Tag: Rob Berman

“Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” – Encores! Cast Recording

 

My jaw dropped when I started playing the new cast album of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. I know the Jule Styne-Leo Robin score fairly well, and have heard every recording there is (including the revised Lorelei). However, I was not prepared for the wall of glorious sound that came at me. It was like hearing the score for the first time – the detail in the Don Walker orchestrations during the overture, with its jazzy homage to the 1920s. This new recording of the acclaimed Encores! concert (courtesy of Masterworks Broadway) is an eargasm from start to finish, and manages to do something that many recent revival recordings have failed to do: capture the essence of what made the show such a hit onstage.

Megan Hilty is on the fast track to major musical theatre stardom. One of the reasons I stopped watching Smash is that I knew they were setting up her character to fail as Marilyn, which made absolutely no sense to me. While evoking Marilyn, she was her own gorgeous, sexy creation as Lorelei, bring the laughs to “A Little Girl from Little Rock” and providing the audience with a bona fide showstopper in “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.” (The night I saw the show, she scored so big with this number that the audience revived its ovation on her entrance into the next scene). Also, the girl can friggin’ sing…

She is almost outdone by the delectable Rachel York, who as Dorothy Shaw leads the biggest production numbers and does so with a joy that was evident from the balcony of the City Center. Her joy is present here on disc; as York tears into “I Love What I’m Doing” and “It’s High Time” you can practically feel her smiling as she sings.

Aaron Lazar sings the ballads beautifully, Stephen Buntrock is delightfully absurd and in exceptional voice in his ridiculous paean to exercise and the benefits of fiber. Clarke Thorell croons Gus Esmond’s number with great ease. Simon Jones and Deborah Rush are also on hand and lend amiable support. The entire ensemble sings well, especially those who were assigned Hugh Martin’s intricate vocal arrangements. The result is just astounding. The first time the ensemble broke into the “Bye Bye Baby harmonies – both at City Center and in my living room – I got full body chills.

Under the baton of Rob Berman (who also co-produced the album) Don Walker’s orchestrations really shine forth. For the first time, the complete original stage score is preserved with all the encores, first and second act finales, dance breaks, and even that insanely catchy “Button Up with Esmond” jingle (the latter was previously only available on the original London cast album which has never been on CD). Of special note is the ten minute “Paris” sequence. It’s superfluous to the book, but quite attractive to hear. The album itself is packaged beautifully with many photographs, synopsis, essays and the complete lyrics.

Finally, I want to send a huge thank you to Margaret Styne, Jule Styne’s widow, who was instrumental in making sure this recording happened.

“Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”

blondes

For its third and final entry of the year, Encores! lightened things up considerably with a delightful production of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, the 1949 classic that made Carol Channing a star (and whose 1953 film adaptation featured some gal named Marilyn). The musical, with a highly entertaining score by Jule Styne and Leo Robin, is a 40s spoof of the 20s and is rather a flimsy affair. Everything will work out for our heroine Lorelei Lee and her pal Dorothy Shaw as they look for love. It just takes a meandering book (by Joseph Fields and Anita Loos) and a lot of specialty filler to get there. Said specialties are a delight, and it was wonderful to see a Golden Age musical staged with separate singing and dancing ensembles. This Encores production, nimbly directed by John Rando (with David Ives again doing the concert adaptation), was bright and breezy fun, but it also showed that the show as a whole doesn’t quite hold up so well.

Megan Hilty is a musical comedy dream. Her funny and sexy performance as Lorelei was captivating; whenever she was on stage you just had to look at her. Blessed with immense beauty and voice for days, Ms. Hilty took Lorelei’s two big solos (and their encores) and turned them into the evening’s high points (I still can see and hear her blissful delivery of the repeated line “The one who done me wrong” from “A Little Girl from Little Rock”). After the second encore of “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend,” the audience went into sheer euphoria, with thunderous applause and cheering that only increased with intensity and volume on Ms. Hilty’s entrance in the next scene. Whenever Lorelei isn’t center stage, the show isn’t as infectious, but fortunately the stellar supporting cast more than made up for that.

