Theater Review: ‘The Honeymooners,’ The Musical
This musical adaptation of the 1950s Jackie Gleason sitcom might please die-hard fans, but the middling show is no pow, zoom, to the moon.
Even those who are favorably inclined toward nostalgic recreations of beloved TV shows will find their affections tested in “The Honeymooners,” the lumbering, scattershot musical premiering at the Paper Mill Playhouse. Musical stage adaptations of TV sitcoms have had a history of disappointing at-bats (“Happy Days,” “The Addams Family”) and this outing — which has been in development for several years — won’t do anything to change the stats.
Based on the ’50s TV series that starred Jackie Gleason as Ralph Kramden, the Brooklyn bus driver with dreams of striking it rich, the musical rarely transcends its loopy sitcom sensibility, familiar comic setpieces and syrupy-simple sentiment. Though the hardworking cast conjures a reasonable replica of the sui generis originals, this is a show that evokes not so much the classic sitcom — which ran from 1955 to ’56 — but its television revival 10 years later, when Gleason turned the episodes into mini-musicals for his Miami-based variety show.
