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Thursday night, straight off a plane from Minnesota I made my way to the Atlantic Theater Company production of "Whats that Smell: The Music of Jacob Sterling." A show about a talk show where an avid theater fan interviews his musical theater idols even if they are completely unknown to the rest of the world and famous in only about two pairs of eyes. So was it worth taking that whiff? Absolutely, although I think if you are not a theater person a lot of the meaning will be lost on you. Let me first say the theater itself is a fantastic venue to see a show. I am a huge fan of intimate theaters where you feel you are a part of the show. The show itself, definitely entertaining and the five actors really embraced their characters, especially David Pittu and Peter Bartlett. As much as I did personally enjoy the show, I do think this is a show for a particular audience. I consider myself an avid theater fan and many of the jokes were over my head and appeared to make many references to industry people and places that I had never heard of. The majority of the audience was laughing out loud so apparently they got the jokes that I was missing. I hate to be boring and use the word clever but that is the best word to describe this show..it makes fun of musical theater at the same time embracing it. David Pittu does a spectacular job of keeping a straight face as he sings some of the most ridiculous songs with true musical theater emotion and Peter Bartlett is the classic musical theater fan in love with everything Broadway (except maybe Andrew Lloyd Webber.) Hey people- I dont care what you say- Phantom of the Opera is still my favorite show of all time and resulted in the worst migraine of my life after crying my eyes out over Michael Crawford disappearing into the night! Now thats a theater experience.
I was surprised at the references to 911 in the show. I guess enough time has passed that art is now incorporating this history, but for me, it is still too soon to chuckle about a woman getting her breasts done the day the towers fell. Just one girls opinion but there are certain subjects that I just dont find remotely funny- the holocaust (sorry Producers) and now 911.
Despite this one storyline thread I left the theater smiliing and was still thinking about aspects of the play the next day. Thought provoking and entertaining and definitely worth smelling! For tickets go to: www.atlantictheater.org