Hinton Battle - Largely Alive isn't a bad show, it's just unnecessary, a deficiently constructed solo for an excellent performer. Battle has been a leading musical comedy performer on Broadway and on the road for decades. He has just completed a run as a featured performer in the Chicago production of Ragtime. Battle's new one-man show at the Apollo Theater traces his life, from his childhood in Washington, DC through his education as a ballet dancer to his success on the Broadway musical stage.
The main problem with Largely Alive is that it devotes too much attention to Battle's uninteresting life and not enough to his Broadway career and his encounters with some major figures in American theater. Thus, we get virtually nothing about Battle's exposure to the teaching of George Balanchine and his work with choreographer Bob Fosse. We do learn that Battle's macho military father was displeased with his son's dancing, feeling it would turn the boy gay. Battle narrates some encounters with offbeat family members after moving to New York City, but the anecdotes make little impression. Battle has won three Tony awards for his New York City performances, a glittering achievement never once mentioned during the show. He breaks up his conversation with occasional songs but never informs us why he is singing them or if they have any meaning for him.
The staging barely has any production values. There is no scenery and only a couple of chairs for props. Battle wears a sleeveless white t-shirt, blue jeans and sneakers. A piano trio plays on and off behind a screen at the rear of the stage. A few lighting cues come in for occasional dramatic effect. In spite of the intimate atmosphere, Battle is sometimes difficult to understand. Battle hasn't been assisted much by director Otis Sallid. Indeed, it's difficult to see a directorial hand at work as Battle talks to the spectators and occasionally does a bit of choreographic movement. Battle recently had hop replacement surgery, which possible ended his career as a dancer. He mentions the operation but never confides how it has impacted his professional life -- just one of the many missed opportunities that plague the show.
Still, with some rethinking and reordering, Battle might carve a decent cabaret act out of Largely Alive. He needs to radically edit the autobiographical material that only a master like Bill Cosby could deliver with positive results. We should be hearing about Battle's experiences working with some of the great personalities of the modern musical theater and his anecdotes about performing in hits like Miss Saigon, Sophisticated Ladies, Dancin' and Ragtime. Surely 90 minutes of humorous, informative material could be mined from such a distinguished career.
