Dogfight

Musical (2012)
Music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul

With Alejandra M. Parrilla (Rose Fenny), Jordan J. Ford (Eddie Birdlace), Patrick Varner (Pete, et al), Jared Troilo (Boland), Drew Arisco (Bernstein), Dylan James Whelan (Stevens), Dave Heard (Fector), Edward Rubenacker (Gibbs, et al), McCaela Donovan (Peggy, Marcy, Hippie), Jenna Lea Scottt (Librarian, et al), Liliane Klein (Mama, Suzette, Hippie)

Eddie Birdlace (Jordan J. Ford) and his buddies, Boland (Jared Troilo) and Bernstein (Drew Alisco), are in San Francisco in 1963 ready to go to war in Vietnam. On the verge of going, they engage in setting up a “dogfight,” a competition in which the soldier who brings the ugliest woman to a dance wins. Eddie finds Rose (Alejandra M. Parrilla), a waitress, who in the course of things learns the true nature of the stunt. Eddie, however, grows attracted to Rose and a relationship develops.

This musical version, very well performed in this Speakeasy Stage production, seems to take most of its plot from the film. It adds energetic enough music and lyrics which, though fairly routine and without much poetry or wit, seem to tell the story. The singing and staging here are excellent, and the cast does a very good job of bringing the musical to life.

Though this stage adaptation hugs the narrative of the film very closely, one character in this musical adaptation, one of the two friends of Eddie, has a name change in the musical to the more demonstratively Jewish name “Bernstein” and his characterization in this production is weirdly and strikingly, almost shockingly, stereotypical, particularly for a narrative which is meant to break through stereotypes. Portrayed with thick glasses with large black frames, he is otherwise shown as a boor, particularly so among this trio, becoming insistently violent in a whorehouse scene. Frankly, I was struck by the particularly unappealing way this character, even among the group of unappealing Marines, was presented. Though the same theme is suggested in the film it is not as glaringly accentuated.

Another character who plays a Native American woman, Ruth Two Bears, picked up for the “dogfight,” is taken directly from the character the film. Again, this is pretty tasteless. Perhaps the thinking of the authors was that adding some tasteless cultural stereotyping to the featured Marines via the Bernstein character would compensate for the tasteless view of the women they solicit for their awful undertaking. If that were the narrative strategy, I don’t think it works, but merely exacerbates the tastelessness the story is meant to call into question.

The member of the trio who gets best billing is Eddie, who falls into line with the horrific shenanigans of the Marines at various points, but seems redeemable. He is the romantic hero, such as it is, and all of it is very nice, except for that quite glaring stereotype that sits next to it. The notion of the redeemable non-Jew contrasted with the unredeemable Jew is an all too familiar theme; once again, a narrative that attempts to criticize traditional forms of prejudice, as does this, should take better care not to, even inadvertently, give even slight support to other forms. Nonetheless, Jordan J. Ford does a perfectly reasonable job as Eddie, carrying off the role of redeemable asshole quite well.

Alejandra M. Parrilla as Rose is charming and funny and plays her odd role with gumption and wit. In the film, one might note, Lili Taylor plays Rose with a quite different slant from that of this production and one that I find more believable as the not obviously but subtly appealing counterpart in this offbeat love story.

McCaela Donovan, who always shines, pulls off the lesser roles of Peggy and Marcie here with her characteristic panache.

The ending is a bit sappy but okay, not quite as convincing as in the film.

Singing, harmony, music, dancing, are all carried off very well in this tightly directed and executed production, a very good rendition of a musical adaptation that holds very closely to the film that inspires it, its energetic music and straightforward lyrics telling the required story adequately.

– BADMan