crafted - - each character had her own style of music, the characterization was built into the songs. Again, not an easy thing to do.

The actor playing her husband had a strong voice and a solid presence but he did this Broadway vowel thing on "oo" that drives me up the WALL. "You" becomes "yew," "do" becomes "dew." Patrick Cassidy was the worst example of this in 42nd Street, which I saw right after I moved here in 2002. "Come on along and listen TEW / The lullaby of Broadway." Nails on a chalkboard.

My friend Alexander Todd Torrenga played the young couple's landlord and a friend of Maddie's from the 20s. He was my connection to the show and he gave a very strong performance. His voice sounded great and his song early in the show was touching. He conveyed the emotional arc of his character in a compelling way.

One other thing I want to mention: the theater was tiny, 199 seats. The "orchestra" was an electric piano and drums. What a treat to hear a musical without any body mics.

The show made me think of what used to be called a Cult Hit, a forgotten musical that a handful of people rave about. Maybe they have the original cast recording on LP (very few copies were pressed and it was never transferred to CD) or better yet, a pirate bootleg recording on tape. Those people are aware of the flaws in the show but the flaws are overpowered what they see as the genius in the songs. They fully believe that if the show found the right cast, the right director, and the right production it would be the smash hit it was always meant to be.