On a Clear Day You Can See Forever

Note: The following thoughts are based on a preview performance. This production is subject to make any changes, cuts, and additions leading up to its opening night on December 11, 2011.

After a hearty Thanksgiving feast, I caught today's matinee of Michael Mayer's re-imagined On a Clear Day You Can See Forever. Unfortunately, it was decidedly less satisfying than the meal I enjoyed earlier this week.

The original 1965 Broadway launch of On a Clear Day was tepidly received, as was the 1970 film adaptation starring Barbra Streisand and Jack Nicholson. Its plot follows a young woman with ESP named Daisy Gamble, who's psychiatrist, Dr. Mark Bruckner, falls in love with a woman of her past life, Melinda. In Mayer's updated version, Daisy becomes David, a gay florist who is also a reincarnated version of Melinda. When he seeks Dr. Bruckner for help in breaking his smoking habit, Bruckner once again falls in love with the spirit of Melinda.

There are so many issues with Mayer's revisal that I don't even know where to start. I guess I'll start with the good, because that's only one thing: the score. This production incorporates a number of songs that weren't in the original production, but every number is wonderful. Some stand-outs include "On the S.S. Bernard Cohn," "Hurry! It's Lovely Up Here," "She Isn't You" and the title song. Unfortunately, though these songs may be good, their delivery is not.

Now, on to the bad. First, the cast. Harry Connick, Jr. stars as Dr. Mark Bruckner, and he was as wooden as can be. I've never been a fan of his, and I suppose his delivery of his many songs was passable, but I just couldn't get past his poor acting. He looked uncomfortably and unhappy while he was onstage, which just made for an uncomfortable and unhappy audience. David Turner, who I have enjoyed in other productions on Broadway, was too much of a caricature as David Gamble. The only time I felt connected to his character was when he discovered the audio recording of Dr. Bruckner calling him dull and uninteresting. Jessie Mueller has a wonderful voice, but her lack of experience showed in her performance as Melinda (this is her Broadway debut). The only cast member I truly enjoyed was Drew Gehling as Warren, David's boyfriend, who, unfortunately, did not receive a lot of stage time.

The design of this production was appalling. Before we were even 20 minutes into the production, the optical-illusion inspired set, the over-the-top lighting and the obnoxiously 70s style costumes were giving me a headache. I understand what they were going for with the Rorschach ink blots and bold patterns, but it simply didn't work in the long run.

Perhaps the worst part of this production was its new storyline, which just seemed awkward, clunky, and forced. I admire Mayer for taking a risk and trying to do something different with this material (and I have loved his earlier work on Spring Awakening and American Idiot), but all he proved with this production is that On a Clear Day isn't really going to work anytime, anywhere.

This production really was one of the biggest flops of the fall season for me, and I would have felt robbed if I had paid anything more than the rush price I paid for my ticket. It's a shame that so much time and effort couldn't make this production better, but sometimes things just don't work out.