Here’s the progression of forming an opinion without actually seeing a show:
When you hear the title of the new musical “White Widow: a sicilian musical passion”, you might think it sounds silly. After that, you might think that poking fun at said musical may not be a great idea, since it sounds like something Christopher Moltisanti might be producing, and insulting it could lead to a date with the East River and a pair of cement galoshes. But then you look at the press release and realize that it’s based on a play called “Mafia” by Italian playwright Mario Fratti, who also adapted the book for the Broadway musical “Nine.”
Does this mean the show will be good? Of course not. “Saturday Night Fever” was a great film that was turned into an unwatchable stage experience; hell, someone even created a musical version of the great novel Flowers For Algernon (hint: it wasn’t good.) It does, however, mean that it’s worth giving it a chance, perhaps more of a chance than you might have when you first beheld the title.
So there you are. Not exactly a ringing endorsement, but hey, it’s a start. Plus, as cast member Nick Gaswirth puts it, the cast is pretty. So there you are.
