Musical rendition of 'Marty' debuts in Boston

If you're in the mood for a quaint, predictable, softy of a musical, Marty at the Huntington Theater might just be your ticket. Starring John C. Reilly, the film star from both Magnolia and The Good Girl, Marty attempts to explore the era of the mid-1950s in New York City amongst the glories of post World War II victory and the shadows of prejudices that lurk in very same hearts of those victorious. Marty's highs are just swell, however, as the underbelly of substance that Marty tries so hard to create just doesn't gain momentum.

Based on the screenplay by Paddy Chayefsky, this musical rendition showcases both the life of 34-year-old Marty Pelleti (Reilly) and those he calls near and dear to him. The first scene gives a fairly direct portal to the world of Marty, taking place in the butcher shop where he works. People continually buzz around him, their demands ranging from meat to company to pressuring Marty to settle down and finally get married. Amidst all the chaos, Marty ponders if he is in fact a "lucky guy." Girls, apparently, would say no.

Neither would his friends, a pack of four regular Joes, or his mother, played impeccably by Barbara Andres. In fact, the only person who sees Marty as a special and unique presence is his love interest, Clara, who is somewhat of an odd duck herself. Yet, every character still wants Marty to hang around their lives as somewhat of a reliable consolation prize, thus discouraging him from seeing the one person who sees him as the prize.

In the end, while Marty uses the traditional love story as its vehicle, the underlying theme of play is indubitably about the various types of loneliness plaguing the world. Be it the loneliness of an empty-nester mother, to that of a smoozing best friend, to the individual loneliness that Marty himself must attack in order to accept that he has a right to be happy, the glitz of the jitterbug cannot balance out the heaviness of the play.

But, the dancers in the Stardust Ballroom certainly come close. With glittering red dresses and a bandleader with a voice straight out of the rat pack, the dancers practically float along the stage. For the first time, everyone in the theater, actors and audience included, seem to be having fun.

Another terrific scene occurs in a bar where the four fellas regale each other with both fictional tales and ladies _ who literary pop out of the scenery. The tempo picks up and certain originality to the show is gained. In the second act, Marty and Clara tour the city's bridges and Marty talks about his time in North Africa, and a star that his father gave him when he was younger.

In the scene, Marty becomes an enriched and lively character. No longer is he the standard, lonely misfit that has been played in every feel-good show since the dawn of theater. He is this specific boy, talking to this specific girl whom he hoped liked him back.

In that sense, Chayefsky succeeded as he "set out in Marty to write a love story_ the most ordinary love story in the world... I wanted to write a love story the way it would literally happened to the kind of people I know." Amongst all the characters, Clara and Marty are the most identifiable. The other characters are, unfortunately, mostly well done caricatures.

His best friend, Ange, is fairly one sided, consistently selfish in his desires of Marty, but that's a fault in the plot _ not in the actor. Jim Bracchitta, who plays Ange, gives a lively performance that is enjoyable, but his character simply doesn't seem to have a life outside of his relationship to Marty, which is limiting.

Meanwhile, Marty has a cousin and cousin-in-law who crash in and out of the story like bad houseguests, messily complicating the life of the host for no apparent purpose. Their subplot attempts to bring depth to the idea that everyone uses and abuses Marty, yet it is too blas?© and lacks the depth of diversion that Marty's friend have in their antics.

With musicals often seem to come stereotypes. The music and lyrics of Marty were written by the same men, Charles Strouse and Lee Adams respectively, who penned the music and lyrics of Bye Bye Birdie. But, in Bye Bye Birdie, the stereotypes fit together to make a sensational, if not cheesy, musical. Marty has the same upbeat score, jiving choreography (by Tony-award winner Rob Ashford), yet the sensational aspect is somewhat lacking. Marty is a good show. It is a mildly entertaining musical.

John C. Reilly is charming as always with his loser-turned-winner character and, for the most part, so are his fellow cast members. The difference, however, between Bye Bye Birdie and Marty is that Marty wants to be taken seriously. Yet sadly for Marty, people these days rarely tend to take Elvis impersonators seriously.