It’s appropriate that theatergoers take a down escalator to enter the Circle in the Square, the underground venue where the new musical “In Transit” opened Sunday. After escaping the subway to get to the Circle, you then confront a replica onstage of the Lexington Avenue line. That feeling of discomforting familiarity never fully leaves.
“In Transit” is not the first subway musical to grace Broadway. The more provocatively titled “Subways Are for Sleeping,” written by Jule Styne, Adolf Green and Betty Comden, opened in 1961, enjoyed a very brief run, and tells the story of a journalist reporting on the homeless who live underground.
“In Transit” is about working New Yorkers who ride the subway. The homeless, frankly, are much more interesting — at least when compared to this middle-class gaggle: an actress doing temp work (Margo Seibert), a financial type losing his job (James Snyder), a woman recovering from a romantic break-up (Erin Mackey), and a gay couple looking to get married (Justin Guarini and Telly Leung being real prissy).
Late in the show, somebody does relieve himself upstage on the subway platform, but otherwise this is not only a crime-free but a drama-free zone. Whether above ground or below ground, the “In Transit” characters lead one to re-title the show “Theaters Are for Sleeping.” Life here is so sanitized that the subway musician known as Boxman (Steven “HeaveN” Cantor brilliantly replicates the screech and squeal of the train cars) never asks for a dime, gives sage advice, and swipes his MetroCard for those passengers less fortunate.
“In Transit” bills itself as Broadway’s first a capella musical, written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez, James-Allen Ford, Russ Kaplan and Sara Wordsworth. The American Federation of Musicians may not be happy, but it’s no small achievement that the four writers responsible for the book, music and lyrics succeed in not making us miss having an orchestra. Credit there also goes to the a capella arrangements of Deke Sharon. Maybe fewer arrangements for soloists would be better. Rarely does someone sing without a chorus going “doo-doo-doo-dah,” followed by “doo-doo-doo-wah,” with an occasional “dee” or “woh” thrown in for variety.
The score features ballads, gospel, hip-hop and rap, but the arrangements make most of the tunes sound like doo-wop. Vocally, the standout is Nicholas Ward, whose bass belongs at the Met Opera. Also extraordinary is Moya Angela, who gets to deliver the show’s only truly funny song, “A Little Friendly Advice.” Angela is the big black lady who sings gospel late in the show a la “Hairspray,” “Violet,” “Memphis” and many other recent Broadway musicals. In this case, Angela brings down the house, but not because she’s so inspiring to white people. On the contrary, she plays the boss who tells the actress-temp to get a real life and stop following her silly dream of a life in the theater.
Otherwise, the show’s humor relies on making fun of brand names like Redbull and Pfizer and the trials of riding the subway, especially on weekends. The many vignettes are written without zingy exit lines to get the actors off the stage. Kathleen Marshall, who directs and choreographs, takes care of that book deficiency by having a conveyor belt stand in for the subway. It whisks the actors off stage in no time.
18 All-Time Great Tony Awards Performances, From 'Dreamgirls' to 'Hamilton' (Videos)
"Cabaret" (1967)
Joel Grey sang "Willkommen" to the big time, winning both a Tony (and later an Oscar) playing the M.C. in this musical set in the early days of Nazi Germany.
"Promises, Promises" (1969)
OK, the song "Turkey Lurkey" frankly doesn't make any sense -- and the whole office holiday party is kind of shoehorned into the plot. (The show's "I'll Never Fall in Love Again," however, became a big hit for Dionne Warwick.) But Michael Bennett's choreography is head-bobbingly, arm-spinningly awesome.
"A Chorus Line" (1976)
The full "I Hope I Get It!" opening number from the quintessential backstage show -- amazing how long CBS let the numbers run back in the day. Bonus for "Gilmore Girls" fans: That's Kelly Bishop as the haughty dancer who says, "I had it when I was in the front."
"Sweeney Todd" (1979)
Angela Lansbury won the fourth of her five Tony's playing the daffy Mrs. Lovett, the baker of "The Worst Pies in London," in Stephen Sondheim's dark musical.
