Splashy Almodovar musical disappoints on Broadway (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A musical adaptation of Spanish film director Pedro Almodovar's 1988 comedy movie, "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" received a poor response by critics in reviews posted on Friday.

The new Broadway musical, which opened on Thursday in New York, adapted the tale of women who deal with men who abandon and cheat on them at a cost of about $5 million.

Almodovar consulted with the show's creators and was on hand in New York this week for the show's opening after it had been delayed. But critics said the musical that aimed to bring Almodovar's signature splashy colors, quirky characters and offbeat humor fell short.

"Take a delectable screen property, add a masterful director, gifted designers and a formidable assembly of stage talent, and what do you get? Sadly, a flavorless gazpacho," said The Hollywood Reporter, playing on one character's penchant for making the cold Spanish soup.

The New York Times said "this tale of mad love in swinging 1980s Madrid feels hopelessly distracted from beginning to end."

Some critics praised the performances of the cast, including theater stars Patti LuPone and Laura Benanti, but said the score and story let the musical down and the characters didn't live up to what Almodovar delivered in his Oscar-nominated movie.

Director Bartlett Sher said in an interview this week that Almodovar made a "substantial" contribution to the musical, extensively consulting with the show's creators.

"He's been enormously insightful about what he does and what he intended for the film, and then at the same time quite permissive and quite supportive of wherever we were taking it, being very very honest about not understanding theater," he said. "He sees it from a film point of view."

Almodovar, 59, who has seen another of his films, "All About My Mother" turned into a play in London, was "excited" about the musical that highlights an unusual involvement by a film director on a musical adaptation.

"It was a deep collaboration," Sher said. "It is so well suited to musicals, his work."

The show uses projections to bring the film's lush, bright colors and pop art influences to depict Madrid's streets and characters, while the songs took about two years to write.

"It's saturated in reds and deep blue and yellows.. very rich and very layered," he said. "We probably err more on the side of farce than he (Almodovar) would have, than he does in the movie."

(Editing by Jill Serjeant)

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