Faith Prince, Carmen Cusack and Christine Sherrill

Of course, if you know the story of this musical, based on the 1996 feature film starring Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn, and Diane Keaton, you'll be prepared for a musical that takes shots at men. Based on a novel by Olivia Goldsmith and that feature film version, it concerns three middle-aged women who've been dumped by their husbands for much younger women and plot to take revenge on their exes. Knowing that the primary audience for theater is middle-aged women, it seems like a savvy marketing decision to base a musical on this material, but if musicals that seem to have been inspired by marketing considerations rather than a writer's desire to say something arouse your suspicions, your fears will be confirmed at this show.

This is not to say that the individual elements aren't pretty good. The book is by Linda Bloodworth Thomason, who has a way with one-liners that she displayed as creator of the long running sitcom "Designing Women." The songs are by Motown greats Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie Holland, and they're quite decent pop numbers. Most are original, though there are some brief inclusions of such Holland-Dozier-Holland classics as "Stop in the Name of Love," "Reach Out," and "Can't Help Myself." Though the new songs tread the familiar ground of jilted lovers' laments and aspirational power ballads, the trio creates a few good comedy numbers as well.

The actresses who step into the roles of iconic film comediennes Midler, Keaton, and Hawn are most impressive—evocative of their predecessors without being imitative, and all are tremendously winning musical theater performers. Broadway theatergoers know Faith Prince the best, and she's perfect for the Midler role as the earthy and brassy Jewish-Italian Brenda. Her costars may be better known by Chicago audiences than by New York fans. Christine Sherrill, who recently impressed local audiences as Norma Desmond in Drury Lane's Sunset Boulevard, has the Hawn role as Elise. Sherrill gives Elise (here a recording artist rather than an actress as in the film) all the egotism and shallowness of spoiled celebrity. Carmen Cusack, who was acclaimed for her role as Dot in Chicago Shakespeare's Sunday in the Park with George, is sweet and affecting as the insecure Annie, the role played on screen by Keaton. Also successful are Gregg Edelman, Mike McGowan, and Sean Murphy Cullen as the wayward husbands. Patrick Richwood has no fear in embracing stereotype as the best-friend gay hairdresser played in the movie by Bronson Pinchot.

First Wives Club was first done as a musical in 2009, at the Old Globe in San Diego, with a book by Rupert Holmes and directed by Francesca Zambello. Simon Phillips has taken over the reins as director, and though the performances are strong, the piece never gels as a musical and there's no apparent reason for it to be one. There are long stretches of book scenes that don't take the characters to the point where they need to sing, Bloodworth Thomason's quips would be much more effective on the small screen, and in fact much of the production just feels small by Broadway standards. Gabriela Tylesova's costumes fun, but her sets are fairly simple and a little cheap looking. With just the three leading women on stage much of the time, and just a few production numbers (choreographed by David Connolly) performed by the full ensemble, the piece just doesn't land in the 2,200-seat Oriental Theatre. If there's a place for this show on Broadway, it might best fit in one of the smaller (less than 1,000) theatres. Wherever it goes, though, audiences would be well advised to wear protective headgears and goggles.

First Wives Club will play the Oriental Theatre, (24 W. Randolph St.) through March 29, 2015. For ticket information visit www.broadwayinchicago.com or call 800-775-2000.

Photo: Courtesy of Broadway in Chicago

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-- John Olson