I Spy a Spy – Theatre at St. Clement’s, New York

Emma Degerstedt and Andrew Mayer in I Spy a Spy at the Theatre St.Clement’s, New York.
Picture: Russ Rowland

I Spy a Spy continues at the Theatre at St. Clement’s, New York, until 21 September.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

Undocumented immigrants… Russian spies and computer hackers… instant celebrity… gourmet delis. They’re all packed into I Spy a Spy, a new Off-Broadway musical offering a cartoon-like but big-hearted look at New York in this hectic summer of 2019 AD.

In a way, it put me in mind of those classic Comden and Green mid-20th Century New York musicals – notably On the Town, Wonderful Town and Bells Are Ringing – shows that gave audiences of the day zany snapshots – sometimes satiric, sometimes affectionate – of their contemporary Gotham.

I Spy a Spy may not measure up to the bite and finesse of a Comden and Green script, and what it lacks mostly is the musical richness and genius of a Leonard Bernstein or Jule Styne to elevate almost exponentially both the comedy and the atmosphere, lifting audiences to another realm. But then, how often does a Leonard Bernstein or Jule Styne come along?

What this new show does have, though, is plenty of exuberance and a gorgeously mixed bouquet of a multi-ethnic 12-person cast that looks much like the populace you’ll see on today’s New York streets.

The gags sometimes dive into stereotypes and the plot and songs strain at times to touch on relevance – from the plight of the immigrant and systemic racism to female empowerment. Still, nothing gets too heavy-handed, and the authenticity of the cast and the sincerity of its message of inclusion – with America as the safe harbour it historically has been – help to balance such stuff. That message even registers tellingly in the programme bio of the producer Eric Krebs, who relates: “My father was an undocumented immigrant who fled Germany in 1938.”    

The lyrics by Jamie Jackson are often a bright spot, with several numbers offering lively appraisals of the yearnings of those seeking a better life in America. As the company sings in the opening number: “When you gotta shed your skin/To let your brand new life begin/Chase the sun to where it’s brighter/Take a chance and you could win/The American Dream…”

The music by Sohee Youn occasionally breaks into some rich harmonies, but for the most part it relies heavily on insistent rhythms that tend to become repetitious, even while supporting Jackson’s lyrics and played with rollicking zest by the four-piece band. Dan Pardo on keyboard is the music director.

The book, the somewhat cluttered collaboration of Jackson and Youn, centres on José Rodriguez (the instantly likeable Andrew Mayer), a young man illegally entered the U.S.A. from Mexico. While hoping to become an actor, José works three jobs to eke out a living.

He dresses up like the Statue of Liberty for photo-taking with tourists in Times Square, while also helping out at the deli owned by Korean immigrant Sunny Park (Hazel Anne Raymundo) and making deliveries for the neighbouring and ferociously competitive pizzeria run by the Pakistani immigrant Abdul Makhdoom (Sorab Wadia).

While Sonny and Abdul spy on each other for business secrets, their interest in each other, as we eventually learn, is more libido-related.

The real spies in the story are a Russian agent, long embedded in New York as a laundromat owner, and his daughter. The agent (Bruce Warren) is code-named Cold Borscht (the humour does get a bit strained), and he’s tops of his game. Alina, his daughter (Emma Degerstedt), though, is really bad at spying, and the pair are being threatened from Moscow with replacement by a new generation of spy, a computer hacker. When the hacker does show up, he’s named Beef Stroganoff (John Wascavage).

Meanwhile, José has long admired Alina from afar, delivering her pizzas and other goodies, and as you might guess, they do sort of hook up. The industrious José will help Alina in her spying, and Alina agrees by posing as a talent agent to help José win a contest being sponsored by the city’s mayor to find “The Face of New York”, which he sees as his gateway to actorly fame and fortune.

But guess what happens? It’s the WASPy-looking Alina who is chosen to be “The Face of New York”. Nevertheless, while Alina is busy becoming a New York-promoting celebrity, the devoted José goes wildly about the city digging up secrets for Russia under Alina’s name (including one really bad misstep in the script with a jokey bit about “baby cancer”).

Before the happy ending, there are still plenty of other twists and turns – involving Homeland Security agents, Mexican gangsters, an evening at the Metropolitan Opera, a boisterous convention of kazatsky-dancing spies, fireworks viewed from the Brooklyn Bridge, and more.

It’s almost too much, but the smart staging of director Bill Castellino (also the choreographer) keeps everything fairly clear and flowing in cinematic style, against the colourful unit set of James Morgan. The costumes by Tyler M. Holland help define the changing milieus, and the whole ensemble deserves bravos for apparently getting into the right ones for the right scene, as they portray something like a telephone book-full of New Yorkers. Remember telephone books?

In addition to those performers cited above, the company includes Grace Choi, James Donegan, Taylor Fields, Nicole Paloma Sarro, Lawrence E. Street and Frankie Paparone (whose roles at the performance reviewed were played by understudy Conor McShane).

Ron Cohen