Rachel York brought considerable joy and sass as Dorothy, leading various production numbers including “It’s High Time,” the racy “I Love What I’m Doing” and the Charleston fueled eleven o’clock number “Keeping Cool with Coolidge.” Aaron Lazar was virtually unrecognizable as her nerdy Philadelphia stuff-shirt love interest (who gets the show’s few romantic ballads). Stephen Buntrock appeared as a fitness-crazed entrepeneur whose number is an unlikely tribute to fiber. A triumvirate from the recent revival of Blithe Spirit, Simon Jones, Deborah Rush and Sandra Shipley (Rush’s understudy), were on hand as the older generation bringing some expected laughs.

Randy Skinner, who provided the spirited choreography for the Encores! No, No, Nanette four years ago, once again showed he is one of the best with clever, creative and crowd-pleasing work that showed form and integrity. Unlike recent Golden Age revivals on Broadway, Skinner’s work never reeks of the “everything-but-the-kitchen-sink” desperation that make up what is purported to be a showstopper. The dance highlight was a tap speciality to “Mamie is Mimi,” at the top of the second, originally conceived for Atkins and Coles (Atkins would go on to win the 1989 Tony for Best Choreography for Black & Blue, Coles won Best Featured Actor in a Musical for My One and Only in 1983). Phillip Attmore and Jared Grimes brought down the house, along with Megan Sikora, in a tremendously dazzling display.

Don Walker’s orchestrations were fantastic, as were Trude Rittmann’s dance arrangements (lots of music that has never been recorded before). However, the evening really belonged to Hugh Martin. Mr. Martin, who basically created vocal arranging on Broadway, including the famous “Sing for Your Supper” trio in The Boys from Syracuse, created elaborate tight-knit vocal harmonies which were given impeccable musicianship by the singing ensemble.

With a book this flimsy, a Broadway transfer is not a particularly good idea and Encores! was the perfect venue. However, there is good news: a cast recording will be made. On the heels of PS Classics recording Merrily We Roll Along, and the Ghostlight’s live recording of Pipe Dream, this will mark the first time an entire Encores! season has been recorded since 1999.

“Merrily We Roll Along” @ Encores!

In 1981, Merrily We Roll Along opened and closed quickly, a devastating failure that became one for the record books. The day after it shuttered, the cast and crew assembled in the recording studio laying down a cracker jack original cast album that has created a generation of ardent fans of the show and score. In 1985, Stephen Sondheim revisited the show with his new collaborator James Lapine, who subsequently revised George Furth’s book, creating a new version of the show that was to fix the problems with the original. As a result some songs have been dropped, some reshuffled and the narrative brought into better focus, musically.

This resulting revision was what the City Center Encores! performed for its first show in the 2012 season (Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Pipe Dream and Jule Styne and Leo Robin’s Gentlemen Prefer Blondes are still to come), giving New Yorkers a rare glimpse into this greatly loved, greatly flawed gem that has, unlike the messy but fun Anyone Can Whistle, proven to be a somewhat workable musical. For one thing, Sondheim’s score, which features  “Old Friends,” “Good Thing Going,” and “Opening Doors,” is just spectacular, and is one of the best ever composed for a failed show.

It’s the book, loosely based on a Kaufman and Hart play of the same title, which moves backwards in time that lends itself to the most criticism. The musical starts in 1976 and works its way back to 1957 (originally 1955, more on that later), with vignettes filling in the narrative gaps established in the tense opening scene. One of the reasons the show is so fascinating is that the plot hinges almost entirely on dramatic irony for context, taking us from the cynical, jaded and embittered former friends to the young, idealists who met on a NYC rooftop the night of Sputnik. The narrative doesn’t quite satisfy, as it feels like a morality play without a clear moral. But what Sondheim and Furth (and Lapine by extension) created feels like a fascinating experiment in form and structure, and while it doesn’t quite all gel as I’d like it, I’m so glad they created it. (If the narrative unfolded traditionally, it would be insufferable).

