I saw Midnight with a group of four others two days ago, as well as at the Gala performance, and we all walked away with very similar feelings, which we spent quite a bit of time discussing over our post-show meal.
First, let me say that I genuinely believe there's a good musical buried somewhere in this production, and I like seeing new work produced. The talent in the show is immense, the show is beautifully cast, and some of the choreography is absolutely gorgeous. But this show needs SERIOUS editing and retooling. And I mean with a hacksaw.
I think part of the problem is that Todrick is wearing too many hats. As the star, writer, director, and choreographer, I wonder if he's simply too close to the material to recognize its big shortcomings. I think he's trying to make the next great American musical, and in doing so, he's lost the plot. Someone on the creative or producing end, or even just someone in the industry, needs to have a very honest creative conversation with him about what is and isn't working.
Right now, Midnight doesn't seem to have a clear identity of its own. You can feel and see the influences of Hamilton, The Color Purple, Cinderella, Les Misérables, and even Suffs, along with several other famous musicals, but they don't come together into a cohesive piece of storytelling. Instead, it feels like several different musicals competing for space within the same show. The gas pedal is on the entire time, so there is no natural escalation. By the end of it, I was tired, emotionally and physically, from watching the show.
Without giving away spoilers, I actually found Act II considerably more interesting than Act I. It finally captured my attention in a meaningful way because it posed something interesting to the audience, but the shift felt like it came out of nowhere. The Act I finale simply didn't do enough to set up what followed. And frankly, much of the first act felt like a Lifetime movie written by Tyler Perry. I cringed on several occasions.
There is also SO much material packed into this show that very little has room to breathe. The musical numbers begin to blur together, and despite some wonderful performances, two days later I genuinely cannot remember a single song.
Several characters also feel more like caricatures than fully realized human beings. The drunken brother and the slave owner, Sylvester, are prime examples. Then there's Richard's wife, Scarlet, and her sister, who seem like they were lifted straight out of Cinderella as the wicked stepsisters, while their mother, Charlotte, is practically every evil Disney stepmother rolled into one. These characters are so exaggerated and one-dimensional that they lack any real depth or nuance. Rather than feeling like actual people, they come across as little more than plot devices designed to reinforce the story's moral message that slavery is bad and wrong. Which anyone seeing the show should already know.
Another issue for me was the show's insistence on telling the audience exactly what to think and feel. Obviously, anyone with a brain and heart knows that slavery was wrong and bad. One of the beautiful things about theater is allowing an audience to interpret the story and arrive at its own emotional conclusions. Instead, Midnight practically hits us over the head with its moral message, culminating in a final number that seems to go on FOREVER. I kept hoping it was over, but it just kept going. Trust your audience, Todrick. We don't need everything spelled out for us like we're children without a moral compass.
And then there's the runtime. At three hours, this show is simply too long, and honestly, it felt even longer. The subject matter is already incredibly heavy, but when you combine that with the relentless intensity of nearly every scene and musical number, it becomes exhausting to watch and difficult to emotionally connect with. There's no real ebb and flow, no opportunity for the audience to catch its breath, and most importantly, no gradual build toward an emotional pinnacle. Instead, it feels like you're stuck in the middle of an intense eleven-o'clock number for practically the entire evening. When everything is played at a ten, nothing really lands at a ten. This show desperately needs to be cut down, not just in runtime but potentially in the number of characters and subplots as well. Not every idea or song needs to make it onto the stage. Sometimes less really is more in storytelling, especially when you're dealing with material this emotionally demanding.
And that's what makes this frustrating, because the bones of something genuinely compelling are here. The cast is terrific, the choreography has some beautiful moments, and there are interesting ideas worth exploring. But the show desperately needs a stronger creative vision, substantial rewrites, and someone willing to make difficult editorial decisions.
My concern is that Todrick seems so eager to bring this to Broadway and post only the glowing sound bites that he's missing the real chatter about the show from the theater community, as well as theatergoers who have seen it. He may be overlooking the very work necessary to make it successful. I hope he's surrounding himself with people who are willing to give him honest feedback, and more importantly, that he's willing to hear it. He could benefit from bringing on a very good dramaturg who can help cut it down and clean up the story.
Broadway should be the destination after the work is done, not the place where you figure out what the show is supposed to be. That's why so many shows drop out and close prematurely.
There is potential here, absolutely. But in its current form, Midnight is NOT ready for Broadway. Rushing it could turn a promising project into an expensive and entirely avoidable flop.
I'm curious what others who have seen it think. Did you feel the same disconnect between the two acts, or did the story work better for you?
