Green Party

Alan Mingo, Jr. as Donkey and
Eric Petersen as Shrek

What: Shrek The Musical
Where: The Fox Theatre, St. Louis
When: September 11 through 26, 2010

There have been so many big-budget corporate musicals based on popular films in the last decade or so that they now appear to constitute a sub-genre with its own rules—all of which Shrek the Musical follows faithfully. There are elaborate sets, costumes and effects; solid performances by a very professional cast; and a creative team with impressive Broadway credentials. There's also about 20 minutes too much of everything but then that, too, is part of the genre.

If you're a fan of the 2001 animated film you'll be happy to find all the key events and juvenile humor of the original intact (the encounter with Robin Hood and his Merry Men being a notable exception) and all set to music—whether you like it or not. It helps that the music is by the ferociously talented Jeanine Tesori (best known as a lyricist for shows such as Thoroughly Modern Millie) and that the book and lyrics are by Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole, Wonder of the World and many more), but even so most of it seems unlikely to have a life beyond the show. The one exception might be “When Words Fail”, a touching little ballad given, improbably but appropriately, to the title character.

Lindsay-Abaire even manages to add a bit of a gay pride spin to the original message about the importance of diversity and not judging people by appearance with songs like “Freak Flag”, in which the exiled fairy tale characters take pride in their eccentricity. “I'm wood! I'm good”, declares Pinocchio. “Get used to it!” How did Pat Robertson miss this one?

The current tour, which kicked off last month in Chicago, boats a fine cast giving their all in what appear to be physically demanding roles. Certainly David F.M. Vaughn deserves some sort of theatrical Purple Heart for belting out the role of the diminutive Lord Farquaad on his (fortunately well-padded) knees, as does Eric Petersen, charming and funny under all that makeup and padding in the title role.

Holly Ann Butler is a delight as Princess Fiona, both alone and in a power trio with Young Fiona (Madison Mullahey) and Teen Fiona (Sarah Peak), holding out for a hero (to quote a Jim Steinman lyric) in “I Know It's Today'. Alan Mingo, Jr. gets the right measure of fun out of the role of the motor-mouthed Donkey. It might have been nice to see a shorter actor in the part so we could get the “Mutt and Jeff” dynamic between Donkey and Shrek that acts as a recurring visual joke in the animated original, but you certainly couldn't ask for a better and brighter performance than the one Mr. Mingo gives you.

Other standouts in the fine supporting cast include Blakely Slaybaugh, bringing some impressive dance moves to the role of Pinocchio, and Carrie Compere as the voice of the Dragon. The sound system rendered the lyrics of her big solo “Donkey Pot Pie” incomprehensible, unfortunately, but there was no mistaking the quality of her big, soulful voice. Lyrics in chorus numbers tended to be garbled as well—a recurring and possibly unsolvable problem at the Fox.

The bottom line is that if you loved the original film and don't mind the fact that a 90-minute movie has been stretched out to a two and one-half hour stage show (including intermission), you'll probably enjoy Shrek the Musical—especially if there are youngsters in your party. Just be aware that the length might make smaller fry a bit restless and/or keep them up past their normal bedtimes.

If, on the other hand, you wish the whole “corporate theme park” school of musical theatre would just go away, you can probably give Shrek a miss.

Either way, Shrek the Musical continues through September 26 at the Fox Theatre, 527 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information you may call 314-534-1111 or visit the web site, fabulousfox.com.

Purly (Mostly) Victorious

Who: Linda Purl
What: Come Rain or Come Shine
Where: The Kranzberg Center, St. Louis
When: September 8 through 11, 2010

If the opening night crowd for Come Rain or Come Shine was not quite as large as Cabaret St. Louis would have liked, it might have been due to some lukewarm reviews the show got earlier this year in New York. If so, local audiences should have no concern. Come Rain or Come Shine may not be a flawless show, but it's a polished and entertaining one with solid musical and theatrical values that gets the fall Cabaret St. Louis season off to a fine start.

Although this is her first visit to St. Louis, Ms. Purl's face may be familiar to many from her long career in films, stage and—especially—television. A co-star on Matlock and The Office (among others), she has also appeared over forty made for TV movies. Her career in the contemporary version of the B movie industry serves as the basis for one of the comic highlights of the evening, Ron Abel and Kirby Tepper's “Movie of the Week”. I don't know whether the number was written specifically for her or not, but like her slinky blue beaded dress (“never sit on a stool when you're wearing one”, she advises at one point), it's a perfect fit.

A charismatic and engaging performer with a flexible and attractive voice, Ms. Purl presented a show which, while relying heavily on standards such as “The Best is Yet to Come” and “Wouldn't It be Loverly?” (one of many familiar songs given stunning new arrangements by pianist and music director Scott Woolley) also included some newer material. Examples of the latter included the moving Brent Barrett/Maury Yeston collaboration “New Words” and the charming “This Time Tomorrow” from the 2001 Broadway flop The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

Of course, even a hoary standard like “One For My Baby (And One More for the Road)” can sound brand new given an inventive arrangement and a performer with clear intent and solid focus. Mr. Woolley and Ms. Purl provided both. Her reading of the song's final phrase—“that long, long road”—left little doubt about how long and dark that road would be, while his arrangement was appropriately moody and dramatic. Indeed, Mr. Woolley is almost as compelling a performer as Ms. Purl. One of the pleasures of the evening was watching him throw himself into the music.

Other highlights of the evening included a medley of big band era tunes - introduced by Ms. Purl's observation that her parents recently observed their 70th wedding anniversary because they never stopped dancing together—and a duet with St. Louis native Kevin Spirtas. The latter combined a pair of Ira Gershwin trifles (“Oh Me! Oh My!” and “Cheerful Little Earful”) with some solid scat singing. Better yet, Mr. Spirtas took the stage afterwards for a beautiful rendition of Peter Allen's “Love Don't Need a Reason” that was an ideal example of how to clearly convey the meaning of a lyric.

That said, the evening was not without its lowlights—most of which, I think, could have been avoided had Ms. Purl and Mr. Woolley engaged the services of a director. Cabaret is, after all, a form of theatre and good director is essential for good theatre. A director, for example, might have pointed out that the evening was just a song too long and that at times Ms. Purl didn’t seem to be fully invested in the lyrics or relied too heavily on stock theatrical gestures. He or she might also have suggested that the medley of some of the favorite oddball country songs of Ms. Purl’s Matlock co-star Andy Griffith did not need to be delivered in cheesy “hick” accents. He or she might also have suggested the medley of some of the favorite oddball country songs of Ms. Purl's Matlock co-star Andy Griffith did not need to be delivered in cheesy “hick” accents. On Minnie Pearl that sort of thing sounds authentic; on Linda Purl it just sounds condescending. Besides, a song like David Frizzel's Grammy-nominated “I'm Gonna Hire a Wino to Decorate Our Home” is pretty caustically funny on its own; it doesn't need shtick.

These are, however, minor complaints. The bottom line is that Come Rain or Come Shine presents a trio of talented performers at, for the most part, their very best. It's a great beginning for what promises to be a very interesting fall season at Cabaret St. Louis. The show runs through Saturday, September 11, at the Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information, you may call 314-534-1111 or visit the web site: cabaretstl.org.

Next in the Cabaret St. Louis lineup: Brian Lane Green, Lee Lessack and Johnny Rogers in Three Men and a Baby…Grand!—A Tribute to the Rat Pack (there seems to be a lot of that about these days). Performances are Wednesday through Saturday, October 13 through 16. Between now and then, the Kranzberg will host local talent under the Presenters Dolan umbrella with a show by the husband and wife team of Joe Dreyer and Rosemary Watts on September 30 and October 1 and a Peggy Lee tribute by Barbara Helmer on October 2 and 3. For information on those shows, you may call 314-725-4200 or visit licketytix.com.

Face(book) the Music

Apropos of absolutely nothing, my thoughts over the past few days seem to have strayed towards the intersection of Art and Nature. It seems to be a busy intersection, and by the time I finished dodging speeding metaphors I found myself with the following completely unrelated bits of information, all of which turned up as Facebook profile status messages.

