Michael Greif's latest production of "Beautiful Little Fool", a musical about the tumultuous marriage between F Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, fails to capture the essence of its star-crossed couple. Despite a talented cast that can belt out powerful vocals, the show's reliance on catchy pop songs feels shallow, with lyrics that veer into corniness.
The framing device, which follows their daughter Scottie as she delves through her parents' archive, is underexplored and lacks context. The decision to center the story around Scottie rather than Zelda herself raises questions about why she's included in the narrative. Lauren Ward shines as a young Zelda, but even her talents are not enough to elevate the show.
The show's portrayal of F Scott Fitzgerald is more nuanced, with David Hunter bringing out his mix of arrogance and insecurity. However, the chemistry between Scott and Zelda is lacking, with their romance feeling forced and their conflicts reduced to shallow arguments on stage. The production steadfastly avoids exploring Zelda's struggles with mental health, instead opting for a triumphant climax that feels emotionally manipulative.
While "Beautiful Little Fool" may not be a complete loss, its failure to deliver a nuanced and thoughtful exploration of the Fitzgeralds' marriage is disappointing. The show's reliance on catchy tunes and shallow storytelling means that it fails to leave a lasting impression, leaving audiences with more questions than answers about this fascinating couple.
The framing device, which follows their daughter Scottie as she delves through her parents' archive, is underexplored and lacks context. The decision to center the story around Scottie rather than Zelda herself raises questions about why she's included in the narrative. Lauren Ward shines as a young Zelda, but even her talents are not enough to elevate the show.
The show's portrayal of F Scott Fitzgerald is more nuanced, with David Hunter bringing out his mix of arrogance and insecurity. However, the chemistry between Scott and Zelda is lacking, with their romance feeling forced and their conflicts reduced to shallow arguments on stage. The production steadfastly avoids exploring Zelda's struggles with mental health, instead opting for a triumphant climax that feels emotionally manipulative.
While "Beautiful Little Fool" may not be a complete loss, its failure to deliver a nuanced and thoughtful exploration of the Fitzgeralds' marriage is disappointing. The show's reliance on catchy tunes and shallow storytelling means that it fails to leave a lasting impression, leaving audiences with more questions than answers about this fascinating couple.
...the music was catchy, no doubt, but the lyrics were just too cheesy for me 
...and don't even get me started on how they handled Zelda's mental health struggles - it felt like a total cop-out 
...I mean, I know the show was trying to explore the complexity of their relationship, but it all felt so... surface-level 
...the cast was talented, no question, but even they couldn't elevate this shallow story 
...I'm just left feeling like "meh" 
. You know what I'm saying? We're so excited to see a big-name musical hit the stage that we overlook the flaws and settle for less. It's like when you're trying out a new restaurant and the food looks amazing, but when you take a bite...meh. The issue here is that "Beautiful Little Fool" is all about style over substance, and I think that's what's missing from its storytelling. If they really wanted to do justice to Zelda and Scott's story, they would've dug deeper 
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. I think what really gets me is that the show could've been so much more if it just took the time to explore the complexities of Scott and Zelda's relationship in a more thoughtful way. Instead, we get this shallow, forced romance that just doesn't feel true to life.
The framing device is pretty cool, but it gets wasted with too much focus on Scottie. I wish they'd given Zelda the spotlight she deserves. 
Still, it's a shame the show didn't delve deeper into the issues they faced...
I mean, it feels like they're trying to gloss over some really heavy stuff, like Zelda's struggles with mental health... that's gotta be touched upon in a show about them. It just doesn't feel authentic to me. 
. the show just feels like a shallow cash-grab with some catchy songs thrown in for good measure 
. The music was catchy, don't get me wrong, but it felt like a formulaic pop playlist instead of something that really captured their artistic vibe 
It was like they just glossed over it and expected us to feel all the feels without any real depth or nuance 
. And don't even get me started on that framing device - I'm all about context, people! 
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. I mean, if you're gonna make a show about F Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, you gotta bring some depth to it, not just rely on catchy pop songs that are more cringeworthy than catchy 
. For me, it felt shallow and emotionally manipulative 
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... but for now, I'm just gonna be over here feeling kinda underwhelmed 