500 Clown and The Elephant Deal

I admit it. I was disappointed, and it breaks my heart because Molly Brennan and John Fournier are phenomenal talents, but ultimately the whole thing came down to two words: too much. Loosely based on Brecht's Man Is Man, a play with which I confess I am completely unfamiliar, the 90-something-minute evening isn't so much a play as it is a cabaret show that explodes into a nihilistic clown show, something that is tremendously entertaining for about the first 45 minutes until the whole thing collapses like a house of cards, or like a bunch of clowns standing on each other in the middle of a tornado.

The evening begins with a bang, with Molly Brennan belting out a Fournier number called, if I recall, "My Love's Coming To Your Town To Kick Your Ass," a gloriously catchy, aggressive whirlwind of a tune, a perfectly staged number that showcases Brennan's immense talent as all-around entertainer to full effect. The number is followed by anarchic shenanigans by her stage crew, a set of similarly talented clowns with red ears instead of red noses, followed by another song, followed by shenanigans. For a while, this is great fun until two of the clowns begin fighting and the controlled chaos witnessed with such glee becomes completely unhinged, until finally clowns are chasing each other in the audience playing a game I didn't understand, while Brennan belted out "Jumpin' Jack Flash" on stage. Unfortunately, the last 20 minutes grew intolerable until the show came to a merciful end.

My disappointment with the production is particularly heartbreaking because everyone on stage was obviously almost absurdly talented, working their asses off, Fournier's three-piece band was wonderful, his songs were mostly fun, but ultimately the chaos became uncontrolled. In the first half of the production, which mind you I definitely enjoyed, the whole thing reminded me of the Marx Brothers, but by the end, it reminded me of what the Marx Brothers would be like if they all talked over each other at the same time and you didn't understand anything anyone was saying.

It's all a pity. I will say this, however: Molly Brennan is a superstar, and anyone who thinks she won't be a suitable Harpo at the Goodman this fall is out of their mind.