The difference between Mahler and Bruckner, I was told as a youth, was this: if you go to an Alpine meadow and look up at the majestic mountain, that is Mahler. If you look down at the lovely flowers, that is Bruckner.

For some time before his death, Alexander Scriabin supposedly worked on a "Universe Symphony". It would be a multi-media experience which would be performed in the Himalayas and would bring about his version of Armageddon: "a grandiose religious synthesis of all arts which would herald the birth of a new world." All ...we have are sketches of the first part, titled "Mysterium". Which might be just as well.

In his diary, Sibelius noted the inspiration for the grand theme in his Fifth Symphony: "Today I saw 16 swans. God, what beauty! They circled over me for a long time. Disappeared into the solar haze like a silver ribbon." Listening to the 5th now, it's impossible not to hear those birds in the majestic swing and sway of the final movement.

Why I should be pondering what I'm pondering, Pinky, is anybody's guess. Maybe it's a reaction to the fact that I'm otherwise consumed with thoughts about the upcoming edition of Cabaret at the Café on September 10th. Or maybe it's all that classical Internet radio I've been listening to.

Or maybe it's just that today is my 62nd birthday.

Pistol-packin' mama

Erica Cochran as Marie

What: Donizetti's La fille du régiment (The Daughter of the Regiment)
Where: Union Avenue Opera
When: July 30 through August 8, 2010

Union Avenue Opera is one of the hidden gems of the local musical theatre scene. Their productions may sometimes be a bit rough around the edges and their theatre in the remodeled sanctuary of the Union Avenue Christian Church may have its acoustic and sight line issues, but their artistic commitment and professionalism are beyond reproach. The second production of their 2010 season, Donizetti’s 1840 romantic opéra-comique romp La fille du régiment (The Daughter of the Regiment), is a truly charming piece of work with a pair of leads that I’d put up against anyone on the Opera Theatre of St. Louis stage.

The circumstances that led Donizetti to write a French romantic comedy were, ironically, less than joyous. His wife Virginia died in 1837 and the broken-hearted composer fled Italy for Paris where, as historian Herbert Weinstock notes, “he began a new life”. Originally written as a quick replacement for a delayed opera by another composer, La fille was initially greeted with indifference by the Parisian public and hostility by Berlioz (then music critic for the Journal des débats). Audiences quickly came around, however, and over the years the title role has become a favorite of high-flying sopranos from Jenny Lind to Joan Sutherland.

The titular daughter, Marie, is a war orphan adopted as a baby by the rather tender hearted French soldiers of the 21st Regiment. Now a beauty with the voice of an angel and a colorful military vocabulary, she loves and is loved by Tonio, who saved her from toppling off an Alp. Their love is opposed initially by her guardian, Sergeant Sulpice, and the other soldiers (who mistake Tonio for a spy) and then by the snobbish Marquise de Birkenfeld who, in a classic comic opera revelation, turns out to be Marie’s long-lost mother. All ends happily, of course, with plenty of rousing ensembles and solo vocal fireworks along the way.

Although still in the early stages of her career, soprano Erica Cochran, as Marie, shows a mastery of comic timing and a light, nimble voice that would do credit to a more experienced singer. Coloratura and comedy are difficult enough individually; in combination they can be a major challenge, but Ms. Cochran excels at both.

Tenor Gregory Schmidt looks, to my eyes, a bit too mature for the role of Tonio, but once he begins to sing all other considerations become secondary. History tells us that the original 1840 Tonio, Mécène Marié de l'Isle, had pitch problems. Had Mr. Schmidt lived back then history would have a different story to tell. His instrument is clear, accurate, and seamless throughout the role’s rather high tessitura. Opera audience love to hear a tenor bounce high Cs off the back wall and Mr. Schmidt has a head voice that can do just that. The opening night audience couldn’t get enough of it, applauding with gusto after his bravura air “Pour mon âme”— a song reckoned to be one of the most difficult in the repertoire.

Baritone David Dillard sings the buffo role of Sulpice with appropriate comic gusto and blends nicely with Ms. Cochran and Mr. Schmidt in their trios (“Tous les trios réunis” being the outstanding example). Contralto Dixie Roberts is also impeccably funny as the self-consciously upper crust Marquise and while she only gets one really solid air to herself - “Pour une femme d mon nom” in the first scene - she delivers it in fine style. Director Jolly Stewart has a nice comic cameo turn in the non-singing role of the Duchess of Krakenthorp and E. Scott Levin displays his substantial comic skills as the harassed butler Hortensius.

There’s no chorus master listed, so I’m not sure whom to congratulate for the fine sound of the ensemble. I can say that conductor Kostis Protopapas does a nice job with the reduced orchestra in what has always seemed to me to be a rather challenging acoustic environment. Director Stewart has, to my taste, given a bit too much stage business to her performers—comedy doesn’t necessarily require that the actors be in constant movement—but most of it works well enough.

There were some intonation issues and lighting problems on opening night and not all the ensemble members seemed equally invested in their roles, but those are minor complaints. The bottom line is that Union Avenue Opera’s La fille du régiment is a solid production of a lively and tuneful score by one of the masters of bel canto. You couldn’t ask for a better break from the oppressive heat and humidity of a St. Louis summer. Note that if you don't arrive on time to park in the church's small lot, the Metro Psychiatric Hospital next door allows audience members to park there as well.

It has been said, by the way, that interest in La fille du régiment tends to rise during wartime, given the libretto’s enthusiastic embrace of all things military. As someone who has lived in a world perpetually at war his entire life, I’m not wholly convinced of that correlation. To me, the backdrop of protracted conflict had rather the opposite effect, casting emotional shadows that were probably not part of the intention of authors Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jean-François Bayard. Your mileage may vary, of course, but it seem to me that (to liberally paraphrase Milton) darkness need not be visible to discover regions of sorrow where peace and rest can never dwell.

Performances of La fille du régiment continue through August 8th at the Union Avenue Christian Church, 733 Union in the Central West End. For more information, you may call 314-361-2881 or visit the web site at unionavenueopera.org. The opera is sung in French with projected English supertitles easily visible from nearly all of the house.

The Sweetest Sounds

The view from our balcony performance space

It was, as you may recall, the Red Queen who – in Through the Looking Glass – noted that “it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place”. It's a “slow sort of country” that runs otherwise, she opined.

Put me down for a slow sort of country, if you please. Lately just falling slightly behind has got me winded; Her Rosy Highness would have lapped me several times although, of course, she'd probably be moving backwards. I'd be tempted to think I'm moving backwards too if a daily look in the mirror didn't confirm that time does, in fact, march on.

All of which is a convoluted way of explaining why I haven't updated this blog in so long. Real life gets in the way of blogging (which is one reason for approaching blogs with caution).

There is, for example, the fact that I'm presenting a return engagement of my critically-acclaimed cabaret show Just a Song at Twilight – the Golden Age of Vaudeville this Saturday, July 24th, at 8 PM in the cool confines of the Kranzberg Arts Center. I'm running the show pretty much every night to keep it sharp and to correct things that I didn't like the first time around. I've also been doing my utmost to promote it – trying to cross the intersection of Art and Commerce without getting nailed by a distracted driver, so to speak. Get yer red-hot tickets at licketytix.com, at 314-725-4200 ext. 10 or at the door.

And then there's the new cabaret series for which I'm service as MC/director/talent wrangler. It's called Cabaret at the Café, the café in question being Café Cioccolato at 816 Olive here in downtown St. Louis. The space is a combination bar, chocolate show and art gallery with an intimate balcony performing space at the back. Very classy. This is, as far as I know, the first downtown cabaret series in town and if our first show on July 17th was any indication, it's going to be a hit.

We had a powerhouse sextet of performers: Debbie Schuster, Robert Breig, Ken Haller, Katie McGrath, Anna Blair and Jeff Wright. Carol Schmidt was our music director and backup vocalist, a role I'm hoping she'll be able to play for the series as a whole. Our next show is on Friday, September 10th, with future shows planned for October and December – possibly a Christmas-themed show for that one.

