I don't really know what this is supposed to be. I suppose it is the recreation of a stage production filmed on a sound stage for video distribution. But Tintypes falls a little flat by not capturing the excitement of a live performance. It's a review of music from a range of sources in the decades before and after 1900. Should one call it a "Victrola musical"? Oh, I don't even think there were Victrolas then. So maybe it's a pianola musical, since sheet music and home pianos and pump organs were kings of the era.
While the music has a lot of charm and is well-sung by the original stage cast, I can understand why the show lasted less than three months on Broadway. The rather rose-colored glasses view of this time is cloyingly happy at times, and ineffective when paying lip-service to the social ills of the industrial age. Each of the five performers represent a certain type from the era--the new immigrant, the industrialist, the reformer, the socialite, the African-American poor. I suppose the point of the show isn't really to provide a history lesson, but there are better shows depicting the struggles of this time--Working by Studs Terkel, Showboat, even Ragtime. At times, the disconnect between the music and the vignettes is startling, particularly when the Emma Goldman rant is going on.
I didn't realize that Jerry Zaks started as a performer; I've heard of him only as a director. He was nominated for a Tony for his performance in Tintypes. He's likable and has a nice singing voice. And Lynne Thigpen returns to my Year, previously appearing in Godspell.
Tintypes
Conceived by Mary Kyte, Mel Marvin, and Gary Pearle
Music and lyrics by a whole bunch of turn-of-the-century songwriters (the last century)
Taping of the original cast in 1982
Cast: Jerry Zaks, Lynne Thigpen, Carolyn Mignini, Mary Catherine Wright, Trey Wilson
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