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Review: 'Daddy Long Legs'

Triumphant ‘Daddy Long Legs’ shows how TheatreWorks has found success in taking risks

by Steve Palopoli on Jan 25, 2010
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SHUFFLING toward the exit after Theatreworks’ opening night performance of Daddy Long Legs, I saw the man next to me turn to his wife and say simply: “Their best ever.” Curious, I asked them how long they’ve been going to TheatreWorks productions. Twenty years. Now, granted, that’s only half the time the company has been in existence, as founding artistic director Robert Kelley is overseeing his 40th TheatreWorks season right now. It certainly seems likely that among those hundreds of productions there are at least a few that would measure up to this production, a world premiere of the musical by Paul Gordon and John Caird, based on the proto-suffragette 1912 novel by Jean Webster. But it seems equally possible that this may be TheatreWorks’ masterpiece. A musical that redefines musicals, a period piece that is relentlessly forward-looking in its staging and orchestration, this is a revolutionary piece of theater, both in content and form.

The plot of Webster’s novel may have been original in the early 20th century (though I doubt it), but it needed a major overhaul. It was adapted for film several times, including a silent Mary Pickford version in 1919 and a 1955 vehicle for Fred Astaire. Astaire was said to have loved his version, but if you’ve seen it, forget it, and if you haven’t, don’t. See this instead.

What Gordon and Caird have done (Caird also directed this production) is taken the more complex themes hidden in Webster’s archetypal plot and fleshed them out for a modern audience that is far likelier to grasp the emotional and political subtexts of the story. Their story vibrates at a higher frequency, if you will, resonating at so many levels. At its most basic, this is a tale of how one orphan, Jerusha Abbott, is sent to school by an anonymous benefactor, who uses the alias Mr. John Smith, and requires as part of the deal that she must write to him every month, detailing her progress, though she is not to expect any correspondence in return. She catches only a quick glimpse of his shadow at the orphanage once, and seeing that he’s tall and clearly rich, she gives him the nickname “Daddy Long Legs.” She also assumes he’s old and harmless, never suspecting he’s actually the quite young Jervis Pendleton, who is growing increasingly fascinated by her. The story is told almost entirely through her letters, read and sung by both Jerusha and Abbott in an inventive bit of staging that has her in the foreground while he reads in his office above and behind her. Certain plot twists require other stagings, as Jervis plots to meet her without revealing his identity.

Webster’s book, interestingly, was considered anti-feminist by many, but Gordon and Caird restore its rightful legacy. They take a deeper look not only at Jerusha’s innocence and budding emotions but also at her insatiable curiosity and growing independence. The first real steps toward women’s rights and radical political identity are reflected in Jerusha’s own internal struggle between accepting the charity of education and personal growth that her benefactor has given her, and the personal pain she could bring to both of them by embracing the life that those gifts allow her to imagine.

Of particular note are the incredible music and lyrics by Gordon. These songs are not like anything I’ve heard before in a musical. Catchy and intricate, they have none of the pomp or overblown orchestration that big productions are known for. Instead, they have a contemporary acoustic feel, as if one singer/songwriter’s indie-rock sound has been combined with the spacious, storytelling tradition of Broadway music. Both leads in this two-person setup are excellent, but as much as Robert Adelman Hancock delivers both touching and funny moments as Pendleton, riding an emotional roller coaster as he receives each letter, this production absolutely belongs to Megan McGinnis as Jerusha. Best known as Eponine in the Broadway revival of Les Misérables, she is the key to how Daddy Long Legs joins the traditional musical with a revolutionary new direction. Her singing can be as sincere and simple as a cafe folkie, or as expressive and powerful as a Broadway diva. She has both the authenticity to give a powerful rendering of the personal story and the range to wrap the historical and social context up in her songs. She’s a marvel to experience live, and so is this triumphant example of how TheatreWorks has thrived these last 40 years not by playing it safe, but by challenging and reshaping the very identity of modern theater.

DADDY LONG LEGS, a TheatreWorks production, plays Tuesday–Wednesday at 7:30pm, Thursday–Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 2 and 8pm (no matinee Fab. 13) and Sunday at 2 and 7pm (no evening show Feb. 14) through Feb. 14 at the Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St., Mountain View. Tickets are $24–$67. (650.463.1960)



by Steve Palopoli on Jan 25, 2010
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