This is all very exciting, so even if I am running to stay in place, it seems worth it. St. Louis, as I have noted earlier, is exploding with cabaret talent these days. As with the local theatre scene, there are too many fine performers chasing too few spaces. The addition of Café Cioccolato to the list comes not a moment too soon.

More to come.

The Art of Cabaret

As I have noted here in the past, the St. Louis cabaret scene seems to be truly exploding, with new talent popping up on a reliable basis and established performers continuing to re-stage existing shows and create new ones.

What's really encouraging, though, is that we're now seeing a growth in the available performance spaces for cabaret as well. This past spring, for example, singer and producer Robert Breig started a new monthly series of free cabaret showcases at Schwaig Art Glass in Lafayette Square. Titled A Little Night Music, these early Saturday evening shows (7 to 9 PM) feature six local performers along with the reliable and charming Carol Schmidt on piano. As I'm writing this, the next one (the fourth in the series) is coming up on July 10th and will feature JT Ricroft, Barbara Helmer, Kay Love, Emilie Nevins, Kari Donovan, and Patty Scanlon.

The venue is not ideal - only a dozen or so audience members can get a really good look at the performers, stuffed as they are into the studio's small second floor space. But what the venue lacks in convenience is makes up for in atmosphere and beauty. Being surrounded by art glass isn't exactly the worst experience in the world, and the free wine and cheese add to the ambience. The showcase format, with each performer doing a three-song set, allows a lot of new talent to get their feet wet, so to speak, as well as providing a chance for more experienced performers to try out new material.

To find out more, call 314-776-4442 or visit fabartscenter.com on the web.

I should note, in all fairness, that I know and have worked with Robert and that I appeared in the second edition of A Little Night Music.

Coming up later in July, by the way, yet another cabaret showcase series launches, this time downtown. More in on that in my next post.

The Winning Ticket

What: The Golden Ticket
Where: Opera Theatre of St. Louis
When: through June 26, 2010

[(L to R) Daniel Okulitch as Willy Wonka and Michael Kepler Meo as Charlie in Opera Theatre of Saint Louis's 2010 production of The Golden Ticket.  Copyright: Ken Howard, 2010]

One of the many admirable things about Opera Theatre is the company's support for new works. Their thirty-five seasons are strewn with national and world premieres; an encouraging sign for a genre often depicted in popular entertainment as stodgy and old-fashioned. This year's new kid on the block—The Golden Ticket, an adaptation of Roald Dahl's 1964 children's classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory—is an appropriately tasty concoction of juvenile humor, adult wit, and musical invention with just the right amount of creepiness.

Composer Peter Ash has an impressive conducting resume, so it's perhaps not surprising that his work makes ingenious and clever use of the orchestra. Delicate ensemble passages alternate with great whoops and rushes of sound and unexpected instrumental combinations abound. The score is peppered with musical jokes, including characteristic music for the four badly behaved children who come to grief in Willy Wonka's factory. The egomaniacal Violet Beauregard, for example, sings in florid coloratura flourishes while the piggish Augustus Gloop parodies the stereotypical portly Italian tenor by spewing saccharine mock Puccini. Meanwhile Mike Teavee, who is obsessed with violent television, stutters machine-gun staccato passages.

As the Artistic Director of the Roald Dahl Foundation, librettist Donald Sturrock brings an insider's perspective to the words that accompany Mr. Ash's music. Fans of the book will likely be delighted to discover that the stage adaptation includes not only the major elements of the published version of the original novel, but bits and pieces of Dahl's numerous revisions as well—including, happily, a 1973 re-write that changes the Oompa Loompas in Willy Wonka's factory from racist stereotypes to oddball aliens. It's literate enough to keep adults engaged but chockablock with sufficient jokes to hold the attention of all but the youngest children—no small accomplishment.

Opera Theatre has assembled a stellar cast for this eccentric piece. Baritone Daniel Okulitch exudes impish delight as both the magical king of confections, Willy Wonka, and the mysterious shopkeeper Mr. Know. Vocally, the part sounds like quite a challenge, but he's more than up to it.

The roles of the four awful children are filled by four wonderful performers. Soprano Tracy Dahl (no relation, as far as I can see) handles Violet Beauregard's demanding vocal pyrotechnics with ease and is a convincing stage brat. On opening night Countertenor David Trudgeon rattled off Mike Teavee's opening aria with such superhuman precision that he got a burst of spontaneous applause from the audience. Mezzo Jennifer Rivera's Veruca Salt—the classic spoiled rich kid—is almost unnervingly monstrous in her greed, and tenor Andrew Drost's Augustus Gloop is the epitome of repellant gluttony.

Although occasionally swamped by the orchestra, boy soprano Michael Kepler Meo is nevertheless a charming Charlie Bucket, with a clear voice and solid enunciation. Tenor Frank Kelley is appealing as Charlie's lovable Grandpa Joe and in fine voice as well. Although a Gerdine Young Artist and therefore relatively new on the scene, Mezzo Jennifer Berkebile makes a strong impression as both the mistress of Wonka's exotic brigade of Turkish squirrels and the self-admiring television hostess Candy Mallow.

Making his Opera Theatre debut, conductor Timothy Redmond skillfully leads the orchestra through a score which, while clearly demanding, also sounds like rather a lot of fun to play. Chorus Master Sandra Horst has, once again, done a fine job with her singers, who are called upon to play a number of important roles throughout the evening, from sinister gargoyles to chattering squirrels to eccentric Oompa Loompas, who provide the moral for the downfall of each bad child in amusing rhymed couplets.

Video designer Greg Emetaz, set designer Bruno Schwengl, costumer Martin Pakledinaz and lighting designer Christopher Akerlind all go above and beyond the call of duty to handle the exotic characters and the many scene changes in Mr. Sturrock's libretto, especially during the tour of Willy Wonka's magical factory. My congratulations to them all. Stage director James Robinson does a nice job pulling it all together although here, as in his Marriage of Figaro, he seems overly found of blocking some key scenes as though there were no audience outside of house center.

There aren't that many operas out there that are family friendly in the sense that they can be enjoyed by all ages. Children's opera, like children's theatre, tends to be its own genre. The Golden Ticket is, happily, family friendly, mixing elements of opera, musical theatre, dance and even video into something akin to Willy Wonka's Three-Course Dinner Chewing Gum. Unlike that gum, though, it can be enjoyed without risking transformation into a giant blueberry.

Opera Theatre presents The Golden Ticket in rotating repertory with the rest of the season through June 26th at the Loretto-Hilton center, 130 Edgar Road on the Webster University campus. For more information, you may call 314-961-0644 or visit opera-stl.org.

A blog bonus: video of American Lyric Theater's workshop of The Golden Ticket:

The Ill-Made Night

What: A Little Night Music
Where: Opera Theatre of St. Louis
When: through June 19, 2010

One sign of a great play is that it can survive and even succeed despite ill-conceived artistic choices. As the current production by Opera Theatre clearly demonstrates, A Little Night Music is a great play. Despite imposed and irrelevant design decisions by fashion designer and television personality Isaac Mizrahi, Hugh Wheeler's smart dialog and Stephen Sondheim's superbly crafted score emerge pretty much intact.

My principal complaint with the production is that Mizrahi has decided that it's essentially Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream with a Sondheim score. “For years”, he write in his director's notes, “I have wanted to present A Little night Music like Shakespeare's summer farce with music, with misguided lovers running through the forest on one enchanted summer night.” Unfortunately the worlds of Shakespeare's farce and Hugh Wheeler's dramatic comedy have nothing in common to speak of. Magic and fairies are at the core of Shakespeare. In Wheeler they're non-existent. The folly in A Little Night Music is entirely the work of flawed characters trying to be what they aren't rather than of sprites with spells and potions.

Yes, much of the second act (but none of the first) of Night Music takes place out of doors on midsummer's eve, but the location is the well-manicured lawn of a mansion, not a magical wood. And that location has meaning, in part, because it contrasts with the interiors of the first act. To set the entire thing, as Mizrahi has, in what he describes as an “enchanted spot in the forest” is to fundamentally distort that relationship. The look of the show feels imposed and serves to detract from the play rather than enhance it.

