Let's get this out of the way: On one level, it's hard for me to be objective about "Dogfight", the new musical at Stray Dog Theatre. The play, from the film of the same name, runs from the night before the JFK assasination until a year later. Three young Marines are about to leave for Vietnam. One of them has meets and has a relationship with a quiet, plain young woman that night. This was my generation: Guys who believed they were prepared, going off to war. Girls - and we were girls, not women, for the most part - writing letters and waiting and tolerating testosterone-fueled nonsense because that's mostly what you Did.
Those Marines, and some others, are taking part in a ritual that involves a party wherein they pool their money, set out to find the ugliest date they can, and the one whose date is the ugliest wins the pot, thus my use of the phrase "testosterone-fueled nonsense". The young Marine takes the very plain girl to the party and we see what happens. Peter Duchan's script, is very much of the period, the sort of thing that leaves following generations mystified as to how certain behaviors, not just dogfights, the phrase used for that party, were tolerated.
Brendan Ochs is the Marine who meets the girl, Shannon Cothran. Both are deeply believable and their voices blend well. Luke Steingruby and Kevin O'Brien are the other two Marines, bringing in an occasional touch of a Stooge (as in The Three) to go with their bravado and bluster.
Like so much of the performance art out of or dealing with that period, "Dogfight" is at times very painful to watch, the innocence, the manipulation and the war itself. A battle scene is surprisingly well staged, considering the venue. Yes, there are some funny lines, and plenty of obscenities - hey, they're jarheads, right? - but this is a serious musical, not a comedy, even though it, of necessity, glides over some of it.
Ben J. Pasek and Justin Paul's score is workable, although once again the sound balance between voices and instruments was lopsided for nearly the whole first act, lyrics drowning, leaving the audience to hope they're not missing something significant. Rob Lippert's set manages to evoke a night in San Francisco and works very well for the considerable movement that director Justin Been and choreographer Zachary Stefaniak have created.
Not a particularly easy evening, but some good challenges and good work from cast and crew.
Dogfight
through October 24
Stray Dog Theatre
Tower Grove Abbey
2336 Tennessee
314-865-1005
Comments