When it started pouring rain as a line down the block full of Moz fans awaited the opening of Morrissey’s seven-show Broadway mini-residency on Thursday night, it only heightened the mopiness of the moment.
At this instant, the Lunt-Fontaine Theatre — which had most recently been the home of “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical” before it closed last December — was about to welcome another pop icon. But this decidedly more downtown crowd — with more black eyeliner and Trash and Vaudeville-style clothing than we’re used to seeing in the vicinity of Times Square — was not the Bruce Springsteen set who paid big bucks to seem him in his one-man show. This was more punk, more East Village/Lower East Side than that.
And when you finally escaped from the rain and got inside, it was as if the theater had been transformed into Bowery Ballroom or Webster Hall. From the drink specials that were named after Morrissey — including the “Hairdresser Dresser on Fireball,” named after his early solo hit “Hairdresser on Fire” — to the no-seat-assignments-enforced vibe with ushers letting you roam freely, it was clear that this wasn’t going to be your typical Broadway experience.
After a video of David Bowie singing “Rebel Rebel” played on the screen, Morrissey hit the stage precisely at 8:38 p.m. — as had been detailed beforehand — to do a little bit of the Smiths classic “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out” before launching into a full rendition of “That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore.”
With Morrisey’s laconic, lyrical baritone ringing through the theater, it was as if he was fulfilling a choirboy’s childhood dream to sing on Broadway as he approaches his 60th birthday on May 22.
“I’m very, very pleased to be here. For many, many obvious reasons,” said a dapper, black-suited Morrissey before going into “Hairdresser on Fire.” Working with a four-piece band, he made no pretense about this being anything other than a full-blown rock-and-roll concert.
Other early highlights included the Smiths classics “Is It Really So Strange?” — as a younger, James Dean-esque Morrissey was projected on the video screen behind him — and their most famous song, “How Soon Is Now?,” which sent vibrations through the audience with its signature reverb.
But after such a mope-resistant start to the 90-minute show, it hit a bit of a lull with Morrissey digging into less familiar solo material and covers such as the Pretenders’ “Back on the Chain Gang.” (Which, released in 1982, is not on “California Sun,” his album of ’60s and ’70s covers, out May 24.) Still, he brought it all back home toward the end with one of his greatest solo songs, “Everyday Is Like Sunday,” which, befitting of the setting, ratcheted up the melodrama with an extended keyboard intro.
On the last song of his encore, “Let Me Me Kiss You,” Morrissey — singing about smooching “someone you physically despise” in his self-deprecating fashion — exposed his going-on-granddad bod by taking off his shirt. The faithful crowd went wild, while others might have cringed. It was a moment only Morrissey could have experienced on Broadway.
