By Erika Murphy
In The Book of Merman, we catch up with Broadway legend Ethel Merman years past her heyday, holed up in a living room whose sofa cushions billow dust when she pats them, lorded over by a giant portrait of her in her prime in a red dress with arms outstretched. Re-striking this pose, Merman (Amy Jo Halliday) answers her door for two Mormon missionaries who’ve just skipped into the theater singing and weaving through the audience. She holds her arms wide, eyes devouring the crowd, awaiting our applause. In Ethel Merman’s house, the fourth wall is broken.
One might initially assume that this musical—a thematic mashup of Book of Mormon and Merman’s own cult of personality, would singularly devote itself to honoring this beloved actress and singer. Instead, the production casts Merman and Mormon as each other’s foils, using both to approach significant social issues.
The first hot button? Whether Broadway musicals are good or evil. One of the young witnesses, Elder Shumway, is a fan, overjoyed to have encountered Merman. Shumway’s partner, Elder Braithwaite, initially accuses him of idolatry, but we eventually learn that he shares Shumway’s passions for that art form and more.
Speaking of which: of course we graze the timely query of whether Mormons can be gay—but surprisingly, we don’t dig deep into it. Elder Shumway and Elder Braithwaite, played respectively by Collin Carver and William Shindler, come together with seeming spontaneity as a couple, and the show simply lets their romance unfold.
Throughout their conversation, Merman crusades for embracing one’s true self, from musical taste to sexual attractions. Carver’s eyes tear up as Merman spouts her wisdom, aptly portraying Elder Shumway’s devotion to his Broadway goddess. And from the pews of the Triangle Productions theater space—a converted Salvation Army church—a worshipful air comes naturally to the audience.
Carver and Shindler appear genuine in their performances, and the small venue allows them to reach us more intimately. The audience includes kids who can barely peer over the pew, and plenty of gray heads bobbing along—a potentially challenging gamut of ages. Rather than gaze above our heads, the performers look directly at us and even call a few of us out, breaking down that fourth wall time and again to build a relationship with the crowd. In effect, we’re drawn further into the show’s tenderest moments, like when Elder Braithwaite recounts his brother’s death, or when the two men share a first kiss.
Unfortunately, the structural flexibility of the show leaves Halliday prone to break character, to forget lines and then laugh it off. While the audience craves connection with characters more than performers themselves; the gap between Merman’s confidence and Halliday’s hesitations is jarring. However, Carver and Shindler appear secure in their roles, and we largely forgive any flubs since the camaraderie on stage creates a sense of belonging for all of us despite imperfections.
All three performers effectively and authentically slide along the continuum from boisterous to insecure. Although we don’t venture too deeply into characters’ insecurities, instead staying safely within the realm of comedy, the show does undertake ambitious themes in its brief runtime, and culminates in a challenge to embrace ourselves and our passions—however wacky or unacceptable people may tell us they are.
The production concludes with a series of kooky musical surprises that get quizzical looks and leave mouths gaping. Boa feathers fly as the performers finish their final rousing, audience-participatory number. It’s as if Merman herself has just paraded through the room, her brazen and rambunctious spirit now ours to carry into the night.
Ultimately, the show’s Mormon missionaries adopt more of Merman’s doctrine than she does of theirs, proving that testimony is a two-way street.
The Book Of Merman runs through December 19. Click here fort tickets and showtimes
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