The New York International Fringe Festival
City Salt Theatricals and Fringe NYC Present

A CRACK IN THE CEILING

SoHo Playhouse
15 Vandam St.
NY NY

15, 18, 22, 25, and 28 August 2015

Book Music and Lyrics by James Harvey
Directed by Steven Tyler Davis
Music Direction by Will Buck

Featuring Kristy Cates, Josh Grisetti and Nicky Torchia

A woman is so desperate for a man, any man, that she will take whoever comes along, be he old, young, sleazy, mean, stupid or just plain weird. Well, if she was a meth head or incredibly stupid, or thirteen years old, that might make sense. However, as A CRACK IN THE CEILING tells it, this applies to a very attractive, intelligent and obviously capable woman who also happens to have an intelligent and capable son.

If this had been written in 1904, I might buy it, but a contemporary piece showing a woman as completely incapable of functioning without a man to help her? No way. It is even more unbelievable as played by the lovely, obviously smart, and talented Kristy Cates (Wicked, The Brady Bunch) as the pathetic Ellen. After her first man walks out and man two (too young) arrives and she starts hitting on him hard, I thought, “ew.” Then as man three arrives (too old), and she flirts with him, “ew” became “yuck.” As the procession of creepier and creepier men came into her life, all I wanted to do was call Child Protective Services.

Showing all this as a fun song and dance show made it even more offensive. The music was bland, the lyrics were simplistic and the story ridiculous in a not-funny way. Josh Grisetti as all the various men was terrific and the band was excellent. But great singers and musicians aren’t enough to make a bad show good.

- Jean Tait -