Misery Loves Company

Bring on the rain. This ghastly musical by Alfred Uhry and Jason Robert Brown plods along like a tired circus beast as it tells the story of Leo Frank, a young Jewish factory manager in 1913 Atlanta who is railroaded to a guilty verdict in the rape and murder of a 13-year-old worker named Mary Phagan. A cast of 28, including some of Dallas theater's best musical theater performers (Paul Taylor, Cara Serber, Megan Kelly, Wilbur Penn, Walter Cunningham) stand around doing not much of anything on the unadorned scaffolding that passes for a set. Choreography (by Paula Morelan) that requires this mob to move in slow motion is redundant here. The whole affair seems to be slowed to half speed. As Leo Frank and wife Lucille, Donald Fowler and Jennifer Pasion never connect with any chemistry and their voices compete on the crackly head-mikes in unpleasant ways. Director James Paul Lemons needs to take a break from musicals. He seems over his head with this one. Doesn't help either that the band is sequestered under the stage. Either the singers onstage can't hear them or everyone's content to sing one or two beats behind the correct tempo. Through April 29 at WaterTower Theatre, 15650 Addison Rd., Addison. 972-450-6232.
Wednesdays, Thursdays, 7:30 p.m.; Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m.; Sat., April 28, 2 p.m. Starts: April 5. Continues through April 29