Hands on a Hardbody

So this show was about Texas. Literally the plot was about keeping your hands on a truck in order to win a contest.

The show had some very strong moments and some wonderful music, but there were moments when I had a hard time believing the show was taking itself seriously. Like the song "If I Had a Truck"... I couldn't stop laughing at the lyrics. It seemed like it was meant to be funny, but the characters all had such depressing story lines that I was confused about how I was supposed to feel as an audience member.

Everyone always talks about shows being "ensemble shows" but there are few shows I've seen that I would actually give that label. This was one. Yeah, there were the well-known actors who might have been given a little more stage time than others, but overall it was equally balanced and everyone got a song. I felt like I knew everyone's voices by the end, which is rare.

The cast was good. It was funny to see Keith Carradine singing and dancing onstage... he's from "Dexter" so I'd seen him on TV, but didn't know he was a stage actor. Hunter Foster has a great voice and the part was perfect for him even though he was the least likable character in the show. Allison Case is charismatic and adorable but her voice wasn't as strong as I wanted it to be -- I remember liking her voice more in Hair. Jay Armstrong Johnson was really good. His voice is strong and he was just pleasant to watch, but I could feel his discomfort with the stunts (climbing on top of the truck and doing all sorts of flips). David Larsen was basically playing the same character he played in American Idiot but he sang the second best song in the show and boy, can he sing. The two best performances belonged to Jon Rua and Keala Steele -- the strongest voices by far.

It was pretty obvious the show was still in previews. I could tell some of the choreography wasn't completely set and it just didn't seem perfectly polished.

Not my favorite thing I've ever seen before, but I'm glad I saw it and it was an interesting and fun show even if it made you feel like a bad person for being American... because all I really walked away with was the belief that America is a super depressing place.