Tyler Perry musical needs acting counselor
The new musical “The Marriage Counselor” is about twice as long as a Sunday church service and filled with many of the same messages.
So why, the economical worshipper might ask, is it worth the extra time? The answer lies in the perfectly calibrated and constantly evolving entertainment formula of Tyler Perry, the show’s savvy, enterprising and prolific creator.
Perry, the entertainment mogul whose empire stretches from the stage to the silver screen and countless places in between, is the master of the modern black morality play. His message is always simple, always clearly articulated and directed at its target audience with stunning accuracy. And when it comes to Perry’s musicals, it’s also always deeply grounded in his Christian faith and surrounded by the soaring strains of R&B and gospel music.
All of that is the case in Perry’s latest work for the stage, which focuses on couples confronting the vagaries of holy matrimony. After the show opens with a medley of gospel classics (so as not to forget we are in the Temple of Perry), we meet its central family. Roger Jackson (Anthony Grant) and his wife, Judith (Tamar Davis), a marriage counselor, are sharing a house with their respective parents Floyd (Palmer E. Williams Jr., “House of Payne”) and T. T. (Alltrinna Grayson), both victims of Hurricane Katrina. As the play progresses, Roger and Judith’s relationship becomes ever more strained, and the couple’s surrounding family does its best to keep it all together.
The musical succeeds on several minor counts and fails on the most important ones. First, especially in the expository part of the first act and a couple other spots, it is drop-dead hilarious. Perry’s obvious knack for the one-liner (which is what has made his TBS hit “House of Payne” so popular) usually falls into the gifted hands of Palmer
E. Williams Jr. as the patriarchal stoner Floyd. Second, the cast is made up of universally gifted singers (if not actors) that are a joy to hear, even on some of the most overarranged and poorly written songs modern R&B can boast.
It should go without saying that Perry’s solution to marriage woes, aside from the obvious tacts of “sticking it out” and “communicating,” is to trust in God. But even if you accept the ambiguity of this oft-repeated solution, it will still be hard to stomach some of the show’s ill-fated attempts at realistic human dialogue, which often comes off as insincere filler.
Except in the case of Palmer, who is so magnetic and funny that he alone is worth the price of admission (though maybe not the $5 program), the fact that most of the cast was trained only vocally makes itself abundantly clear.
In the end, Perry’s latest show doesn’t live up to his last — the much less heavy-handed “What’s Done in the Dark,” which managed to deliver its message without beating audiences over the head.
Theater Review
Tyler Perry’s “The Marriage Counselor”
★★ 1/2
Tuesday night in Shea’s Performing Arts Center, 646 Main St. Another performance at 7:30 tonight. For more information, call 852-5000 or visit www.sheas.org.