That said, I have to admit that Mizrahi the director serves the material far better than Mizrahi the designer. With the possible exception of the Act I finale, in which a steady stream of irrelevant action by the non-canonical “Swedish fairies” constantly threatens to upstage the brilliant score, most of the staging and interpretation choices make sense. Casting choices are also quite good. I was especially taken with the fact that while the younger roles were all filled by classically trained singers, the older roles – Frederik, Desiree and Madame Armfeldt – were all assigned to actors from the legitimate theatre. The contrast in vocal styles worked quite well, especially during spoken dialog.

Ron Raines, with substantial credits on both the theatrical and operatic stages, is perhaps the ideal Frederik Egerman. His warm and solid baritone easily handles Sondheim's often-tricky score and his acting perfectly captures Frederik's wry humor. Amy Irving is a good match for him dramatically but, at least on opening night, she seemed unable to project vocally past the first few rows and often failed to sing through the ends of phrases (which, in all fairness, is not as easy as you might think). Still, it's a generally fine performance that serves the character and the production well.

Siân Phillips is a compelling Madame Armfeldt and her scenes with soprano Vivian Krich-Brinton as granddaughter Frederika are charming. Mezzo Candra Savage is a standout as the free-spirited Petra, making the most of “The Miller's Son”. The song is crucial, coming at exactly the point in the action when a more earthy perspective is needed, and Ms. Savage's performance is everything one could hope for.

Baritones Lee Gregory and Christopher Dylan Herbert sound great as the pompous Count Carl-Magnus and angst-ridden Henrik but their performances tend to come just a bit too close to exaggeration. Ditto for mezzo Erin Holland as the Count's caustically self-aware wife Charlotte. I'm inclined to chalk that up to Mizrahi's direction rather than actor choices, though, since it's so consistent.

There's more fine singing from the quintet that comments on the action throughout the play. Aaron Agulay, Lauren Jelenovich, Corinne Winters, Mark Van Arsdale and Laura Wilde are the vocalists. They all deserve applause, as does soprano Amanda Squitieri as the eternally virginal Anne.

Applause as well for the Opera Theatre orchestra under Stephen Lord, navigating Sondheim's sometimes-complex score with ease. There were a few rough spots on opening night, especially during counterpoint-laden numbers like “Now / Later / Soon”, but I'd expect those to disappear with time.

When all is said and done, Opera Theatre's A Little Night Music is well worth seeing if only because any production of this wonderful piece is well worth seeing. Musically, the production is top notch, after all, and the visual design, while sometimes annoying, is ignorable. If you're a Sondheim fan you won't want to miss it.

A Little Night Music runs through June 19th at the Loretto-Hilton Center on the Webster University campus. For more information, you may call 314-961-0644 or visit opera-stl.org.

Tilting at Windmills

What: Ingenioso
Where: Circus Flora, Grand Center, St. Louis
When: through June 27, 2010

“It's not where you start”, runs a Dorothy Fields lyric from the 1973 musical Seesaw, “it's where you finish. It's not how you go, it's how you land.” Despite some stumbling first steps, the 24th installment of our own Circus Flora finishes triumphantly and lands firmly on its feet.

Credit one returning act and one new one for the solid conclusions of both halves of Ingenioso. The returning act—in the closing spot—is The Flying Pages (pictured), a remarkable family of trapeze artists. Anthony Page's triple somersault is, as usual, a highlight, but they're all impressive.

New this season is wire dancer Julien Posada, who closes the first half. His blindingly fast fancy footwork would be praiseworthy on the ground. On a rope five feet above the ground it's stunning. The low wire offers spectators both a clear view of Mr. Posada's elegant dancing and a reminder that a balancing act need not involve the threat of death to be compelling.

Also new (at least to me) were animal trainer Jenny Vidbel with an array of talented dogs, goats and even roosters (although the fowl weren't inclined to do much on opening night) and “Western arts virtuoso” Vince Bruce with his fancy roping, riding and lightning-fast bullwhips. The Elliaire Duet, an elegant and beautiful aerial adagio act, is technically new although the performers themselves have been members of the ever-popular St. Louis Arches for some years now.

Returning favorites included the daring Cossack horsemanship of the Riders of the Ring (still impressive, despite a re-take made necessary by what appeared to be a not-quite-secure saddle harness), Sasha Alexandre Nevidonski flying through the air with the greatest of ease in equestrian silk act, the romantic aerial duet of Andrew Adams and Erika Gilfeather, and the energetic acrobatics of the aforementioned St. Louis Arches, our own home-grown youth circus troupe.

That's the good news. The bad news is that, at least on opening night, Ingenioso got off to a somewhat rough start and tended to drag a bit during the fist half. Some of this resulted from glitches and errors in timing that will probably be history by the time you read this but some of it, I think, stems from an attempt to stuff a square theatrical peg into a round hole.

Ingenioso uses a variant of Cervantes' Don Quixote as a launching point for the circus acts and it's not always a good fit. The bits with Carlos Svenson and the always charming Giovanni Zoppe (a.k.a Nino) as the Don and Sancho Panza, respectively, didn't seem to go anywhere and the acts themselves—while generally quite entertaining—didn't have much to do with the story. The narrative bits designed to advance the Don Quixote story felt more like filler and, especially during the first act, seemed to prevent the show from ever building any momentum.

Still, a flawed Circus Flora show nevertheless offers good value for your entertainment dollar, especially if you have youngsters in your party. The six year old in ours was clearly enjoying himself. I expect the six year old in you will do the same.

Circus Flora presents Ingenioso through June 27th under the air-conditioned big top in the Powell Hall parking lot in Grand Center. For more information, you may call 314-289-4040 or visit circusflora.org.

It's All Right With Me

Who: Karen Akers
What: Akers Sings Porter: Anything Goes
Where: Cabaret St. Louis at The Kranzberg Center, St. Louis
When: April 28 through May 1, 2010

Cole Porter was a great songwriter. "Of this there can be", to quote another dab hand with lyrics (W. S. Gilbert), "no possible, probable shadow of doubt, no possible doubt whatever". Porter the composer of achingly beautiful melodies was matched only by Porter the author of witty and rueful lyrics. Cole Porter made art, and art is never about any one thing. That's why audiences love to hear great music over and over again and why musicians never tire of performing it. That's also one reason why Karen Akers' Cole Porter show is not just another Cole Porter show. There's never "just" another Cole Porter show.

Another reason is the engaging and gifted Ms. Akers herself. The essence of cabaret, as I have noted elsewhere, is the revelation of the individual performer's personality through music. Ms. Akers' unassuming, elegant and emotionally open personality, combined with her supple and appealing voice, did Porter's work up proud.

This is clearly material for which she has a great affinity. Porter once remarked the he liked "everything as long as it's different". Judging from Ms. Akers' multifaceted and highly successful career, I suspect the same might be true of her.

Yet another reason why Anything Goes was so appealing was the thoughtful and varied choice of songs. The classics were there, of course. Aside from the title tune, the evening included "It's All Right With Me", "Begin the Beguine", and "Don't Fence Me In" (which, in Ms. Akers' rendition, became more about emotional barriers than physical ones), along with celebrated list songs like "Can Can" and "Let's Do It" (including some of Noel Coward's brilliantly literary extra lyrics). But we also had "Come to the Supermarket" from the 1958 made-for-TV Aladdin (with a book by S. J. Perelman — a match made in heaven), "Thank You So Much Mrs. Loughsborough-Goodby" (like Coward's "Mrs. Worthington", a letter written to a "social dragon"), and "Where Have You Been?" (from the 1930 flop The New Yorkers).

That last one was completely new to me and while it covers the same territory as the Gershwins' more famous "How Long Has This Been Going On?", it does so in a classically Cole way, producing what Ms. Akers called "optimistic blues".

There was also the obligatory yet welcome set of Porter Paris songs. A self-confessed Francophile, Ms. Akers' performance of her "Paris Suite" ("I Love Paris", "You Don't Know Paree", and "Allez-Vous-En") struck me as loving and heartfelt — so much so that I was moved to plunk down money for her Under Paris Skies CD after the show.

