‘Wanted’ Review: Gunslinging Sisters Take Broadway By Storm in Powerful Musical

It’s a tantalizing story, the myth of the American West: a lawless land where men – armed with gunpowder and determination – shape civilization against a backdrop of so-called savagery. It’s familiar. It’s romantic. And, in Research it is set aside so that an exhilarating legend can take its place: two sisters armed with guns, gunpowder and generations of pent-up rage.

Research — which opened tonight at Broadway’s James Earl Jones Theater — offers a bold reframing of familiar tropes, buoyed by powerful performances and Ross Baum’s anthem-driven score, part western, part pop, soul and gospel. The excitement of the story ebbs and flows, but when it hits its stride, the new musical pleases audiences as confident as the outlaw sisters it follows.

It’s no surprise to learn that the story of gunslinging sisters Mary (Solea Pfeiffer) and Martha Clarke (Liisi LaFontaine) has been brewing in writer Angelica Chéri’s head for years – and in her bloodline for generations. Based with love on Chéri’s family history, Research takes audiences to the postwar South, where black Americans gained freedom in name only, as they are harshly and repeatedly reminded.

It’s Texas, 1893: Tallulah Clarke (Ledisi) is a sharecropper finally ready to own something of her own, after saving enough money to buy the land where she and her daughters injured their hands picking cotton for decades. But their success is quickly hampered when the landowner, who profits from their work, overwhelms them with impossible debts.

However, her cruelty comes with a boon: she teaches Chéri’s great-great aunts that if society does not change, they will have to adapt to the status quo. And it leads them to consider a dangerous question: How might their lives change if they took their darkness out of the equation?

Equipped with only one pistol for protection, the Clarke sisters enter the world posing as white women, intending to make money quickly and legally. But they soon discover that the quickest way to pocket money is to point the gun and take it. This is how their adventure truly begins.

They are supported on this journey by a sort of Greek choir – their Kinfolk – who intervene to guide the audience through the show with humor, respect and some very impressive vocal passages. As well as being a fascinating take on the role of oral tradition, the Kinfolk are a striking reminder that the Clarke sisters cannot easily leave their history behind.

This is essential because, in truth, the shootings are only a fraction of the story being told. The musical’s title – and certainly its marketing – gives the impression of a harrowing adventure featuring two outlaw sisters heading headlong into danger. But the reality is a little more concrete and much more sincere.

For one glorious number, “Gun & Powder,” we watch them swindle and smirk across the countryside. Just when the music is soaring, the blood is pumping, and it looks like they might rob a bank or rob a train, they instead stop at a saloon owned by Jesse Whitewater (Bradley Jaden), an outlaw with a resume even more dangerous (and lucrative) than their own.

There, Research reveals that its true intention is not to trace the actions of two wanted criminals, but rather to delve into what these sisters want from the world…and what they will give up to understand it. Admittedly, it’s somewhat disappointing to realize that the majority of the series will take place in the saloon, where the sisters will diverge, swept up in separate love stories. But it’s hard not to give in when Research reveals his soul.

Soul is something the Clarke sisters have in spades. LaFontaine’s Martha wears her outrage on her sleeve, ready to bare her teeth to the world in the name of protecting her family. Yet it is Pfeiffer’s cautious Mary who is at the emotional center of the series. His desire to be seen as a whole person becomes the heart of the story being told, and Research does not shrink from the darkness of these impulses nor the humanity of his despair.

Mary also carries the more compelling of the two novels, as her budding relationship grapples with the intrigue of her prickly desires, misplaced in a man seeking to possess what money cannot buy. The other involves Martha and Elijah (Luke James), a former slave who is looking for a reason to finally push back and take more than the scraps he was given. Despite James’ best efforts, his easy charisma and the arresting warmth of his voice can’t make up for the undercooked relationship, which doesn’t stand a chance against the bond shared by the two sisters.

However imperfect it may be, Research has a winning quality that consistently stands out. It’s that sense of pride, always evident in every aspect of the production: it’s infused in the music and explodes in the performances, from the gravitas Ledisi exerts to the vulnerability etched into every Pfeiffer run.

Every song, every scene seems designed to make the cast shine. Although Awa Sal Secka and Aurelia Williams often don’t have much to do as Flo and Sissy, the recently freed handmaids who discover the Clarke sisters’ ruse, they make the most of every second on stage to wild effect. And the Kinfolk, who under normal circumstances might tell the story with their explanatory duties, are always a delight: the depth of talent among their ranks makes every moment worth savoring. Fortunately, the book gives them more to do than just recount plot developments, as they serve as ghosts from the past, best used when Mary plays with the breakdown of her family ties in a haunting act sequence.

Research is the kind of show happy to let its company members belt out, just for the fun of it. He is determined to celebrate and brandish talents on stage, wielding them for pleasure and pride. Not only does everyone keep their promises, but they have a hell of a time doing it. It’s not a typical western, but it’s still a nifty adventure. And like these outlaw sisters, even at their lowest, Research worth encouraging. Grade: B+