Death Takes a Holiday

            What would happen is death walked among us in human form? What would he be like? Would the rules of life and death still apply? All of these questions and more are answered in Maury Yestons delightful new musical being presented off-Broadway until Sunday, Sept. 4th.

           Death Takes a Holiday is based on an Italian play Alberto Cosella that was subsequently rewritten  for the American stage by Walter Ferris. I'm not sure if the adaptation we're seeing is based upon the original Italian or it's American counterpart, or perhaps bits of both.

          The story concerns a well to do family living in northern Italy in 1927. Their son Roberto was killed during the war. Their daughter Grazia, we learn, has just been engaged. A near tragic car accident brings death into their midst and forever changes the course of their lives.

          Death is a very sweet and lovely musical. It's one of the best musical theater scores to come around in quite a while. The melodies are at times buoyant and up beat, and at other times luscious and sweeping. The book is equally well crafted by Thomas Mehan and Peter Stone. It is sweet and sentimental and also witty and fresh.

      The first act of Death Takes a Holiday is too long. It runs just over 90 minutes, which isn't really that long for a musical, however, it FEELS long, which means I lost interest. Part of this may have been because other than a few notable exceptions, most of the performances are extremely bland and uninteresting. Particularly Jill Paice in the lead female role of Grazia. Her singing voice is lovely, and if I were listening to the cast recording I may not find a single fault. In performance, however, she comes off as completely fake and unbelievable.

     The exception to this rule of spice less acting is Kevin Earley who plays Death. Mr. Earley was the understudy when the show opened, and took over almost immediately after opening for an ailing and never to return Julian Ovendon. You would never know it from his performance. For someone who is playing Death Kevin Early is teeming with life and vivacity, which is entirely appropriate since it's the first time Death has experienced any of the sensations he is being faced with.

     The second act of Death Takes a Holiday is much  more enjoyable as a whole. The music is fantastic, the story moves along nicely, and comes to a rich and satisfying climax. There are a few places to tighten up the script, there seems to be an endless flip flopping on the part of Death towards the end that makes the final moments not as strong as they could be. Overall it's a wonderful new musical that very well may make it to Broadway someday, though hopefully with a new director and a few new cast members.