I think we can agree that anything can be turned into a musical, but you start with two strikes against you when you endeavor to adapt material as mean-spirited and misogynistic as Dogfight.
That was the task undertaken by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, a pair of young composer-lyricists whose Broadway debut show, A Christmas Story, looks geared to be revived annually at holiday time. Dogfight, on the other hand, will be seen far less frequently unless there are more adventuresome companies like Slow Burn Theatre.
Like an old-world watchmaker, artistic director Patrick Fitzwater likes to take musicals apart and put them together again to see what makes them tick. Dogfight had a critically admired, but brief run off-Broadway in 2012, enough to gain Fitzpatrick’s attention.
Based on a small, independent film from 14 years back, Dogfight centers on three newly enlisted Marines who throw themselves a going-away party just before they ship off for Vietnam. The party ends with a winner-take-all wager for the ugliest date, a cruel joke on the unsuspecting women the guys bring with them.
Eddie Birdlace (Alexander Zenoz) is one of three tight-knit recruits — along with Bernstein and Boland — that call themselves The Three Bs. Although more sensitive than his buddies, Eddie recognizes a potential dogfight winner when he meets shy, socially awkward Rose Fenny (Hannah Benitez) working at her mother’s diner.
The first act culminates in the party, but it is in the more problematic second act, where their feelings grow into love, that the musical’s credibility evaporates. Rose may never have received much attention from a guy, but she is smart, smarter than to fall for Eddie, who has a lot of growing up to do.
But even if you do not buy their relationship — and I didn’t — you can at least appreciate the songwriting skills of Pasek and Paul, as well as the talented cast at Slow Burn.
The appealing score ranges from a 1960s pop sound to ersatz Sondheim, with lyrics that brim with emotion. Notable is the catchy duet for Eddie and Rose, “First Date/Last Night,” with its bouncy, often-repeated verse. The title tune, also a duet, is a more driving, plaintive number shared by Rose and Marcy (Alexa Baray), a hooker who joins the dogfight for a cut of the prize money.
Benitez is another inspired discovery by Fitzwater. She projects great vulnerability but, when called for, she can belt out a song with power to spare. Zenoz, seen previously in Pasek and Paul’s song cycle, Edges, at Slow Burn, also impresses vocally, even if he cannot muster much sympathy for Eddie.
Ultimately, Dogfight is a musical exploration of the nature of ugliness. While Rose is hardly conventionally pretty, she has a radiant inner beauty. Eddie is handsome enough, but his words and actions are unappealing and unattractive. Slow Burn invests a lot of good work and strong performances in the material, but the production never digs out of the show’s foxhole of hatred.
DOGFIGHT, Broward Center’s Abdo New River Room, 201 SW Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale. Through Sunday. $45. 954-462-0222. Followed by an engagement at Aventura Arts and Culture Center, 3385 NE 188th St., Aventura. Dec. 3- 6. $40-$45. 877-311-7469.