The evening offered, in short, the comfort of the familiar coupled with the joy of the new. I've always regarded that as an unbeatable combination. But then I, too, like everything as long as it's different.

As is often the case, Ms. Akers was accompanied by the smart and beautifully tailored arrangements of pianist and music director Don Rebic. His Chopinesque arrangement of "It's All Right With Me" was a particular ear-opener, I thought, but none of his work was less than first rate. He and Ms. Akers clearly have great rapport — a sine qua non for quality cabaret.

The show was directed by Eric Michael Gillett — a much-praised performer in his own right — and while I can't really tease his contribution out from that of Ms. Akers and Mr. Rebic, it's clear that he was part of a winning team. In baseball terms (and St. Louis is, after all, a baseball town), I'd have to say Akers to Rebic to Gillett was an unbeatable triple play.

So, did I have any complaints at all? Yes, but after I wrote them down they seemed so trivial (not to say carping) that I deleted them. Let's just say that only God is perfect and let it go at that.

Karen Akers' Anything Goes was the closing show of the current Cabaret St. Louis season; for information on their next one, visit the web site at cabaretstl.org. Meanwhile, cabaret at the Kranzberg continues under the aegis of The Presenters Dolan with shows by Joe Dreyer (May 15 and 15), Christy Simmons (June 26), and an encore of my own show, Just a Song at Twilight, July 24th. Visit licketytix.com for more information.

For more information on the peripatetic Ms. Akers' upcoming appearances, visit her official site at karenakers.com. You can even listen to tracks from her Jule Styne album there, a considerable bonus.

Class Acts

Back when I first started writing about the St. Louis cabaret scene around ten years ago, doing so meant covering the out of town stars who played the Grandel Theatre. You could count the local cabaret performers on the fingers of one hand and still have room left to hold your glass of Zinfandel.

Today the international stars still shine locally, largely via the Cabaret St. Louis season, but the number of local cabaret artists has increased exponentially.  If the showcase this past  Sunday (April 25, 2010) at the Jazz Bistro in any indication, that growth shows no signs of stopping.

Credit goes, in part, to producer Jim Dolan's tireless efforts in promoting local talent under his Presenters Dolan umbrella, but to my mind the single biggest contributor to the St. Louis cabaret explosion has been the St. Louis Cabaret Conference (the fourth edition of which takes place August 12 through 15) and its organizer, Tim Schall (pictured).

Now honesty forces me to point out that Mr. Schall is the director of my own solo show, Just a Song at Twilight (an encore of which is planned for mid-July), as well as my voice coach. Even so, there's no denying that his impact on the growth of local cabaret talent has been significant. In addition to the Conference, Mr. Schall also teaches a recurring Cabaret 101 course for performers who want to get their feet wet but aren't yet ready for the full immersion of the conference. Meeting every Saturday for seven weeks, the course culminates in a showcase in which each student performs a set of four songs that he or she has developed during the class. As Sunday's performance demonstrated, Cabaret 101 has become a major incubator of talent in this town.

The show featured eight performers with a wide range of styles and abilities. They were, in order of appearance, Julie Delaney Flanagan, Charlene Reimann, Shirley Aschinger, Steve Brammeier, Donna Rothenberg, Carolyn Lester, Debbie Schuster and Doug Erwin. Musical direction was provided by the redoubtable Al Fisher.

Some were veteran concert and/or musical theatre performers while others had little or no stage experience. Some were Broadway belters while others were more in the Marianne Faithful or Melanie range. Some exuded confidence while others were modestly self-effacing. All of them, however, connected with their audience and were quite clearly having the time of their lives. Those of us in the house showed our appreciation with warm applause throughout the evening and a standing ovation at the end.

And that connection is, ultimately, what cabaret is all about. It's not easy to achieve, especially for those of us coming to it from a theatre background where breaking through the "fourth wall" is generally the exact opposite of good performance practice. But it's magical when it happens in cabaret, and it was certainly happening Sunday night.

The St. Louis cabaret community is expanding and, better yet, the audience appears to be as well. It's exciting to be covering it and participating in it.

Loungin' Around

Who: Daryl Sherman and Dave Troncoso
What: Lounging At The Waldorf: A Night of Johnny Mercer with Cole Porter Sitting In
When: April 22, 2010
Where: The Presenters Dolan at The Kranzberg Center, St. Louis

Cabaret, as I have noted in the past, is a big tent, with room for a wide variety of musical and performance styles. Anyone who doubts that need only survey the acts that have played the Kranzberg Center’s cabaret room recently. We’ve had the laid-back contemporary pop of Robert Breig, the Vegas-style glitz and volume of Lennie Watts’ Manilow tribute, the musical theatre-themed shows of Alice Kinsella and Jeff Wright, Katie McGrath’s courageous emotional vulnerability, the operetta-based vocal virtuosity of Shana Farr, and even my own tribute to Vaudeville – and that’s just within the last couple of months.

That being the case, there was certainly room in the tent for the jazzy one-night stand of Manhattan mainstay and 2009 MAC Award winner (Best Jazz Singer/Instrumentalist) Daryl Sherman.

Obviously wowed by her elegant pianism and informal, honest performance style, the small but simpatico crowd was reluctant to let her go, despite the show’s one hour and forty-five minute running time – a bit long by cabaret standards. Happily trading licks with St. Louis’ own Dave Troncoso on acoustic bass and guitar, Ms. Sherman gave her audience a generous helping of Great American Songbook standards by the likes of Porter, Waller, Rogers and Hammerstein and, especially, Johnny Mercer. Just for spice, there were also side trips to the realms of the blues (Rhodes Spedale’s “ Get Up Because It’s Mardi Gras” and a driving rendition of Handy’s “St. Louis Blues”), bossa nova (Jobim’s “Insensatez”), and mainstream pop (Jerry Jeff Walker’s “Mr. Bojangles”).

Having written all that, I would be less than honest if I failed to admit that I was not as won over as most of the rest of the audience.

The fact is, I’m not really a jazz fan. That’s not a knock on the genre or its performers, just a matter of personal taste. It’s also probably the result of having grown up listening to and playing the classics and show tunes and diving heavily into rock and R&B as a teenager. Jazz has just never been a type of music I sought out.

I mention this so that when I carp about Ms. Sherman’s occasional disservice to a song’s lyric (such as those Richard Maltby Jr. wrote for the “Fats” Waller tune that gave the evening its title) and her tendency to take considerable liberties with melodic lines and rhythms, you jazz fans can take it with a grain (or maybe a shaker) of salt. Yes, I appreciate that the traditions of this genre are not those of musical theatre, but it struck me as ironic that someone who has such great admiration for the lyrics of Mercer or Porter was so free with them. Your mileage may vary, as that of the audience clearly did.

My only real disappointment with the evening was the relatively small turnout, despite PR support from two of our leading jazz radio personalities: KFUO’s Don Wolff (who introduced the show) and my fellow KDHX volunteer Al Becker. A performer with Ms. Sherman’s credentials, it seems to me, should have gotten more support from the sizeable local jazz community. Granted, the Kranzberg isn’t known as a jazz room, but it accommodates the form nicely and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be on the radar of aficionados.

So if you love jazz, support it. You don’t have to be a fan to know it’s an endangered species these days.

To find out more about Ms. Sherman, visit her web site, darylsherman.com. For news of upcoming shows at the Kranzberg and other Grand Center venues, visit the Grand Center’s Shows and Events site at www.grandcenter.org/shows_events.

Jewel Tones

Who: Shana Farr
What: Pure Imagination
When: April 17. 2010
Where: The Kranzberg Center, St. Louis.

I love seeing actors do cabaret, and not just because I’m an actor myself. I love it because it gives the performer a chance to step out of the constraints imposed on him or her by casting directors and the rolls of the genetic dice that determined his or her appearance and voice quality. At its best, a cabaret act allows you to see the full range of an actor’s talent.

That assumes, of course, that the actor in question is ready to take that leap of faith and work beyond his or her usual range. Shana Farr does not appear ready to take that leap yet. So while Pure Imagination is unquestionably a very intelligently crafted, beautifully sung and highly entertaining show, it stays well within what would seem to be Ms. Farr’s comic operetta comfort zone. The stakes, to paraphrase Lina Koutrakos, needed to be raised to move the show from the level of “very good” to “great”.

