Review: American Utopia Is … – The New York Times

Fans of Byrne will recognize this device of an empty stage being gradually populated and animated by the arrival of music makers from the great 1984 Jonathan Demme concert film Stop Making Sense. Theres a difference, though.

In that film, even when hes sharing a mic with another singer, Byrne registers as an isolated being, in radioactive communion with himself alone. (He has spoken of probably being on the milder end of the autism spectrum.) In American Utopia, hes in propulsive dialogue with everyone onstage, and with the audience, too.

In recent years, Byrne has become fascinated with color guards, those precision-tooled marching band units. (The infatuation was translated into a 2017 documentary.) The ensemble in American Utopia is as synced as any military corps.

And the marvel of what these musicians do while playing their instruments skip, hop, leap, run in circles and bend like Gumby, always (like Byrne) in bare feet. Gospel call and response is translated into a physical conversation, rapturously underscored by Rob Sinclairs lighting. And yes, there is room for the manic flailing steps that are Byrnes signature. (I dance like this, because it feels so damn good/If I could dance better, well, you know that I would.)

Though the name of the sitting president is never spoken, our topsy-turvy political climate is acknowledged by the performance of a nonsense song by the Dadaist artist Hugo Ball, prefaced by a description of the confusing, dangerous era from which it emerged (in 1930s Berlin). And the ensemble brings a flaming rage to Janelle Mones protest song, Hell You Talmbout, an angry, invigorating memorial to African-Americans killed by police officers.

Like Bruce Springsteens smash Broadway show of two seasons ago, American Utopia repositions a onetime rebel as a reflective elder statesman, offering cozy cosmic wisdom. The angry young Byrne is acknowledged here with rousing versions of the classics Burning Down the House and Once in a Lifetime.

Time hasnt exactly mellowed these songs. But they now sound oddly hopeful in their bewilderment. When Byrne and company perform the 1985 hit Road to Nowhere as an encore, theres the jubilant reassurance that if the journey still has no destination, at least were all in it together.

American Utopia

Tickets Through Jan. 19, 2020, at Hudson Theater, Manhattan; americanutopiabroadway.com. Running time: 1 hour 40 minutes.

Read the original post:

Review: American Utopia Is ... - The New York Times