As musical subjects go, Anna Edson Taylor’s hardly the Unsinkable Molly Brown. In 1901, the real-life heroine of Michael John LaChiusa’s new show went over Niagara Falls in a barrel at age 63 and lived to tell about it before lapsing back into obscurity.
The Transport Group’s “Queen of the Mist” follows a similar trajectory. Highly ambitious and deadly serious, it never emerges as more than an intriguing curiosity. While the subject matter seems to demand quirky humor, LaChiusa — the critically acclaimed composer of “Marie Christine,” “The Wild Party” and “Hello Again”– aims mostly for a sort of poetic meditation on identity.
“There is greatness in me,” proclaims the strong-willed Taylor (Mary Testa), even if no one else believes her. She decides that her path to fame and fortune is to be the first woman to shoot the falls.
Set in the uncomfortable confines of the Gym at Judson Church — which worked fine for the Transport Company’s basketball musical “Lysistrata Jones” — the show’s first half is reasonably entertaining, thanks to Jack Cummings III’s consistently inventive direction. In a sly nod to Stephen Sondheim’s “Assassins,” it even includes an amusing cameo by William McKinley’s killer, Leon Czolgosz (Tally Sessions).
But things seriously drag after intermission. It seems Taylor, despite her fantastic feat, was a “humorless bore,” something LaChiusa depicts all too realistically. “Must it take so long?” she complains from her deathbed — a sentiment sure to be shared by the audience.
The score, influenced by songs of the period but also featuring the composer’s trademark semi-operatic style, has moments of loveliness. Testa, a theatrical force of nature (“Xanadu”) delivers an intense, stirring turn as Taylor, and Andrew Samonsky is a standout as her alcoholic manager.
Turns out, it took only seconds to shoot the falls. Pity it took LaChiusa 2 1/2 lugubrious hours to relate this insignificant story.