That said, for a first show by a young classically trained artist, “very good” is – well – very good. The song selection, to begin with, is very smart and includes several numbers I hadn’t heard before – always a positive sign. The program leaned heavily on songs that were funny and that showcased Ms. Farr’s impressive technique; the Dick Scanlan/Jeanine Tesori collaboration “The Girl in 14-G”, for example, did both. Her performance was a tour de force.

The logical flow of the evening was excellent. A case in point: Ms. Farr has a parallel career as independent jewelry designer; one of her creations was given away as a door prize at the end of the evening, in fact. She used comments on her experience selling baubles, bangles and beads to men with flexible ethics to take us from Gershwin and Weill’s “My Ship” to Francesca Blumenthal’s “The Lies of Handsome Men” and thence to something I’d never heard on a cabaret stage before: a James Bond film medley. It was ingenious and funny, even if it did treat some of the songs (particularly “Diamonds Are Forever”) with a little less respect than I think they deserve. Still, how can you not like the use of a kazoo as a stand in for the braying trumpet in “Goldfinger”?

Ms. Farr did have a tendency to slip over the line from acting to indicating – not uncommon in performers with classical and operatic backgrounds, in my experience – which sometimes brought me out of the moment in her ballads. But even then her performances were so solid that I was willing to let it pass. Besides, some of the decisions she made in those ballads were quite persuasive and unexpected. Her “My Favorite Things”, for example, began in the darkness of someone trying to overcome sadness and fear by thinking of those favorite things, moving only gradually into the light. It was a insightful choice and very effective.

For her St. Louis appearance, Ms. Farr employed the talents of local musicians Amada Kirkpatrick (performing Steven Ray Watkins’ original arrangements, presumably) on piano and Jay Hungerford on acoustic bass. They played well together and it would have been nice to hear more from them – they had only very brief solo breaks – but given what was probably a fairly tight rehearsal schedule, that probably wouldn’t have been realistic.

The bottom line is that Pure Imagination is a very strong and persuasive first effort by a very talented young performer from whom we should expect to hear great things. The sparkle of her jewelry designs is matched by the flash of her performance; between the two of them, she would appear to have a shining career path ahead of her.

Shana Farr brings Pure Imagination to her home town of Columbia, MO, April 22 and 23 and will be seen in coming months in the Pittsburgh Light Opera’s Student Prince as well as a cabaret showcase at Feinstein’s at the Regency. To learn more about both her performing and design work, you may visit her web site, shanafarr.com.

Coming up at the Kranzberg: Daryl Sherman at the keyboard with Lounging at the Waldorf on April 22, followed encore performances by Alice Kinsella on April 23 and Robert Breig on April 24. For more information, you may visit the Presenters Dolan web site at licketytix.com.

Taking it Easy

Continuing my highly personal comments on some cabaret acts giving encore performances this month under the Presenters Dolan umbrella.

Robert Breig isn’t an actor, but he’s a skilled, relaxed and unflinchingly honest singer whose debut show Feels Like Home (directed by Tim Schall) returns on Saturday, April 24th. The program is, as I recall, heavily weighted towards the 1970s, with numbers by Burt Bacharach, The Carpenters and Kenny Loggins. Songs have been added for the encore, though, including at least one by Robert’s talented music director Carol Schmidt, so a more varied program would appear to be in the offing. Audiences can, in any case, expect an evening that’s “easy listening” in the very best sense of the term from an engaging and likeable performer.

For more information, visit licketytix.com.

Final Alice

Continuing my highly personal comments on some cabaret acts giving encore performances this month under the Presenters Dolan umbrella.

Alice Kineslla's show, A Stand Up Act, returns on Friday, April 23. The show is also a class act and, like Alice, very much in a class by itself. At its best, cabaret allows actors to stretch their wings and speak directly to the audience in their own words. Alice not only stretches her wings but soars in a show that shows off the many facets of here theatrical personality. The moments of high hilarity you would expect from one of our city's finest comic actors are there, but so are moments of great tenderness and sentiment that some might not anticipate. If you know of Alice mostly through her theatrical work, you will be pleasantly surprised to find out how much more there is to her talent. Al Fisher is the pianist, music director, and skilled foil for Alice’s comic hijinks.  Tim Schall directs.

For more information, visit licketytix.com.

More to come.

Dancing in the Dark

While it might or might not be true that, as F. Scott Fitzgerald once famously declared, "[t]here are no second acts in American lives" (and as someone who has gone through at least two acts so far I’m inclined to doubt it) there’s no question that there are second acts in St. Louis cabaret. In the coming weeks, four of them will be playing out at the Kranzberg Center under the aegis of The Presenters Dolan, and local cabaret fans would be well advised to seek them out.

Before I comment on these performers, though, a bit of full disclosure: I have worked with most of them on stage, either in theatrical productions or cabaret showcases. I have also attended the St. Louis Cabaret Conference with most of them, which tends to be a bonding experience among performers. Given my four decades of experience as a performer and critic, I think my comments on their work are still valid – one learns how to wear multiple hats after a while – but your mileage may vary.

Jeff Wright brings his show The Dance back for what is billed as a final performance on Friday, April 16th. Jeff has classic “leading man” charisma, an equally classic crooner’s voice and substantial musical theatre credentials. He brings all three to bear with great success in an evening of songs by, among others, Howard Dietz and Arthur Schwartz, Sammy Cahn, James Taylor, Jule Styne, Craig Carnelia, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton and Elton John.

I’m not sure that the theme of dancing is actually sustained through the entire evening, but at the end Jeff does finish up with some actual fancy footwork in “Go Into Your Dance” (from 42nd Street), so I won’t quibble. The bottom line is that The Dance is an impressive showcase for Jeff’s vocal and acting chops, both of which are formidable. Neal Richardson, one of our finest music directors (his work on my show, Just a Song at Twilight, was a revelation), is at the keyboard.

Visit licketytix.com for more information.

More to come.

After the Ball

So, here it is over a week since my last post. What have I been up to and what have I learned?

How much time have you got?

For one thing, I learned that I actually can write and star in a cabaret show about the Vaudeville era that's entertaining, informative, and that people will actually pay good money to see. Yes, there weren't as many as I had hoped (we only sold around 60% of the house's capacity) but their enthusiasm and the warmth of their response was, frankly, pretty thrilling. Throw in the great arrangements and vocal harmonies of my music director, Neal Richardson, and the spot-on advice from my director and vocal coach Tim Schall and it all added up to the kind of experience that any performer has to envy.

In short, I now have a first-hand appreciation of why people do cabaret. There's not much money in it and the audience, even when it's large, is still small by current pop culture standards but, by Neddie Dingo, as a creative collaboration it can't be beat. There will be at least one more performance of Just a Song at Twilight: The Golden Age of Vaudeville at the Kranzberg Center here in St. Louis, it's just a matter of working out at date when the space is free and my irreplaceable music director is available. Stay tuned.

Another thing I've learned in the past week is that I'm still the Quickest Study in the House.

The one thing I hate about acting, you see, is the tedious business of learning lines. It's a pain in the fundament and I try to get it out of the way as soon as possible. As a result, I tend to be one of the first ones off book. I think that might have been one of the reasons why Rich Kelly felt he could call me me the day before my cabaret show opened, ask me if I'd step into the role of Papa Doogan in Stray Dog Theatre's production of his play Mischief Moon, and have a reasonable expectation that my response wouldn't be "are ye feckin' daft, man?" Given the fact that I wouldn't even be able to look at the script until March 28th and that the show opens on April 8th it was, perhaps, foolhardy on my part to say yes. Yet, by God, here it is April 2nd and I've had the book out o' me hand since last night. And with a passable Irish accent.

"That's the stuff", as Papa Doogan would say.

It's quite a good play, by the way - a somewhat offbeat romantic comedy with elements of magical realism. The rest of the cast is also very strong; there's nothing more gratifying than working with disciplined professionals. Tickets are free, but you need to reserve by calling 314-865-1995 or visiting the web site.

