From Small Screen to Spotlight: The Honeymooners Hits the Stage
A quartet of Broadway veterans play the iconic roles in ‘The Honeymooners,’ a musical adaptation of the classic sitcom, receiving its world premiere at New Jersey’s Paper Mill Playhouse.
Whether you’re old enough to have seen them when they first aired or grew up watching the reruns that have become a television staple, everyone loves The Honeymooners. The classic 1950s sitcom only produced 39 episodes (although the characters were seen in numerous other incarnations), but its cultural impact was massive. And if you watch one of the shows today, the comedy still holds up.
But here’s the thing. The shows were only a half-hour long. That, unfortunately, is not the case with the new musical version receiving its world premiere at New Jersey’s Paper Mill Playhouse. Running two hours and 40 minutes, this bloated extravaganza feels like a Madame Tussauds exhibit come to sputtering life.
Director John Rando (Urinetown) has assembled a terrific cast of Broadway talents, but ultimately they’re hamstrung by essentially having to imitate the inimitable original performers. Wearing extensive padding, Michael McGrath expertly recreates Jackie Gleason’s vocal delivery, signature stammering and physical gestures as bus driver Ralph Kramden. Michael Mastro similarly echoes Art Carney’s hilarious deadpan posturing as sewer worker Ed Norton. The two actors look uncannily like their predecessors and have their comic interactions down pat. But you’re always aware that you’re looking at impersonations. They’re not really playing Kramden and Norton; they’re playing Gleason and Carney playing Kramden and Norton.
