In March of 2012, I saw a performance of the Tom Kitt / Lin-Manuel Miranda / Amanda Green / Jeff Whity musical "Bring It On - The Musical" when the Pre-Broadway tour played a brief engagement at the Cadillac Palace Theatre in Chicago. I hadn't seen any of the "Bring It On" movies prior to seeing the musical. Okay, maybe I saw one or three. My mom bought the tickets for the musical. I saw so much theatre in those days. That is something I am grateful for, yet at times take it for granted. One of those times is when I recall "Bring It On - The Musical," because it wasn't very good.
The cast of "Bring It On - The Musical" included Adrienne Warren, Taylor Louderman, Ariana DeBose, Jason Gotay, Gregory Haney, Neil Haskell, Janet Krupin, Elle McLemore, Ryann Redmond, and Kate Rockwell. The scenic design was pretty basic (maybe not by today's standards, in some cases). But I thought it was neat how, upon entering the theatre, a scoreboard was counting down the minutes until the show began. What really stole the show was the flips and leaps of those on stage. The musical was choreographed and directed by Andy Blankenbuehler. The songs weren't memorable. After ten years, I cannot remember a single one. That might not be fair to the creative team, but since when is life fair?
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| The cast of "Bring It On: the musical" |
"Bring It On - The Musical" opened on Broadway on August 1st, 2012 and closed on December 30th, 2012. The Chicago Engagement of the musical ran from March 6th through 25th, 2012. Even though this musical only ran on Broadway for a few months, a cast recording of the musical was released. I bought a copy. This was more because of my spending habits then my fondness for the show. Listening to the cast recording was an underwhelming experience. Without the choreography that made the show, it just wasn't much of a musical.
What made the musical worse was the lighting design by Jason Lyons. Not only was it a distraction at times, but it also had a tendency to be blinding. Every so often, I would see the lights start to move, and I knew they would shine in our (the audience) eyes again. It wasn't so bad for me, but I saw the show with Theo, who was fighting a migraine that night. Back then I would find any excuse to be annoyed about something, so I lived vicariously through Theo's annoyance about the blinding lights. Of course, I stopped short of experiencing a sympathy migraine.
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| The cast of "Bring It On: the musical" showcases some "jaw-dropping" choreography. |
Part of me wants to criticize this show more. If I had a better memory of individual performances within "Bring It On - The Musical," I might have done just that. Buy that might have raised the problem of me not staying in my lane. The same problem might have arisen if I talked about how realistic a certain character was. Why bother, though? In any event, I'm not writing these reviews to win a Pulitzer. Imagine if I was. I would probably go to great lengths to self-sabotage such an achievement.
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