ARTS . Dance Review

Undercut

Edward Scissorhands, Academy of Music, Jan. 16


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Published: Jan 23, 2007

Even before the curtain goes up, Matthew Bourne's Edward Scissorhands offers something to ponder. Where the program might normally list a composer and lyricist, we have here a credit for Terry Davies for "music and arrangements," and another for Danny Elfman in what must be a unique new category: "including themes from the original motion picture Edward Scissorhands." So be on notice that Scissorhands isn't a traditional musical. Purists might argue that it's not a musical at all, given that there are no lyrics, singing or dialogue. If you force me to come up with a description, I guess I'd call it a "dance pantomime." I'd also call it tedious, despite some inspired moments.

Bourne, who in program-speak "devised, directed and choreographed" Scissorhands, has made something of a specialty of these dance-based theatricals, and his all-male Swan Lake was a reasonably big hit a few years back. He has a playfully macabre sensibility that's a good match for Tim Burton's original movie (an adult fairy tale in which an outcast young man with blades for hands is taken in by a suburban family). And his designers — Lez Brotherston did sets and costumes, Howard Harrison did lighting — manage to evoke Burton's world while having a visual style of their own.

Conceptually, Bourne's Scissorhands is intriguing, and a number of the shorter tableaux are captivating. And Terry Davies' score is capturing at all times, whether or not he's building on Elfman's well-known original music.

But the longer set pieces — especially a "suburban ballet" that takes up much of the first act — expose a fatal flaw. For all of Bourne's conceptual cleverness, as a choreographer he's limited and repetitious. The best of his work recalls Jerome Robbins, but is far less interesting. After five or 10 minutes, it's all too clear that Bourne just doesn't have the skills to build on his initial visual flair. (For the record, Scissorhands is expertly performed by its cast.) I imagine this is why Scissorhands hasn't actually landed on Broadway, and probably never will.

Edward Scissorhands

Academy of Music, Jan. 16