"Dreamgirls" (1982)
Jennifer Holliday's rendition of "And I'm Telling You..." has been widely imitated, and this is the performance that is most often imitated. A-ma-zing.
"Cats" (1983)
Andrew Lloyd Webber continued his domination of Broadway with this feline musical starring Betty Buckley as Grizabella. Interestingly, the breakout ballad "Memory" was one of the few songs whose lyrics didn't come from T.S. Eliot's "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats."
"Grand Hotel" (1990)
Michael Jeter, perhaps best known from the sitcom "Evening Shade," was a rubber-limbed sensation playing a tipsy bookkeeper in the number "Let's Take a Glass Together."
"Rent" (1996)
Jonathan Larson's rock opera version of "La Boheme" gained extra poignance with his unexpected death after the first Off Broadway preview. The show became a phenomenon, and launched the careers of Idina Menzel, Jesse L. Martin and Taye Diggs.
"Chicago" (1997 revival)
Bebe Neuwirth and Ann Reinking displayed all the athleticism of Bob Fosse's original choreography in the hit revival of Kander & Ebb's musical about the dawn of celebrity criminals (which led to the Oscar-winning 2002 movie).
"The Lion King" (1998)
While Disney's stage version of the animated movie swept most of the major awards in 1998, we chose the opening number from the 2008 telecast -- celebrating the show's 10th anniversary and with clearer shots of Julie Taymor's magnificent puppets and stagecraft.
"Wicked" (2004)
Idina Menzel may have had some cold-induced pitchiness on the final note, but she (and co-star Kristin Chenoweth) are still pretty sensational on the now-standard showstopper "Defying Gravity."
"The Drowsy Chaperone" (2006)
Sutton Foster shows off while insisting that she doesn't want to show off no more in this delightful number.
"Spring Awakening" (2007)
Duncan Sheik's rock musical about rebellious teens shook up the staid world of Broadway with a just-mouthed rendition of "Totally F---ed" performed by very young Lea Michele, Jonathan Groff, John Gallagher Jr. and Skylar Astin.
"Gypsy" (2008 revival)
Everything came up roses for Patti LuPone, who won her second Tony Award playing the irrepressible Mama Rose in the classic musical about showbiz striving.
Neil Patrick Harris' Tony Opening Number (2013)
It's hard to fill a space as cavernous as Radio City Music Hall -- but NPH did just that with a "bigger" number (written by "Hamilton" composer Lin-Manuel Miranda) that included high steps, high notes, leaps, magic, shout-outs to "How I Met Your Mother" fans and even Mike Tyson. Wow.
James Corden's Tony Opening Number (2016)
The hard-working late-night host (and a Tony winner himself) did his own version of a dream-big number, running through a dozen classic Broadway musicals from "Les Miz" to "Fiddler on the Roof" to "Annie."
"Hamilton " (2016)
Audiences at home finally got a chance to see a slice of the buzzed-about hip-hop hit, which even scored an intro from Barack and Michelle Obama.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Drama Students Sing "Seasons of Love" (2018)
There wasn't a dry eye in Radio City Music Hall when students from Parkland, Florida, performed the anthem from "Rent" months after a horrific mass shooting killed 17 of their classmates and teachers. The Tonys had honored their drama teacher, Melody Herzfeld, with a special award.
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A look back at some of Broadway’s highest kicks (and notes) over the history of the Tony telecast
"Cabaret" (1967)
Joel Grey sang "Willkommen" to the big time, winning both a Tony (and later an Oscar) playing the M.C. in this musical set in the early days of Nazi Germany.
Robert Hofler, TheWrap's lead theater critic, has worked as an editor at Life, Us Weekly and Variety. His books include "The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson," "Party Animals," and "Sexplosion: From Andy Warhol to A Clockwork Orange, How a Generation of Pop Rebels Broke All the Taboos." His latest book, "Money, Murder, and Dominick Dunne," is now in paperback.