The Greatest Hits Down Route 66
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Cititour.com Review
If the title of Michael Aguirre’s “The Greatest Hits Down Route 66,” now being presented at 59E59 Theaters, doesn’t immediately let you know what to expect from this show, I assure you the 105-minute project is possibly more than you bargained for!
On tap are a dysfunctional family drama, a meditation on the American immigrant experience, a “jukebox musical” of sorts using old folk songs compiled by the great American poet Carl Sandburg in his 1927 book, “American Songbag” as well as a too-extensive history lesson about that book shared by our narrator (an appealing Joel Acosta).
Moreover, it’s all told in a rather unconventional manner, reasonably well-handled by director Sarah Norris. While many audiences may wholeheartedly applaud this sort of innovation, I was often tempted – rather appropriately given that the entire show takes place during a road trip from Chicago to California –to stand up and yell “pick a lane.”
That’s because I found the main story so compelling that I wished it was the show’s complete focus. Our archetypical suburban family -- too cutely named Wolf Man (an impressive Kristoffer Cusick), Mother Dearest (a perfect Erika Rolfsrud), the Eldest (a superb Martin Ortiz, perfectly embodying every annoying, know-it-all 17-year-old in history) and the Wee One (the petite actress Kleo Mitrokostas playing an eight-year-old boy for some inexplicable reason) first appear to embarking on a long summer vacation to see many of the famous sights on America’s most noted highway.
Yet, we quickly learn there’s one unexpected stop on the itinerary, Houston, where Wolf Man is stopping briefly to see his estranged brother Ted (Acosta) – a high-tech bro who redefines the word obnoxious -- and their father Miguel, whom Wolf Man hasn’t seen in a decade and who is now on the verge of immediate death in an assisted listing facility.
Miguel crossed in the U.S. from the Mexican border many decades earlier and having found little work or satisfaction in his marriage was a less-than-ideal father and husband. Not only do Wolf Man’s resentments still run deep, he’s completely frustrated by his son wanting desperately claim to his Mexican heritage. (Mom is Polish). It also doesn’t help that despite the Eldest obviously being quite smart – all he does is parrot everything he’s learned in his many AP classes – he is refusing to consider going to college. If nothing else, Miguel’s descendant should be pursuing the true American dream.
In his script notes, Aguirre states that the goal of including selections from the American Songbag – which include familiar tunes such as “Sloop John B” and “She’ll Be Comin Round the Mountain” -- is “to use the music as a memory, an imprint, incidental. It should carry emotional weight but don’t depend on it to move the plot forward.”
That’s all true. Some of it is quite wonderful, especially when the voice of sublime band vocalist Hannah-Kathryn “HK” wall is front and center. Most of it, though, just feels superfluous. And asking the audience to sing and clap along (admittedly, only on some numbers) is just completely unnecessary!
In short, I found “The Greatest Hits Down Route 66” a trip definitely worth taking, but I wish someone had put the brakes on some of its excesses.
By Brian Scott Lipton
Visit the Site
https://www.59e59.org/
Open/Close Dates
Opening 1/23/2024
Closing 2/14/2024
Theatre Info
59E59 Theaters
59 East 59th St
New York, NY 10022
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