Storyline: Mother and daughter from Winston-Salem are on vacation in Italy
in 1953 when the daughter's hat is blown off in the wind only to be caught
by a charming young Italian boy. Love ensues, to the consternation of the
over-protective mother who carries the burden of guilt of an accident in the
girl's childhood that left her slightly mentally challenged. As the daughter
learns what love is, so does the mother.
The score is by Adam Guettel. He is so often
identified as Richard Rodgers' grandson and Mary Rodgers' son that you might
think his credentials are familial rather than personal. Don't believe it!
His is a talent facilitated by skill earned in study and honed on impressive
earlier works including the country-sound infused score for Floyd Collins
and the jazz toned Myths and Hymns - neither of which really sounds like
country music or jazz but both of which sound like the product of the same
musical brain. Here that brain is working in a classically arioso frame that
some will even find a bit operatic, but it is the same facility of structure
and long-lined melodic inventiveness that mark the work. His lyrics are
marvels of mixture using Italian when the local characters talk among
themselves, English for the Americans and a halting, evolving mixture as
they learn to communicate with each other. The effort of the Italian boy to find the
words to express his feelings to the daughter include struggles like "Now is
I am happiness. Never I am unhappiness. Now is I am happiness with you."
That is just lovely, especially as set to Guettel's score. Many who think of show
music as Fiddler on the Roof or even Hello, Dolly may find the
near-operatic feel of some of the score a bit off-putting, but those who want
more than a rousing 32 bar AABA song and who appreciate vocal purity will
thrill to this score.
Craig Lucas' book is based on a novella
published in The New Yorker in 1960 which was made into a movie starring
Olivia de Havilland in 1962. The appeal of his book is that he makes the
right choices both in the clarity of the storytelling and in the selection
of elements to be told in song as opposed to text. He leaves just the right
emotional moments in Guettel's oh-so-capable hands while moving the story
forward with important information revealed in proper order and at proper
times. The audience gets caught up in the romance of it all and comes
to care not just about the young couple falling in love - it is always easy
to get audiences to care about young lovers - but about the mother, the
boy's parents and even his siblings. Of course, it helps that Victoria Clark
gives a performance that not only received but deserved the Tony as the
mother, that Kelli O'Hara is a marvel as the daughter and the rest of the
cast is wonderful as well. Now, with cast replacements for the extended run,
Aaron Lazar is a charming young man for the daughter and Chris Sarandon is
very good as his father.
The visual impact of the set is your first
clue of the magic to come. It is visible as you enter the
amphitheater-shaped Vivian Beaumont Theatre because the semi-circular thrust
stage isn't cloaked by a curtain, but rather, shaded in shadows. As the show
begins, Michael Yeargan's lovely piazza begins to glow under Christopher
Akerlind's equally lovely lighting. The warmth, beauty and charm of the
setting, augmented by Catherine Zuber's equally lovely pastel costumes,
continues throughout the evening, building in intensity along with the
progress of the loves involved in the story, and darkening as difficulties
are presented. That description matches both the score and the book as well,
which accounts for why, if you fall under this show's spell, you are in for
a memorable experience.
Music and lyrics by Adam Guettel. Book by
Craig Lucas based on the novel by Elizabeth Spencer. Directed by Bartlett
Sher. Musical staging by Jonathan Butterell. Musical direction by Ted
Sperling. Conducted by Kimberly Grigsby. Orchestrations by Ted Sperling and
Adam Guettel with additional orchestrations by Bruce Coughlin. Design:
Michael Yeargan (set) Catherine Zuber (costumes) Christopher Akerlind
(lights) ACME Sound Partners (sound) James McMullan (logo artwork) Peter
Wolf (stage manager). Principal cast: Michael Berresse, Sarah Uriarte Berry,
Victoria Clark, Patti Cohenour, Beau Gravitte, Felicity LaFortune, Aaron
Lazar, Kelli O'Hara, Chris Sarandon, Joseph Siravo. |
