Theater Review: Musical Shavings in "A Minister's Wife"

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Reviews

Published on Wednesday, 11 May 2011 05:00

Written by Kevin Filipski

A Minister’s Wife
Conceived and Directed by Michael Halberstam
Based on Candida by George Bernard Shaw
Adapted by Austin Pendleton
Lyrics by Jan Levy Tranen
Music by Joshua Schmidt
Starring Liz Baltes, Kate Fry, Drew Gehling, Marc Kudisch, Bobby Steggert

There is already a classic musical based on a George Bernard Shaw play: My Fair Lady, of course, from Pygmalion. But can lightning strike twice?

Judging by A Minister’s Wife, the answer is no. Despite a talented pedigree, this frustratingly bland chamber musical only reminds us how much richer is Shaw’s original, Candida, unencumbered by characters continuously breaking into song, which only breaks up the piercing wit and logic of Shaw’s ever-relevant arguments about men, women, politics, religion and society.

Another of Shaw’s serious comedies, Candida takes the pulse of a marriage between the socialist Reverend Morrell and his free-spirited wife, Candida. That he takes her for granted is noticed by immature young poet Eugene Marchbanks, who cannot fathom why she would stay in what strikes him as a lopsided relationship. When Marchbanks tells Morrell that he and Candida are in love, the Reverend decides to test both of them. Will Candida choose familiar comfort (Morrell) or youthful passion (Marchbanks)?

The skeleton of Shaw’s compassionate character dissection remains in A Minister’s Wife, but Joshua Schmidt’s pleasant but unhummable songs intrude too often on Austin Pendleton’s adaptation. Occasionally, the music elaborates on Shaw’s insights ("Enchantment" springs to mind), but mostly it replaces Shaw’s sparkling dialogue with rote tunes and Jan Levy Tranen’s pedestrian lyrics, an unfortunate trade-off.

Michael Halberstam‛s estimable staging, which helps this 90-minute-long chamber-music riff pass by uneventfully (if uninspiringly), comprises Allen Moyle’s cluttered set, Keith Parham’s suggestive lighting and David Zinn’s exacting costumes.

The quartet of musicians -- violinist Pasquale Laurino, cellist Laura Bontrager, clarinetist Jonathan Levine and pianist Timothy Splain, who also conducts -- performs behind a scrim, an elegantly subtle touch.

The excellent acting quintet is led by Marc Kudisch, who compensates for a wavering British accent with a powerful baritone that gives Morrell an advantage over the honeyed tenor of Bobby Steggert, who comes off even younger than the 18-year-old Shaw asks for.

Kate Fry’s charming and sweet-voiced Candida rounds out the main trio, while the smaller roles of Reverend Mill and Morrell’s assistant Prosperine are capably taken by Drew Gehling and Liz Baltes. Candida’s father, who provides a necessary sounding board in Candida, has been excised from A Minister’s Wife, another regrettable misstep.

A Minister’s Wife
Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater
Lincoln Center Theater
150 West 65th Street
New York City
212-239-6200
www.lct.org
Opened May 8, 2011; closes June 12, 2011

Theater Review: Her Name Is "Carson"

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Reviews

Published on Tuesday, 10 May 2011 20:00

Written by Kevin Filipski

Carson McCullers Talks About Love
Written and performed by Suzanne Vega
Music by Suzanne Vega and Duncan Sheik
Directed by Kay Matschullat

In her concert performances, singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega tells amusingly deadpan tales that are as illuminating as the direct, durable songs she sings in her conversational voice.

Those tough-as-nails songs, often written from the point of view of a detached narrator, would seem to make her the ideal interpreter of the life of Southern author Carson McCullers, best known for The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, The Member of the Wedding and Reflections in a Golden Eye. But the resulting Carson McCullers Talks About Love is an awkward hybrid (part nightclub act, part concert, part solo performance piece, part musical) which never coalesces into a uniform and satisfying whole.

Vega begins the show by recounting how she "discovered" McCullers by reading a story of hers at age 17 and assuming "Carson" was a man until she saw the grim female face on the cover of one of the books. This, of course, made her want to know more about the sad-looking woman who wrote uncompromising tragicomic stories about her characters‛ desperate emotional struggles. Following this intro, Vega puts on a wig, picks up a drink and a cigarette and acts as McCullers for the next 80 minutes.

Carson McCullers Talks About Love, which comprises anecdotes about the author -- and a dozen songs with music by Vega and Duncan Sheik, and Vega’s own alternating biting and hackneyed lyrics -- attempts to paint a well-rounded portrait of the artist as a bisexual alcoholic.

And there are times when Vega’s vaguely Southern drawl and atmospheric blues or torch songs like "Song of Annemarie" and "Harper Lee" give a clear snapshot of McCullers‛ complicated relationships with both men and women, but those moments are fleeting.

More often, songs like "Me of We" and "A Tree, A Rock, A Cloud" fade completely after they’re heard, despite referencing McCullers’ own writings in the lyrics.

And why director Kay Matschullat thought it clever to have Vega step out of character to banter with onstage pianist Joe Iconis, whose interjections become more annoying as the play continues, is baffling. More successful are guitarist Andy Stack’s hard-edged riffs that become the voice of McCullers’ husband Reeves during several "conversations."

Vega’s own musical sketches of loners and survivors have always carried a sardonic edge, which has been blunted in her first theatrical foray. In attempting to use her own voice as her heroine’s equally powerful one, Vega seems overwhelmed for the first time onstage, and the result is a show that will probably dissatisfy fans of both of these talented women.

Carson McCullers Talks About Love
Rattlestick Theater
224 Waverly Place
New York City
212-627-2556
www.rattlestick.org
Performances through June 4, 2011

Cinefantastique Spotlight: Thor

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Reviews

Published on Monday, 09 May 2011 14:39

Written by Daniel Persons

Most Mother’s Days, loving children show their gratitude with flowers and breakfast in bed. This Mother’s Day, the kids had the option of taking Mom to the multiplex, where she could drool over the handsomely chiseled Thor in the newest, big-screen adventure out of the Marvel stable. Is Thor — directed by Kenneth Branagh, starring Chris Hemsworth as the mighty-thewed (thewed?) God of Thunder,  Natalie Portman as his potential love-interest, and Anthony Hopkins as Big Daddy Odin, with a special guest appearance by Gort’s younger, more ambitious brother — the film that will bring a Shakespearean gravitas to comic book drama, or is it just so much table setting for the impending The Avengers movie? Join The Chronic Rift’s John Drew and Cinefantastique Online’s Dan Persons as they discuss the movie behind the myth.

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