But wait - there's more! Not tonight, though. It's already after 11:30 and there's a run-through tomorrow. More anon.

Yes, I can use words like "anon". I'm a writer. It says so on my Dramatic License.

Notes on the Music 12 - You Ain't Heard Nothin' Yet

[The twelfth in a series of postings on the music in my show Just a Song at Twilight: The Golden Age of Vaudeville. Performances are March 26 and 27 at the Kranzberg Center in St. Louis; tickets at licketytix.com.]

Lew Brown / Carl Schraubstader: Last Night on the Back Porch (I Loved Her Best of All) (1923) – One good Jolson tune from Bombo deserves another. Lest there be any doubt that this was designed as a showcase for "Jolie's" unique talents, the first verse includes his catch phrase "you ain't heard nothin' yet". Many others have performed it since, including Bing Crosby and our own St. Louis Ragtimers. The score includes a whopping total of eight (!) verses. Only Jolson could get away with that many, so I don't even try. Given my ethnic background, however, I couldn't pass up the cheesy Italian dialect patter - or the more suggestive lyrics. There might have been even more lyrics that were never recorded. The sheet music has the following note at the bottom of the page of extra verses: "For community sings or house parties continue indefinitely by substituting KISS-HUG-SQUEEZE etc for LOVE using words of first chorus: - viz I kiss her in the morning And I kiss her at night".

I'm not sure why the copyright date on this song is a year later than "Toot, Toot Tootsie" (which itself is a year later than the New York run of Bombo); it might have been added for one of the many tours of this very popular show.

Notes on the Music 11 - La Bombo

[The eleventh in a series of postings on the music in my show Just a Song at Twilight: The Golden Age of Vaudeville. Performances are March 26 and 27 at the Kranzberg Center in St. Louis; tickets at licketytix.com.]

Gus Kahn, Ernie Erdman and Dan Russo: Toot, Toot, Tootsie (1921) – One of Al Jolson's signature tunes, "Tootsie" is from a show called Bombo (pictured) which, the title not withstanding, was a gigantic hit. Jolson, in his usual blackface, played a slave who gets dragged off to the New World with Columbus. The song wasn't in the original show (no "choo-choo trains" in 1492) but was interpolated by Jolson during the show's three-year tour. The altered lyrics in the second run through the refrain aren't in the printed score but are in Jolson's recording, so I regard them as Canonical. Jolson's bravura performance of this in The Jazz Singer (1927) demonstrates why he could get away with calling himself "the world's greatest entertainer".

Notes on the Music 10 - Love's Song After the Ball

[The tenth in a series of postings on the music in my show Just a Song at Twilight: The Golden Age of Vaudeville. Performances are March 26 and 27 at the Kranzberg Center in St. Louis; tickets at licketytix.com.]

Medley: Charles K. Harris: After the Ball (1892); Love's Old Sweet Song – The refrains of these two songs also insisted that they be combined. Sometimes songs make demands on performers and arrangers similar to those made on their authors by characters in novels and plays. The creation can direct the creator. I'll leave you to ponder the theological implications of that another day. "After the Ball" is often regarded as the first truly "popular" song, selling over five million copies. Harris went on to compose over 300 songs (despite the fact that he could neither read nor write music) and establish his own highly successful music publishing company.

Notes on the Music 9 - Nobody

[The ninth in a series of postings on the music in my show Just a Song at Twilight: The Golden Age of Vaudeville. Performances are March 26 and 27 at the Kranzberg Center in St. Louis; tickets at licketytix.com.]

Medley: Alex Rogers / Bert Williams: Nobody (1905); Fred Ebb / John Kander: Mr. Cellophane (from Chicago, A Musical Vaudeville 1975) – Bert Williams – or at least his hapless "Mr. Nobody" character - is often acknowledged as the inspiration for Amos Hart in Chicago. The musical and lyrical similarities between "Nobody" and "Mr. Cellophane" were so strong that the two numbers just demanded to be combined. "Nobody" was so popular that it became, for Williams, what the Prelude in C sharp minor was to Rachmaninov – a career milestone that eventually turned into something of a millstone. Williams' Ziegfeld Follies co-star W.C. Fields once described him as “the funniest man I ever saw and the saddest man I ever knew”.

Notes on the Music 8 - Sophie's Choice

[The eigth in a series of postings on the music in my show Just a Song at Twilight: The Golden Age of Vaudeville.  Performances are March 26 and 27 at the Kranzberg Center in St. Louis; tickets at licketytix.com.]

Shelton Brooks: Some of These Days (1911) – "What a Song! Radio's Big Hit! Everybody's Favorite!" boasts the cover of the 1922 edition of the sheet music, which features a huge picture of Sophie Tucker. "I've been singing it for thirty years, made it my theme song", recalled Tucker in her 1945 autobiography. "I've turned it inside out, singing it every way imaginable, as a dramatic song, as a novelty number, as a sentimental ballad, and always audiences have loved it and asked for it." Brooks was one of many black songwriters and musicians whose work Tucker championed. His other hits include "Darktown Strutters Ball" and "I Wonder Where My Easy Rider's Gone", both of which were performed and recorded by Tucker. Mae West had a shot at the latter as well in She Done Him Wrong (1933).  Singing for Miss Tucker in my show is my guest star, Anna Blair.

Notes on the Music 7 - Local Color

[The seventh in a series of postings on the music in my show Just a Song at Twilight: The Golden Age of Vaudeville.  Performances are March 26 and 27 at the Kranzberg Center in St. Louis; tickets at licketytix.com.]

Andrew B. Sterling / Harry von Tilzer: Under the Anheuser Bush (1903) – This glorified advertising jingle was a hit not only in the USA but – under the title "Down at the Old Bull and Bush" – in the UK as well, where it became a regular part of Florrie Forde's act. The Old Bull and Bush was (and still is) an historic pub near Hampstead Heath, so it probably seemed a logical substitute for the name of a St. Louis brewery that was unknown in Britain at the time. The similarity to the 1902 von Tilzer song "Down Where the Wurzburger Flows" is, I expect, far from coincidental. The two German folks songs quoted in the refrain - "Du, du liegst mir im Herzen" and "Oh du lieber Augustin" – were still in the air when I was a kid, but are probably fading now.

Andrew B. Sterling / Kerry Mills: Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis (1904) – Until I actually started learning this song, I had no idea that the verses (but not the chorus) are all in limerick form. I also had no idea there were so many. The song was immensely popular; the sheet music cover features a picture of Gus Williams (who introduced it) along with the words "also sung with great success by" followed by a list of nearly twenty vaudeville stars including Nora Bayes. Billy Murray is absent from the list even though he did record it, along with nearly everything else from the period.

Notes on the Music 6 - Forward Into the Past!

[The sixth in a series of postings on the music in my show Just a Song at Twilight: The Golden Age of Vaudeville.  Performances are March 26 and 27 at the Kranzberg Center in St. Louis; tickets at licketytix.com.]

Grant Clark and Edgar Leslie / Maurice Abrahams: He’d Have to Get Under – Get Out and Get Under (1913) – Early adopters of technology have always had to become self-taught experts. The first motorists were no exception, as this popular novelty number demonstrates. It was a hit for Bobby North, Al Jolson and Billy Murray (pictured), among others. Murray was an early adopter himself, although in his case the technology was sound recording. Grasping the commercial potential of records (pronounced “re-CORDS” in the early days) before many of his contemporaries, Murray cranked out hundreds of cylinders and discs for every major company. With a sharp tenor voice and impeccable diction, he was the ideal performer for the early days of the medium.

Ida Emerson and Joe Howard: Hello, Ma Baby (1899) – Howard and Emerson were a vaudeville team who had great success with this number about the early days of the telephone. The sheet music sold over one million copies – a stunning achievement at the time. Other hits by the team include “Good Bye, My Lady Love” (1904) and “I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now?” (1909). This is another one that required minor lyrical surgery to avoid offending a contemporary audience. Chuck Jones fans (and you know who you are…) will recognize it as the theme song of Michigan J. Frog in “One Froggy Evening”.

