Lyrics by Lee – A Celebration of Broadway Lyricist Lee Adams/
The Emily Dickinson Suite–A Chamber Recital in Words and Music
Cabaret artists Steve Ross and Maximilian St. James presented a wonderful evening of the lyrics of Lee Adams. The good news is that lyrics are a great thing to be celebrated. The bad news is that their presentation is linked to composers and performers. The composer for all was Charles Strouse, who made a (late) appearance. The performers were a mixed bag. Lyrics from:
A Broadway Musical (1978)
Applause (1970)
Bye, Bye Birdie (1963)
All American (1962)
I and Albert (1972)
It’s a Bird … It’s a Plane … It’s Superman (1966)
Golden Boy (1964)
Marty (2002; unproduced on Broadway)
Interspersed with musical numbers, there were readings from tribute letters, from (big breath) Chita Rivera, Anita Gillette, Tony Bennett, Hal Prince, Sheldon Harnick, Donald Pippin, and Charles Strouse (who later spoke, in person).
The music (and hence lyrics) was mostly great. I enjoyed hearing cabaret artists like Marilyn Sokol and Penny Fuller, and Mr. Ross was the consummate accompanist/partner. Len Cariou was effective, if not in fine voice. I’m sad to report that Carleton Carpenter did a disservice to “Kids” from Bye, Bye Birdie. Maybe it’s a built-in problem? I did a production with a well-known comedic actor as Mr. McAfee, and he had problems, too.
Still, the lyrics (and music) shone. After Mr. Strouse spoke, he was goaded into sitting at the keyboard and playing the theme to All in the Family—“Gee, our old LaSalle ran great!” Those were the days. Most of the kids in the audience were clueless.
Emily Dickinson was a different kettle of fish. This is at least the second Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts tribute to Miss Dickinson that I’ve seen.
The performers included Alison Looman, actress; Elmira Darvarova, violin; Mélanie Genin, harp; John Sorensen, director (for Emily Dickinson: Portrait of a Poet; Robert Herridge, script; Tom Scott, music); Ms. Darvarova, violin; Na Sun, violin; Ronald Carbone, viola; Samuel Magill, cello (for Three Pieces After Emily Dickinson; Mary Howe); Nicole Brancato (piano); Sarah Dutcher (piano); Jai Jeffries (piano) (for What of That; George Boziwick); and Katharine Whyte (soprano) with Matthew Odell (piano) (for 12 Poems of Emily Dickinson; Aaron Copland).
Well, lots of stuff happening, so I’ll just hit the highlights. The violin/harp interludes between the spoken words in the first piece were my favorite parts. They ranged from introductory interludes to dance-like, mournful, slightly modern (surreal and short), again dance-like, music-box theme, dramatic and fuller, slightly subdued, to slightly dark yet with a touch of hope. They were interspersed with introductions (by the director) and snippets of poetry by the actress. Relatively effective, but as I said, the music spoke more to me than the texts.
What of That was … just bizarre. Set for piano, six hands (I’ve never seen that before), the pianists also intoned the poem (sometimes unintelligibly) as they were playing the piece. Per the composer’s introduction, the three players represented Doubt, Certainty, and Belief. It didn’t ring true to me. And the bang-bang-bang rhythm signifying What. Of. That. was overkill.
Copland’s 12-song cycle was nicely performed. Ms. Whyte’s English diction was a big plus, and she handled Copland’s sometimes awkward vocal writing as best she could. It was interesting to hear a bit of redux from the poetry that was used in Portrait of a Poet, at the beginning of the afternoon. Definitely a learning experience. There’s a lot of stuff out there, folks.
ConcertMeister
No comments:
Post a Comment