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Review: 'Bright Lights, Big City' at Freefall a whirl of '80s indulgence

 
The rock musical adaptation of the novel Bright Lights, Big City runs at Freefall Theatre through March 22. Pictured are Amy Marie Stewart, Sarita Amani Nash, Nick Lerew, Kara Konken, Lucas Wells, Heather Cleveland Krueger, Scott Daniel and Clinton Harris.
The rock musical adaptation of the novel Bright Lights, Big City runs at Freefall Theatre through March 22. Pictured are Amy Marie Stewart, Sarita Amani Nash, Nick Lerew, Kara Konken, Lucas Wells, Heather Cleveland Krueger, Scott Daniel and Clinton Harris.
Published March 3, 2015

ST. PETERSBURG

In the first half hour of Bright Lights, Big City at Freefall Theatre, you feel like you're in a heavy, plodding rat race in New York City. The characters are so close to you, so crowded and raucous on the small stage, you start to feel claustrophobic, like you might not like this very much at all.

But as the show progresses, as it opens up and the stage airs out and characters start to breathe, you realize all that initial claustrophobia was probably pretty sly and intentional (kind of like when you use second person in a review of Bright Lights, Big City).

Jay McInerney's 1984 novel is a seminal work of second-person literature about the overstimulated and underemployed in 1980s New York. It spawned both a movie starring Michael J. Fox, and a rock musical adapted by Paul Scott Goodman. For its production, Freefall worked with Goodman to pack more content from the book onto the stage.

The musical, directed by Freefall's artistic director Eric Davis, is relatively fast at 90 minutes, maybe too fast for fans of the source material. It feels appropriately like a pot of madness you can't escape. There's no intermission, no chance to catch your breath. Ponderous moments fly by in a whir, like when Jamie gazes at a mannequin modeled in the likeness of his lover.

Jamie dreams of success as a novelist, but his life is a shambles. His model wife has left him. His job as a fact-checker is thankless. His mother has died. His brother is mad at him. He's out partying and doing blow every night, even though he's not that kind of guy. He's depressed and in denial.

The musical, which debuted Off-Broadway in 1999, has some undeniable residue of RENT on it, including delicate harmonies about drugs, a suggestive group sex moment and a rapid-fire number chock full of names and cultural touchstones ("Calvin Klein, Mary Boone, Basquiat, Wolfgang Puck, Christie Brinkley...").

But unlike RENT, it can be hard to connect emotionally to the characters, since they're always stomping on and off in different incarnations. Lucas Wells has the most success as Jamie, boyish, sweet and smart, alternating from empty gazes to hopeless anguish. You want to root for him. You want to help him.

Heather Krueger's turn as Jamie's cancer-stricken mother is touching and needed. Everything slows as she cradles her son on her belly and tries to know him better. This is a great platform for Krueger, who has one of the best rock musical voices in town, big and pretty like a Broadway Ann Wilson. You might drop a tear.

The other eight actors, including Sarita Amani Nash as Jamie's love interest, Vicky, and Clinton Harris as his party-mate Tad, are strong and engaging. They just don't get that much time to deepen and grow.

Freefall makes interesting, inventive use of its space as usual, with some musicians in the center and the rhythm section on a fire escape. The music directed by Michael Raabe is tight and well-blended, and felt louder than usual Freefall levels.

Ambient city noise washes over the set by Matt Davis, plastered with Vogue covers, tabloids and posters of a missing girl. Some of the audience sits at round nightclub tables, which is a fun touch. The '80s fashions styled by Scott Daniel (who plays characters including Chuck Bean) are mostly delicious. The jumpsuits are divine, but a couple of wigs have seen better days.

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Weak spots and all, Bright Lights, Big City is a whirl worth seeing. You might leave wondering if it's time to call home, or time to head out for a cocktail. You might think back to Jamie, telling himself, "You will learn how to compound happiness out of small increments of mindless pleasure."

Contact Stephanie Hayes at shayes@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8716. Follow @stephhayes.