‘Dogfight’ is pretty to look at, but has an ugly core
You can make a production as pretty as you’d like — and Theater West End has done a handsome job with the musical “Dogfight” — but it can’t hide the fact there’s a lot of ugly business going on.
Director Derek Critzer has staged the show with appealing fluidity, making good use of a turntable to keep the momentum flowing. His lighting, rocking and rolling with the energetic music, is particularly on point. And he and his cast fill the stage with entertainingly rambunctious testosterone that fuels the men at the plot’s core.
But “Dogfight,” which won the Lucille Lortel Award for best off-Broadway musical in 2013, is a confounding show. It seemingly wants to be a character study but doesn’t ever dive deep enough into the only two characters who matter. It introduces most of its primary characters to the audience by having them act despicably and then takes nearly an hour until one of them shows a bit of empathy.
What’s the opposite of “meet cute”? Maybe “Meet cruel”?
That’s how Eddie and Rose wind up on a date together.
It’s 1963 and he and two fellow Marines are shipping out to Vietnam the next morning. For their last night in the States, they decide to have a “Dogfight” — a party in which the guy who brings the ugliest date wins the cash they all throw into the pot. Eddie finds shy, inexperienced Rose working in a diner and charms her into accompanying him by feeding her a load of lies about music.
Eddie is the sort of heel who barks “Come on, Rose, keep up!” to his date when she walks at a slower pace. His buddies, even bigger prizes, physically intimidate a prostitute when she declines to accommodate them.
The ickiest thing about the story line is how writer Peter Buchan apparently wants the audience to overlook these actions as “boys will be boys” shenanigans or give them a pass because they are going off to war. Yes, young men do stupid things. And enduring war is horrible. But misogyny wasn’t right then, and it isn’t right now.
Critzer gets dynamic performances from his actors, but there’s not enough nuance to make the plot developments ever really ring true. Chase Williams and Phillip Edwards dig into their stereotypical macho Marines with gusto, Kyle Stone makes a fine utility player in multiple roles, and Nala Price makes a strong impression as a mercenary prostitute — even if her character must walk a very uneasy line of gritty poignancy and comic relief.
Music director Charles Stevens gets a good sound from his band, and the musical numbers — from a bevy of “The Heat Is On in Saigon” style numbers to Rose’s emotional moments — are handled with flair.
Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who would go on to compose the music for “Dear Evan Hansen,” wrote the songs, which are catchy in a vaguely Sondheim-y kind of way.
Ultimately, the show depends on the charisma of Eddie and Rose, and the chemistry between them. Jose Rivera keeps Eddie compelling and entertaining, as much as the character is maddening. Camryn Chiriboga makes Rose’s naiveté an asset and delivers the critical ballads with cleareyed beauty and grace.
Rose’s decision to give Eddie a second chance remains a mystery — but I guess there wouldn’t be a second act if she didn’t.
I suppose one could look deeply into “Dogfight” and find a message about forgiveness and personal growth, but even that feels barely fleshed out. A more cynical interpretation calls to mind Maya Angelou’s famous quote: “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”