The Diamond as Big as the Ritz
Sargent Theater at ATA, NYC, September 27, 2024
Reviewed by Bart Greenberg
The Diamond as Big as the Ritz is a somewhat strange and definitely fantastical novella by F. Scott Fitzgerald about a terribly rich and terribly troubled family living an isolated life in Montana. Their desperate efforts to protect their fortune leads to murder, kidnapping, and suicide, along with a large side helping of enslavement. An unlikely a source for a musical? Perhaps. But Seth Bisen-Hersh (music and lyrics) and R.C. Staab (book and lyrics) have created a framing story to illuminate the tale that put a contemporary spin on the whole thing (so powerful that it triggered a member of the audience to let loose a political tirade on the elevator after the show).
A young unmarried couple, Yash and Mira (Ethan Yaheen-Moy Chan and Johana Gracie Lara), are stopped at the Canada/U.S. border because of certain irregularities in their visas. Forced to wait in a dreary retention room, she finds a copy of the Fitzgerald novella, hoping both to improve her English and to learn more about the country they are trying to enter. As their delay becomes longer, they are both drawn into the story, identifying with the two central characters: John, a socially ambitious young man John from the South (a town called Hades)—shades of Jay Gatsby—and Kismine, the daughter of the richest family in the world, a teenager both flirtatious and innocent reminiscent of The Tempest’s Miranda. Invited by the son of the family, Percy (Bobby Barksdale) John soon meets the Mrs. Danvrish-like housekeeper Gypsum (Megan Lomax), the alcoholic and sexually aggressive Mrs. Washington (also Lomax in an impressive show of versatility; she also plays a border official in the outer story), and Mr. Washington (Richard Rowan), the very definition of a creepy power-mad billionaire.
The score is equally distributed among the cast; = all the songs are included in the story within the show, which is another effective way to delineate the two settings. All the performers showed impressive vocal skills, especially considering there weren’t any microphones. John and Kismine shared a lush romantic duet on “One Magical Kiss.” He also took part in a terrific opening number, shared with Percy, “The Best Summer Yet,” and a fine establishing number in “The Life I’d Lead.” Kismine also had her own I-want-song, “Waiting to Be Alone,” which was quite effective. Washington had a powerful 11 o’clock number in “Cut a Deal” that gave Rowan a fine chance to display his dramatic and vocal skills.
The show went awry during the last third of its approximately 95 minutes (presented without intermission) as both storylines became more convoluted and somewhat too dependent on outside forces. This was less of an issue in the Fitzgerald tale, which is quite fantastical to begin with, but things really bogged down in the outer, more realistic story that had a cliché villain (Rowan stuck in a hopeless part as an American official) and a resolution that was supposed to be inspiring but just seemed forced. The lead-up to these climaxes was all so solid that hopefully that the problems here will be resolved.
Director John Hickok kept things moving along and found interesting ways to vary the visuals within a basic but flexible set, even if it was occasionally a bit too busy. The appropriate choreography was by Jen Turey, with lighting by Parker Jenkins and clever costuming by Georgia Brown that allowed for clearly shifting the performers among the various characters they portrayed with clarity. The supportive music direction was by Mitchell Brownell, who also played piano in the on-stage trio, along with Ana Lei on cello and Ethan Gueldenzopl on drums.
