Tuck Everlasting: The Musical

What do you do with a musical that at its core wants to have the intimacy of a "She Loves Me," yet is directed and produced like it's "Oklahoma!" If the show in question happens to be "Tuck Everlasting: The Musical," the solution is to sit back and try to enjoy the evening -- flaws and all.

There's a good show somewhere in "Tuck Everlasting," the musical adaptation of Natalie Babbitt's beloved young adult novel. Adapted by Claudia Shear and Tim Federle, "Tuck Everlasting" mostly follows the novel in plot. The spirit, however, that has made this young adult fiction novel into a piece worthy of two film adaptions is all but lost in a bloated production more intent on grabbing family dollars rather than striking family hearts.

Set in the 1890s, precocious eleven-year-old Winnie Foster, tired of living under the thumb of her oppressive mother, runs away. In the woods she encounters 17-year-old Jesse Tuck drinking from a spring. She soon learns that Jesse and his family have a secret -- they're immortal due to magical properties in the water from the spring. Given the opportunity to live forever, Winnie must choose between morality or everlasting life.

At its core, "Tuck Everlasting" is a philosophical piece that teaches young readers about mortality and the circle (or as it's described in the musical "wheel") of life. And to that end, librettists Tim Federle and Claudia Shear along with composer and lyricist team Chris Miller and Nathan Tyson do an honorable job in fleshing those themes and characters out on stage. However, in an attempt to compete with Disney juggernauts "The Lion King" and "Aladdin," the producers of "Tuck Everlasting" have lost sight of the show's meaning.

At the unlikely helm of "Tuck Everlasting" is Casey Nicholaw, who, as director and choreographer, is best known for his spot-on satirical production numbers in "The Book of Mormon," "Aladdin" and last season's "Something Rotten." As a storyteller, Nicholaw does well in accentuating the philosophical aspects and emotional turns in "Tuck Everlasting." Unfortunately, his over-staging consistently muddies the waters in this should-be heartfelt show with a seemingly endless parade of superfluous dance numbers presumably aimed to garner the family audience.

Scoring high marks however is the winning cast of this sadly overblown show. The ever-youthful Andrew Keenan-Bolger stands out as the sweet but cluelessly selfish perpetually 17-year-old Jesse Tuck. Wonderful comic turns are delivered by Fred Applegate and Michael Wartella, as a pair of bumbling inspectors.

As patriarch and matriarch Angus and MaeTuck, Michael Park and the steely-voiced Carolee Carmello beautifully convey the heartbeat of novelist Babbitt's message. As protagonist Winnie, pint-sized Sarah Charles Lewis makes a notable Broadway debut.

At the end of "Tuck Everlasting," Nicholaw eventually justifies his oversized cast of dancers by presenting a 10-minute ballet that shows (spoiler alert) Winnie's life from adolescence to the grave. As a stand-alone piece the ballet works beautifully. But however emotionally moving it may be, it feels incongruous within the context of the evening as it's way too late in the game to introduce that element into the production.

As of this writing, "Tuck Everlasting" has received no Drama Desk award nominations and only one Tony Award nomination for costume design. It's regrettable that in a dense season that boasted 10 original musicals, a well-crafted (on the page) show like "Tuck Everlasting" that spent years in development ended up a mere footnote. Perhaps it may serve as a cautionary tale to producers who put more emphasis on the board room rather than the rehearsal room when presenting family fare.

"Tuck Everlasting: The Musical" enjoys an extended run at the Broadhurst Theatre, 235 West 44th Street. For tickets and information, call 800-276-2392 or visit www.tuckeverlastingmusical.com