Edgar Leslie and Burt Kalmar / Pete Wendling: Take Your Girlie to the Movies (1919) – Long before songs from movies were common, songs about movies were all the rage, with titles like “Let’s Go in to a Picture Show” (1909) and “Mary Pickford, the Darling of Them All” (1914) gracing piano benches. Advice columnist Beatrice Fairfax (actually New York Evening Journal reporter Marie Manning), who is mentioned in the first verse, also turns up in the Gershwins’ “But Not for Me”, for those of you who keep track of those things. And for those of you who think of Billie Burke (pictured) primarily as Glinda or Mrs. Cosmo Topper, be aware that in 1919 she was, as they say, “hot stuff”. She was also Mrs. Florenz Ziegfeld.

Notes on the Music 5 - Carolina in the Morning and the Moon at Night

[The fifth in a series of postings on the music in my show Just a Song at Twilight: The Golden Age of Vaudeville.  Performances are March 26 and 27 at the Kranzberg Center in St. Louis; tickets at licketytix.com.]

Jack Norworth / Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth (pictured): Shine On, Harvest Moon (1908) – Nora Bayes had a spectacular career, even if it was cut short by cancer (she died at age 47). She was one of the superstars of the vaudeville stage and, along with Al Jolson and Bert Williams, one of the biggest sellers in the early days of the recording industry. She toured with her own retinue and had a private train car – the early 20th-century equivalent of a Lear Jet. She even opened her own theater on West 44th Street in Manhattan. The song has been recorded innumerable times over the last century, but my personal favorite remains the one Leon Redbone did in 1977.

Gus Kahn / Walter Donaldson: Carolina in the Morning (1922) (Additional music and lyrics by Neal Richardson and Chuck Lavazzi) – Kahn and Donaldson produced some of the most enduring hits of the previous century. This classic “charm song” is one of the most irresistible, but others include “Makin’ Whoopee”, “My Baby Just Cares for Me”, and “Yes, Sir, That’s My Baby”. The song was introduced in The Passing Show of 1922 by William Frawley (pictured), who would later achieve fame as the garrulous Fred Mertz in I Love Lucy.

Notes on the Music 4 - Rings on My Fingers, Birds on Her Hat

[The fourth in a series of postings on the music in my show Just a Song at Twilight: The Golden Age of Vaudeville.  Performances are March 26 and 27 at the Kranzberg Center in St. Louis; tickets at licketytix.com.]

Blanche Ring (yes, really) introduced this in the 1909 musical The Yankee Girl. The composer of record for the show was Silvio Hein, although that didn't stop the producers from inserting this song as well as a Sousa march. What it has to do with Yankees in general or Yankee girls in particular is obscure, possibly because Broadway shows back then were often little more than long-form musical revues, in which the plot was only an excuse for the songs and specialty acts. Those familiar with the song in its original form will note that I have taken a couple of minor liberties with a lyric which, in its original form, has somewhat racist overtones.

Arthur J. Lamb / Alfred Solman: The Bird on Nellie’s Hat (1906) – Women were, by any definition of the term, an oppressed group a century ago, but that didn’t stop smart, savvy women from showing up in songs like this one or the somewhat ruder “Cows May Come and Cows May Go But the Bull Will Go on Forever”. “Nellie’s Hat” was embraced by a number of female vaudevillians as well as by British music hall star Ada Reeve (pictured), whose picture graces the cover of the only copy of the sheet music I was able to locate (at an Australian library; let’s hear it for the Internet).

Notes on the Music 3 - I'm Always Chasing Rainbows

[The third in a series of postings on the music in my show Just a Song at Twilight: The Golden Age of Vaudeville.  Performances are March 26 and 27 at the Kranzberg Center in St. Louis; tickets at licketytix.com.]

Harry Carroll's composer credit would probably have come as a big surprise to Chopin (it's based on a theme from his 1834 Fantasie-Impromptu) if he hadn't been dead. Of course, if he hadn't been dead it would have been a surprise to everyone since he would have been 107 years old. It was written for a 1918 show entitled Oh, Look!. where it was sung by Harry Fox (credited by some with the invention of the Fox Trot dance step) and danced by Rosie and Jenny Dolly (a.k.a. the Dolly Sisters) who were noted for their unique synchronized dance act as well as for their sybaritic lives.

Notes on the Music 2 - Bring Back Those Wonderful Days

[The second in a series of postings on the music in my show Just a Song at Twilight: The Golden Age of Vaudeville.  Performances are March 26 and 27 at the Kranzberg Center in St. Louis; tickets at licketytix.com.]

Darl Mac Boyle / Nat Vincent: Bring Back Those Wonderful Days (1919) (Additional lyrics by Chuck Lavazzi) – No matter where you are in time, things always seem to look better in the rear-view mirror even if (to stretch the metaphor to the breaking point) objects in the mirror may be closer than they appear. America was not a jolly place in 1919 (see Kevin O’Morrison’s play Ladyhouse Blues for a stark illustration of that). Darl Mac Boyle’s original lyrics get all misty-eyed about “the dinners for a quarter”, “the milk without the water”, “the eggs at ten a dozen” and how “drinking ginger ale makes us weak and pale” – a complaint about the dreaded Volstead Act, which implemented the Eighteenth Amendment and ushered in Prohibition. The boost it gave to organized crime persists to this day.

Notes on the Music 1 - Love's Old Sweet Song

[The first in a series of postings on the music in my show Just a Song at Twilight: The Golden Age of Vaudeville.  Performances are March 26 and 27 at the Kranzberg Center in St. Louis; tickets at licketytix.com.]

G. Clifton Bingham / J.L. Molloy: Love’s Old Sweet Song (1884) – Appropriately enough, we begin with a song that dates from the early days of vaudeville. "Love's Old Sweet Song" was a popular hit but had its roots firmly in the European art song tradition; the grace notes in the printed score, high-falutin' imagery of the lyric and classically-inspired cover art all point in that direction. Composer James Lyman Molloy was a lawyer who wrote operettas but also edited a collection of Irish folk songs. The lines between art and popular music were less well drawn over a century ago. Collections for the amateur pianist usually mixed both types of music, so it wasn't unusual for a Beethoven bagatelle to keep company with cakewalk.

The Money Song

[Being another in a series of entries chronicling the development of my cabaret show Just a Song at Twilight - The Golden Age of Vaudeville. These are companion pieces to Andrea Braun's Talking Cabaret with Chuck Lavazzi blogs at the web site for The Vital Voice. Performances are March 26 and 27, 2010; tickets at licketytix.com.]

In my last post I noted that the good thing about being only a few weeks away from opening night is that rehearsals are now more fun than work. The bad thing is that I now have to think a lot more about finding ways to promote the show. It’s time to start aggressively selling it – and if there’s one thing I hate, it’s selling.

This is the aspect of cabaret about which one rarely hears about, despite the fact that it can help to make or break a show. A sold-out house energizes performer and audience alike while a small one tends to be dispiriting.

Most of us doing cabaret don’t have the deep pockets that are necessary to buy mass media advertising and getting free coverage – an interview or feature segment on a high-profile TV or radio outlet, for example – is difficult without the right connections. I’ve been trying to form some of those via social networking web sites like LinkedIn and Facebook as well as by schmoozing at other performers’ shows, but the jury is still out on how effective all of that will be. Whatever name recognition I have as a result of decades of exposure as an actor and critic locally will hopefully come into play here but there, too, I really don’t know how much impact there will be.

Basically, you do what you can and hope for the best.

That said, I’m finding that for the producer/performer on a limited budget, there are options that promise a reasonable bang for the buck. Advertising in the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis’s Studio Series programs, for example, turns out to be remarkably affordable, as is underwriting at public radio stations KDHX (where I’m on the volunteer staff) and KWMU. I haven’t yet investigated ads in the programs of other small professional companies, but am now giving it serious consideration.

Ultimately, I’m facing the classic artist’s dilemma: you want to do art for art’s sake, but if you don’t devote enough attention to the business side of the equation, you won’t get to do the art. Where’s an Emperor Franz Josef when you need one?

[Image manipulation by photofunia.com.]