There’s no reason to care about ‘Business’

During most of "It's Only Business" -- the original musical by Community College of Southern Nevada vocal director Mark Wherry -- I kept wondering, "Why am I watching this?" I couldn't figure out the show's reason for being.

It deals with Bugsy Siegel's attempts to build the Flamingo Hotel in the middle of nowhere. But Siegel (Hunter Gerard) is presented as a one-note sketch character. He's all raging testosterone. He has no dramatic journey.

In the second act, the spotlight shifts to Bugsy's buddy Meyer Lansky (Jason Andino), who spends much of the play testifying (uncooperatively) before a U.S. Senate committee.

The production suddenly becomes about the nature of friendship. But the script doesn't explore the two men's relationship, and you wonder what on earth Lansky is singing about.

And although it's difficult to believe that these young, gentle actors, all decked out in fancy business suits and hats, are really tough guys, you start to think maybe the show is about the nature of the Mafia. But even the title tells you Wherry has little to say about that. We've always known the mob claimed death is only business. You keep waiting for a fresh viewpoint, or a reason to care about something, and it never comes.

The production plays like a cross between a poor man's "Guys and Dolls" and Jerry Herman's "Miss Spectacular." The music has occasional but often inappropriate charm, and the lyrics are painfully pedestrian.

Director Doug Baker fails to infuse the show with the sort of voltage a story about Vegas needs. He has cast many first-rate singers, but doesn't show much concern for acting. Things could immensely improve, though, if the chorus would just quadruple its energy level.

The unfinished-wood look of the set (by Yale Yeandel) and the unimaginative costumes (by Doug Baker and Kay Baker) are surprisingly lackluster for a musical about one of the most glamorous cities on the planet.

But this project was probably doomed the moment Wherry decided to write the book, lyrics and music. There are maybe one or two people in the history of the American musical theater who have succeeded at doing all three. If this script is ever to catch fire, the author needs collaborators; preferably, folks who better understand how the traditional musical works.

Anthony Del Valle can be reached at DelValle@aol.com. You can write him c/o Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125.