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Cheerleader musical brings fresh faces and explosive choreography to Broadway

BY MICHAEL SOMMERS

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

BROADWAY REVIEW

Let’s give a rousing hurrah for “Bring It On: The Musical,” an endearing new tuner about high school cheerleaders that combines bright songs, nimble storytelling and amazingly kinetic choreography with an adorable company of young newcomers.

The first musical of the new Broadway season, “Bring It On” bounded into the St. James Theater on Wednesday for a limited stint through early October. One wonders whether this delightfully light entertainment might stick around for a while longer a-la “Newsies.”

Smart enough for Broadway regulars yet not too sexy for the family crowd, the musical also offers theatergoers from overseas an excitingly all-American experience with its exuberant depiction of high-flying cheerleading routines.

Based on a 2000 film, the contemporary story centers about Campbell, a cheerleading squad captain who unwillingly is transferred to a scruffier (if cooler) school where the multi-ethnic mix of students have no use for the energetic artistry that she practices.

Somehow Campbell talks the local crew into entering a big cheerleading competition that soon pits them against her former teammates, whose captain, Eva, eventually is revealed to be Campbell’s demonic rival.

Let’s skip the rest of this admittedly not-so-earthshaking tale’s details, except to note that no adult figures appear among the adolescent characters that are neatly defined by Jeff Whitty’s brisk if familiar libretto and nicely fleshed out by the fresh-faced performers.

True, complications get a mite sticky in the middle of the second act, but between the efficiency of Whitty’s script and the extremely dynamic staging by director-choreography Andy Blankenbuehler, the upbeat musical swiftly arrives at a triumphant conclusion.

Of course, a high-spirited score is another significant factor in the show’s success. Co-composed by Tom Kitt and Lin-Manuel Miranda, the tasty music fuses agreeable pop melodies with propulsive hip-hop rhythms and is enhanced by some funny lyrics by Miranda and Amanda Green.

Blankenbuehler’s vigorous choreography suits the characters’ different natures and, above all, delivers an eye-popping series of cheering routines. The complex precision and the daring aerial physicality of these killer acrobatics had the audience roaring.

Appealing performances lend further charm to the production, which benefits from the expertise of David Korins’ spare yet supple set design, Andrea Lauer’s ultra-teen fashions and Jason Lyons’ colorful lighting.