Hands on a Hardbody @ the La Jolla Playhouse, or "They Shoot Nissans, Don't They?"

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing Hands on a Hardbody, a new musical premiering at the La Jolla Playhouse before heading off to Broadway. I'd been anxious to see the show ever since I heard it was in development, because of the immense reputation of the source material, and the "just crazy enough to work" feeling I had when I heard it was going to be made a stage musical. Now, I have never seen the documentary, so again, my opinions were just based on the reputation of the film. But I had heard a lot of good things, and I had also heard that Robert Altman's next planned project, when he died, was a fictional adaptation, which certainly lead credence to the idea that there was room for growth from this seed.

But once the show started last night, I began to get nervous. I had trouble getting into it for the first ten minutes or so. It just seemed a bit silly, and a bit trapped by it's concept. For those not familiar with just what this show is about, the Hands on a Hardbody competition the title refers to is one of those contests where ten people have to keep their hand on a pickup truck, and the last person not to let go wins the truck. This competition is held in Texas, in Summer, on an asphalt parking lot, in intense heat, so after a few days, it becomes a grueling endurance contest, and ultimately a race to see who can maintain their sanity the longest. High drama, for sure, but the fact remains that all these people are tethered to a truck. When the competition begins in the show, there is some awkward laughter, as we see that all the buildup in the first act has exploded into a scene of ten people standing motionless with their hands on a truck. I had to wonder, where do they go from here? And furthermore, the ten contestants seemed to be more representatives of some downtrodden group (the young unemployed/underemployed, the religious zealot, the troubled soldier, the lower-class shlub looking to recapture past glory, etc.) than real people, which lead me to fear that a strained morality play would be put forth, as each character laid out their lamentations.

I needn't have worried, on either point. The show is phenomenal. While I first feared that the characters were stock characters inserted to make political points, I gradually realized that in reality, the creators of the musical had found in their source material a near-perfect crystallization of the issues of economic vulnerability and despair that are brought to the forefront. The musical does not create or impose this narrative, but only amplifies what is naturally there. My first impression, as the various characters were introduced, was that this was much like a Sam Fuller movie, such as Shock Corridor, where the one-dimensional characters are merely place-holders for political touchstones. But I son realized the more apt comparison is to They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, where an endurance competition that might seem fun or zany on the surface is actually a last chance for escape for people who are running out of hope. With the possible exception of the soldier, whose presence felt a bit contrived, it did not seem at all odd that these people felt not only that a pick-up truck was the answer to their prayers, but that it was the only chance they had left. The fact that it is difficult to separate the character from their economic morass is just more evidence of how oppressive their plight is to them.

As for the matter of being tethered to the car, that was solved by animating the truck. Described in the program as "the 16th character," the truck was hollowed out to be light enough for the actors to move around stage, reinforced so actors could climb on it, and rigged with microphones so it could be used for percussive purposes. So even with one hand on the truck at all times, the choreography didn't suffer much (and the "hand on the truck at all times" rule was jettisoned before intermission, with the actors given some freedom from the truck during musical numbers). It works well, not exactly a jaw-dropping spectacle, but a well-thought out and well-executed way of giving the actors some mobility while remaining true to the concept of the contest.

Overall, the music was great, though no one number quite grabbed me as a standout, the song you hum leaving the theater. I enjoyed "Burn that Bridge," "Joy of the Lord," and the closing number, "Keep Your Hands on It." As a Lyle Lovett fan, I enjoyed "If I Had a Truck," and could definitely feel his influence on that song. Some of the more blues- and gospel-infused songs are rather rousing, but overall I felt the songs were a bit understated; it seemed to have the exact opposite problem as the last musical I saw at the La Jolla Playhouse, Sleeping Beauty Wakes, which was quite good but could have benefited from toning it down a bit.

The cast was uniformly excellent. Keith Carradine was the biggest star in the cast, though Hunter Foster, as previous Hands On a  Hardbody champion Benny Perkins is probably the closest thing this ensemble musical has to a star. Connie Ray and Jacob Ming Trent are also stand-outs.

Some concerns: the troubled marine seemed the most flat of the characters. He gets a good, moving song, but I don't know if it's worth the song to have him in the show. It's a part that should be either fleshed out or eliminated (similar issues are ultimately covered in another character's story arc). I also felt the ending, while acceptable, was a bit too upbeat and perky. It just didn't seem to fit with what the rest of the show was setting up. But it's not a dealbreaker, the ending still acknowledges things are tough, just lets the characters show they still have hope. But the implication seems to be that the contest really did improve all their lives, which seems a bit questionable.

If you have the opportunity, I highly recommend you see Hands on a Hardbody. If you haven't seen the documentary, as I haven't, you should enjoy it. And judging from the clips I've just watched on Youtube, fans of the documentary should enjoy it even more, as many of the things that I assumed were the whimsy of the musical's creators actually are lifted straight from the musical. Like this fellow and his 20-ton air conditioner:

Just watching the trailer, it's remarkable how much of the musical that I attributed to "artistic license" is actually taken from the documentary. Here, watch the trailer for yourself, and decide if seeing a musical version of this slice of Texas doesn't sound like a load of fun: