The crossed arms and the scowls by the two 12-year-olds beside me did not bode well just 20 minutes into the new and nebulous national touring production of “Dr. Dolittle.”
“But then out came the tap-dancing, two-headed llama,” I was later told by one, “and all was forgiven.”
Children are far more forgiving than adults. That’s why a kid is happy for one bit of great puppetry tap-dancing through her head, while running through my adult mind are words such as “genial but slight, scattered and hopelessly out of date.”
Tommy Tune was brought in last year to salvage this troubled national tour when it was shuttered after only nine weeks, which makes you wonder how bad the original must have been. Tune slashed characters and musical numbers, recast to emphasize dance possibilities, and rewrote to beef up the love story.
The result? One review of the 1967 film upon which this musical is based opined, “While the visual side of ‘Dolittle’ is a treat, the aural side is a mess.” It could be said this new stage show is faithful to its source material.
“Dolittle” is the classic story of the eccentric British vet who talks to the animals. We open in 1878 with the doctor on trial for murder after having tossed a seal into the channel that a witness has assumed to be a child.
When the magistrate asks how Dolittle earned his peculiar gift, back in time we go. We meet his muse, Polynesia the Parrot, and a menagerie of cuddly creatures. One is the llama Pushmi-Pullyu, a gift from a foreign princess whom the doc, oddly enough, pimps to a circus.
Now it’s showtime under the big top, and soon we’re applauding the aforementioned two-
headed dance. If you’ve forgotten we left the doc on trial fighting for his life, you’re not alone. Things lurch like that all night.
If “Dolittle’ were being marketed as children’s theater, as it should be, it could be favorably considered for its stuffed animals and happy nature, and left at that. Despite the fact this staging stays oddly true to its Victorian roots even though its primary audience grew up on Eddie Murphy, not Rex Harrison.
But it wants to be thought of as grown-up theater too while glossing over every real dramatic possibility. In Hugh Lofting’s book, Dolittle is imprisoned but escapes and becomes a man on the run. Here, he only has his veterinary license revoked because he creeps out the judge. He takes to the sea a free man, which is less interesting. The idea of a man exiled by society, incapable of communicating with humans yet able to speak 200 animal dialects, could be played for depth.
Instead, too much weight is put on an implausible love story involving nasty neighbor Emma Fairfax. Actress Dee Hoty has a rich, classical voice, but the writing is so banal that this subplot is dubious and obstructive.
This show wouldn’t exist without Tune, a legend who, at 66, certainly proves why. He’s an engaging, warm showman start to finish, even if at times blatantly pandering. But he’s the director and star, not the choreographer, so his signature dance touches are only sporadically evident.
The creators should concede the show’s appeal to kids and fully exploit great creatures such as the Giant Moon Moth and the Great Pink Sea Snail.
And Tune should milk the tap-dancing for all it’s worth. There are just two bits of great dance business: one featuring whiz Aaron Burr, 12, as Chee-Chee the chimp. What this audience wants is more tap, less tripe.
If you go, remember to heed the early, 7 p.m. start time. About half of the late-arriving opening-night crowd did not.
Theater critic John Moore can be reached at 303-820-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com.
** | “Dr. Dolittle”
MUSICAL|Denver Center Attractions|Written by Leslie Bricusse|Directed by and starring Tommy Tune|Buell Theatre at Denver Performing Arts Complex, 14th and Curtis streets|THROUGH FEB. 12|7 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays, 1 and 7 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays|1 hour, 20 minutes, no intermission |$26-$71|303-893-4100, denvercenter.org, King Soopers stores or TicketsWest, 866-464-2626
