‘Meet John Doe’ has right mix of sweetness, cynicism

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Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

“Meet John Doe” is a winning new musical with an old-fashioned heart, a stirring soul, rock-solid structure, and a rich collection of political and romantic themes ideally matched to our own tough times.

And oh yes, did I forget to mention that it comes with a book and score — the work of Andrew Gerle and Eddie Sugarman — that suggests the art of the well-made musical is very much alive and well?

A lovely anachronism of sorts, the show, based on the 1941 film by Frank Capra — and now receiving its regional debut in an impressively mounted Porchlight Music Theatre production — harks back to the trials and tribulations and desperation of the Great Depression of the 1930s. But along the way it makes everything old seem new again — from job loss and corporate cost-cutting, to the threatened life of newspapers, to the search for hope among ordinary citizens whose politicians invariably are in the pockets of the super-wealthy. And while the show’s book and lyrics are cracklingly cynical when required, they just as convincingly capture an elegiac tone.

The story begins as The New American Times, a newspaper with fading circulation, is bought by Norton (Mick Weber), a ruthless mogul. Almost immediately a pink slip is handed to a feisty, creative young columnist, Ann Mitchell (Elizabeth Lanza, whose energy, intensity and vocal prowess drive the show, and recall a young if considerably more “balanced” Liza Minnelli). Hellbent on keeping her job and proving she can generate excitement, Ann pens a fictional column in the form of a letter from an unemployed, disillusioned man who threatens suicide to protest the corruption of American society.

When the column strikes a nerve in readers, Ann, despite the concerns of her decent, old school editor, Connell (Jim Sherman), and with the backing of the craven Norton, decides to recruit a real John Doe from the street, and her pick is a down-on-his-luck baseball player (Karl Hamilton, who genuinely blossoms along with his character).

John Doe becomes a figure around whom the nation can rally, and Norton eventually also sees him as the key to his planned run for the U.S. presidency. In the meantime, Ann is temporarily seduced by Norton’s glitter (Weber is aptly elegant and arrogant), while John Doe, the average guy, can only pine for the woman who gave him a new lease on life.

With snappy direction and choreography by James Beaudry, ideal musical direction by Eugene Dizon and his band, a first-rate Art Deco backdrop by Ian Zywica, and fine vintage costumes by Elizabeth Powell Wislar, the show may move to the sound of manual typewriter keys, and take time to ponder deep human emotions. But it also has plenty of modern speed.

Lanza nails every big number with both a fighting spirit and emotional heat — from her poignant “conversation” with her deceased dad (“I Hope You Can See This”), to her stunned response to John Doe (“He Threw Me”). And as John Does comes into his own (“I Feel Like a Man Again,” “Who the Hell”), Hamilton rises to the occasion with a fine realism. In the moving “Lighthouses,” Sherman taps into his character’s wartime experiences, while another song, “Money Talks,” looks at the dark side of America.

Rus Rainear steals every comic moment as John Doe’s anarchic tramp sidekick. And in a strong ensemble, it is Elizabeth Haley’s clarion voice that sounds most gloriously.

As the song says, “Here’s to America.” Even more, here’s to the American musical.