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Director Ryan Murphy is not identified for understatement, however at the very least right here he is on turf nearer to “Glee” than “American Horror Story.” Maybe foremost, he has supplied a best-seat-in-the-house view of the 2018 Tony-nominated musical, blowing it as much as ranges that would not be attainable on stage and may barely be accommodated on a TV display screen.
The hook of Chad Beguelin, Bob Martin and Matthew Sklar’s manufacturing hinges on a bunch of self-involved Broadway performers who descend on a small Indiana city, on the lookout for an activist trigger and “some little injustice” to deal with — searching for the nice publicity that may save their present after a disastrous opening. They decide on serving to Emma (Jo Ellen Pellman), whose announcement that she needed to convey one other woman to the promenade as her date prompted the homophobic PTA president (Kerry Washington) to cancel the occasion totally.
Ellen’s uninvited benefactors, nonetheless, have bother initially placing the woman’s pursuits first, whereas offering a digital clinic on showbiz insecurities and self-obsession. The brightest gentle amongst them, naturally, is Meryl Streep’s Dee Dee, an imperious star with a contact of Norma Desmond in her, who tries to improve her three-star resort room by brandishing one in all her conveniently-packed Tonys.
The present options some lovely and buoyant songs — “It is Time to Dance” among the many latter — however “The Promenade” actually sparkles with its show-business-insider touches and theater references. These vary from Streep’s preening star (her singing voice has by no means sounded higher, by the way) to Rannells saying, “We’re liberals from Broadway,” which the locals deal with just like the arrival of flying monkeys in “The Wizard of Oz.”
“We’re nonetheless celebrities,” Barry says reassuringly as these crushing early opinions pour in. “We nonetheless have energy.”
“The Promenade” is certainly an indication of star energy at work, however it’s largely a valentine to theater — at a time when theaters are closed — coupled with an overt message about LGBTQ acceptance and inclusion. All of that comes wrapped in an enormous neon bow, a joyous vacation reward for followers of musical theater, made by individuals who love the medium each bit as a lot as they do.
“The Promenade” premieres Dec. 11 on Netflix.
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