The cast is absolutely superb. Colin Donnell brings leading man charisma, good looks and voice to Franklin Shepherd, the ambitious composer turned film producer. Lin-Manuel Miranda is captivating as his best friend, collaborator and conscience Charley Kringas, who delivers one of the score’s most fascinating numbers, “Franklin Shepherd, Inc.” which was an electrifying showstopper in Miranda’s hands. Rounding out the trip of friends is Celia Keenan-Bolger, whose incisive interpretation of Mary Flynn, the alcoholic writer with a torch for Frank, is a knock-out. Ms. Keenan-Bolger is at all times devastating and hilarious, dropping one liners with great humor and unyielding depth.

As Frank’s wives, Betsy Wolfe and Elizabeth Stanley are also quite impressive. Stanley, in particular, is an sensation as Gussie Carnegie, the secretary turned Broadway chorus girl turned star turned has-been (in reverse order). Wolfe has a less flashy role, but sings beautifully and makes an incredible impression with the score’s most famous number, “Not a Day Goes By.” Adam Grupper makes a great impression as the producer.

Lapine directed the production, creating a clear and polished staging that works quite well and smoothens some of the rougher edges of the book, though I could have lived without the projections. I doubt we’ll see a better Merrily for quite some time. I do wish that Lapine and Sondheim would go back and take another look at that final scene. The show ends with the stirring “Our Time,” but the lead-in dialogue is unsatisfying and the stakes not yet at a level to warrant the stirring anthem which closes the show. Originally the trio had known each other in high school, but now they meet in this rooftop scene. Now after some perfunctory dialogue, the writers have thrust these characters into an intimacy that is premature, ultimately stunting the emotional potential of the scene.

Another reason to rejoice: Jonathan Tunick was brought in to work on the orchestrations, combining his originals with the score’s revisions for the first time, created what is probably the definitive reading of the score. I only hope someone considers a cast album of this production, as we’re not likely to have it better any time soon.

On the Town: The January Edition

I was just thinking to myself that I couldn’t believe January is over already before my thought process segued to me wondering when I turned into my parents. But we’re already a month into 2012 and so much has been going on.

Today, incidentally, is Carol Channing’s 91st birthday. I was lucky enough to attend a preview screening of the new documentary Carol Channing: Larger than Life this summer at Tavern on the Green with SarahB, and was fortunate to receive an invite to a press screening this month. Dori Berinstein’s new film is a love letter to the Tony-winning star most famous for her roles as Lorelei Lee and Dolly Levi. Running 87 minutes, the film focuses on Carol’s extraordinary discipline and professionalism, her current project to get arts back into public schools and her  late-in-life reunion with middle school sweetheart Harry Kullijian, Channing’s third husband.

The film is highly entertaining, featuring clips from her various TV and stage appearances, with that larger than life persona out on full display. Her dedication to her career, the commitment to her public persona has endeared her to audiences for 60 years, so it was interesting to hear others talk about her, including JoAnn Worley, Lily Tomlin, Barbara Walters and Tyne Daly (to name a few). Amid the laughs, the film hints at the difficulties in her life, most notably her battle with ovarian cancer, but doesn’t delve as deep as one would hope. Still, for fans, this is  a must-see with many laughs along the way. The scenes revolving around Carol and Harry’s reunion have taken on a deeper poignancy, since Harry’s death last month and are quite moving as a result.

