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Push not off from that isle, thou canst never return!
Perhaps its unfair to jump straight to the leviathan of seafaring lit when reflecting on the new musicalSwept Away.
At the same time, its writers are clearly going for Melvilles roiling depths and vertiginous existential heights.
Theyre interested in what happens when mans soul leaves the safety of its own inner island.
Welcome to the horrors of the half-known life.
Conversely, that very straightforwardness is a potential trap.
Both story and character issues are to blame.
Gallagher, even as he sings well and moves well, is more Mephistophelean than human.
Every despicable trade there was came easy to me…
So dont ask who I am.
(Logan movesMignonettes basic plot Stateside, setting it postbellum in the waning years of the whaling trade.)
This kind of speech could be an opportunity for an actor to play both persona and shadow at once.
Or rather the beginning: Like many new musicals these days,Swept Awayexists inside a frame.
Its 22 years after the wreck and its ensuing horrors; now hes dying in a charity ward.
But before he can slip away, three old friends arrive.
Mates redemption, it appears, hinges on their deliverance from purgatory.
Tell our story, they urge him.
Release us … Release yourself.
Ultimately,Swept Aways most compelling elements exist around its center rather than within it.
The seas devilish brilliance and beauty pours through the space.
Its temporary, but at least for a moment were swept up with it.
Swept Awayis at the Longacre Theatre.
