'Fiorello!' has heart, gritty realism

By Chris Jones
Tribune theater critic
May 12 2006

There are some moments in off-Loop Chicago theater so typified by guts and graft that, in the heat of the show, little else matters. TimeLine Theatre Company's intensely emotional revival of the 1959 Pulitzer Prize-winning musical "Fiorello!" most assuredly is in that category.

Only about half of the principals in Nick Bowling's non-Equity production are what a Broadway casting agent would term legitimate singers. And it's probably fair to say that very few members of this scrappy cast — including P.J. Powers, who plays the lead role of Fiorello La Guardia — would have even a remote chance of landing these roles in a commercial New York revival of this musical tale of the rise of a man most younger Chicagoans know only as the namesake of a delay-choked airport. They just don't sing well enough. And there's no evidence here that anyone can dance much.

But TimeLine, now wrapping up the best season in its history, is an ensemble operating in a North Side black box. Its work is rooted not in a Broadway aesthetic but in a Chicago one. And TimeLine's heart has always been in those period American dramas from the so-called fervent years. And if you can make yourself see Bowling's production in that context (something not everyone will manage), you will be bowled over by what is achieved here.

Once the height of localized topicality (the equivalent of a new musical called "Richie!"), "Fiorello!" is very rarely revived, in part because biographical shows about political figures date more quickly than politicians would prefer. But Jerry Bock's remarkable score (accompanied by a then-young Sheldon Harnick's lyrics) is a feast of precisely what nobody seems to be able to write today: classic specialty numbers. Rousing ditties such as "Little Tin Box" and, especially, "Politics and Poker" compare favorably to anything in "Guys and Dolls."

Thankfully, those are the best-performed moments in Bowling's production, which features a terrific little band and some very decent singers (such as Dan Loftus) in its knockout older male ensemble.

Bowling's concept is one of gritty realism — he directs the show as if it's far closer to "Awake and Sing" than "Fiddler on the Roof." And thanks to a shadowy, multilevel set from Kevin Hagan and actors ready to spill out their souls in service of this show, it works. Very well.

Sure, there are times, as in the ballad "I Love a Cop," when you wish the performers would take a deep breath, pull back from the high-volume angst and finesse the music a little more. And Powers' charming, energetic, quirky and thoroughly credible performance as La Guardia nonetheless lacks some of the steely ambition behind even the folksiest politico.

The best work here comes from Rebecca Finnegan as Marie, the future mayor's loyal aide de camp. Finnegan, a huge Chicago talent, has both the street credibility and the ability to pluck beautiful notes from the air.

But even if you wish TimeLine had spilled for a few Equity contracts to better apply Bowling's inspired vision for this material, "Fiorello!" still is a rousing little off-Loop musical with heart on ragged sleeve and social conscience seeping into every seat.