Review: Laura Benanti: Nobody Cares, EdFringe

Laura Benanti’s vast Broadway experience is evident in both her sublime vocals and her crisp, hilarious choreography. She opens the first number of Nobody Cares, an upbeat song about attention-seeking, with what I can only describe as a crotch-scootch across the floor. Benanti apologises gracefully to anyone who’s showed up expecting her to sing classics from The Sound of Music or My Fair Lady, explaining that “most of this show is bad words.”

The razzle-dazzle of Broadway is translated to the Fringe’s chaotic homemade atmosphere in tiny yet perfect scale, with just one dazzling pink rhinestone-covered prop, and lighting and staging which really makes us feel we’re gathered at the footlights of a grand theatre instead of in a lecture theatre with laminated rows of tables in front of us. The staging is particularly transporting to the level of Broadway fairytale quest when Benanti crawls through the imaginary land of sadness (a city office) to get her Divorce Awards (prior evidence of divorces) so she can get married for a third time. Though none of the five original songs were earworms that I found myself humming after the show, several of the movements in the chorus to ‘Good Men’ (“we never want to see pictures of your dicks, unless we say we do”) remain etched on my mind’s eye, making me spontaneously giggle at inopportune moments.

Her social commentary is at times incisive, as in her observation that America right now is like the kid that crashes the party, pukes everywhere, and shags your sister. At times, though, it falls flat: she says that at 18, instead of going off to college to find herself like most of her peers, she went straight to Broadway. She blames this for an extended period of naiveté which fuelled her people-pleasing tendencies, leading to many of the tales she recounts with wry self-deprecating humour throughout the show. But surely the rare accomplishment of going straight to Broadway at 18 would be not only the adventure of a lifetime, but as rich an education in finding oneself as any college experience?

Benanti’s production would be more aptly described as a one-woman show, with three-piece band. Her longtime songwriting partner Todd Almond provides a foil and comedy conscience throughout, adding nuance and giving Benanti a riffing partner during the storytelling parts as well as backup vocals and keyboards during the songs. My apologies to the drummer and bassist whose names I didn’t write down, blithely thinking they’d be listed in the show credits – both ably supported Benanti throughout with added oomph and atmosphere, as well as occasional stagehand duties.

A real highlight of the show is the emotionally resonant ending to the song ‘Mommy Lies’, in which Benanti sings with perfect sincerity about the one thing Mommy would never lie about: how much she loves her children… even when they’re providing razor-sharp counterpoints to Benanti’s people-pleasing and attention-seeking tendencies, such as asking, “Mommy, do you want that?” after spotting her lower back tattoo for the first time.

For fans of musicals, or those who don’t yet know they’re fans of musicals, Benanti and her supporting musicians offer a taste of the Broadway experience – with just a dash of irony to add complexity to all the sincerity and sweetness.

Written by: Laura Benanti
Music by: Laura Benanti and Todd Almond
Produced by: Soto Productions and Jenny Gersten

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