Celebrating under-appreciated musicals is something I do well, and enjoy engaging in conversations with other like-minded individuals through Twitter and Facebook. One of the most notable is Jennifer Ashley Tepper, who’s the Director of Promotions for Davenport Theatricals. But when she’s not at her day job, Jen is working on a variety of other projects, but none I think is as near and dear to her as If It Only Even Runs a Minute, a concert series she and collaborator Kevin Michael Murphy have been hosting for the last two years. The duo bring together a group of wonderful singers (sometimes original cast members) and offer a musical theatre history lesson, focusing on musicals that either flopped or have been forgotten with time. With each installment, the show has only grown and is fast becoming a must-see event.

This eighth installment took place in Joe’s Pub (my first time there, btw) and featured songs from shows as diverse as Lady in the Dark, Doonesbury and Bring Back Birdie. It was great to hear “Bernadette” from The Capeman (sung by Jared Weiss) and the manic “Dressing Room Shuffle” from I Sing! (sung by George Salazar and Julia Mattison), shows I confess I am not all that familiar with. Claybourne Elder reminded us that his was the best song in Road Show, with a lovely rendition of “The Best Thing That Ever Has Happened.” Alli Mauzey told hilarious stories  about Cry-Baby and sang her hilarious number, “Screw Loose,” proof that all shows regardless of success or failure should be recorded. Murphy and Lucy Horton sang the spirited “Fireworks” from Do Re Mi, which begat the “shouting the title” trend that became a fun running gag. While I can’t be there to join in on the 9th installment on March 26, as I’ll be in London, I plan to be back for number 10.  (And Jen, you are not allowed to do 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue without me).

I also dropped by the City Center for their Encores! Kick-off event which featured a panel discussion led by artistic director Jack Viertel. James Lapine, Marc Bruni and Rob Berman were on hand to talk about the three shows in this season’s line-up (Merrily We Roll Along, Pipe Dream and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes). Much of the discussion revolved around the history of Merrily, and how it’s evolved since its disastrous debut on Broadway in 1981. Viertel mentioned that Encores! honors the wishes of living writers in how they present these shows, which is why Merrily will be seen in its La Jolla revision (with Jonathan Tunick reorchestrating the revisions to match his original charts).

Bruni talked about the challenges of bringing Pipe Dream, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s biggest flop (246 performances) to the stage today. Based on John Steinbeck’s Sweet Thursday, the novel is about bums and prostitutes living on Cannery Row. However, Hammerstein’s libretto glossed over the grittier edges of Steinbeck’s work, much to the author’s displeasure. Another reason for the show’s difficulty was in its star casting. Originally, R&H wanted Henry Fonda for their lead, but after months of coaching realized he could not sing. They went another route, in star casting the role of Fauna, a madam, with Wagnerian opera star Helen Traubel. The role was originally envisioned to be belted, but with Traubel they took the songs up to more operatic levels. The most interesting facet of the conversation (for me anyhow) was that they were considering taking the keys down for whomever takes on Fauna. (I do have a question for anyone who might know: When Nancy Andrews replaced Traubel, did they lower the Fauna keys for her?)

Berman talked about the music for all three shows (he is conducting all of them), but focused specifically on Blondes, especially paying homage to Hugh Martin’s brilliant vocal arranging, which are some of the tightest in musical theatre. There was no word, though, on who was going to be cast as Lorelei.

Last but not least, the acclaimed revival of Follies played its final performance at the Marquis Theatre, making way for the upcoming revival of Evita. I was at the last show, along with many friends, but in spite of that wonderful last show, I find myself thinking back to two earlier viewings of the show. Both memories revolve around Carlotta. The first was in October, when I went with my friend Kevin, and in the middle of I’m Still Here realizes he is watching the First Lady of the British Musical and leans over declaring excitedly, “Oh my God, that’s Elaine Paige!” The second memory was in November, when I went to see the show with Roxie and Russ Dembin. Another wonderful performance, but Ms. Paige was in Korea for the week and Florence Lacey was on. One of the beautiful things about this production is that understudies were allowed to create their own characters, complete with their own unique costumes. Ms. Lacey was wonderful, and sang a thrilling rendition of “I’m Still Here.”