June 2011 Review by Joe Stead
Strike Up the Band & Trumpet of the Swan on CD
Surely
no musical theatre album has had a longer and more complicated
gestation period than PS Classics' latest release, George and Ira
Gershwin's "Strike Up the Band". This satirical
musical comedy originally began its out of town previews in 1927,
opened to strong reviews and public animosity and promptly
closed. Two years later, a revised version of the show finally
opened on Broadway with George S. Kaufman's original book re-written
by his "Animal Crackers" collaborator Morrie Ryskind, and
wonder of wonders actually became a hit. Remember that in 1930,
a run of 191 performances was considered successful in New York,
while today such a run would never be able to repay its investors.
Flash forward to 1990 and the new Roxbury Recording label, under the sponsorship of Mrs. Ira Gershwin, was launched with the intent of preserving many of the forgotten Gershwin stage gems that had pre-dated the original cast recording era. "Strike Up the Band" seemed a natural, but which version should be preserved? Ambitious Producer Tommy Krasker settled that question by preserving both the 1927 out-of-town tryout version and its more successful 1930 Broadway successor. Only the first version was released...until now. With Krasker back in the producer's driving seat, PSC Classics has finally released the restored 1930 "Strike Up the Band," and what a sumptuous treat it is! It is also clearly a labor of love for its producer, who meticulously researched and restored material, much of which had vanished entirely in the six decades it took to get "Strike Up the Band" from stage to recording studio.
The cast assembled for this Gershwin romp is the same as the earlier recording, but there is a notable difference in tone, plot and musical structure. The 1930 "Strike Up the Band" still had its satirical targets clearly in sight, but it was more lighthearted and romantic. It was further tailored to the burlesque specialty act of comedians Bobby Clark and Paul McCullough, who were listed in the program as Two Men About Town. Most of Kaufman's satirical arsenal was moved to a dream in which Clark became a top presidential advisor and McCullough his confidential secretary. Such absurdities un-phased audiences of the era, who went to musical comedy expecting nothing more than a few laughs, a stage full of pretty girls, and a hummable tune or two. The Gershwin Brothers and their collaborators gave them all that and more.
As the notes for this delicious soufflé indicate, "Strike Up the Band" was really ahead of its time when it first debuted. Audiences wanted escapist entertainment, they surely did not want to think about the dreary politics of the real world. Kaufman and Ryskind's libretto skewered American Capitalism, as the powerful manufacturer of an American chocolate factory causes the United States to go to war with Switzerland over a chocolate tariff. The Gershwins responded with an Americanized ode to Gilbert and Sullivan that is every bit as delightful and wickedly satirical as that duo's best operettas. In this marvelous recording, the Gershwin score comes across as both charmingly old-fashioned and gently subversive.
Along with the now standards "Soon," "I've Got a Crush on You" (in a surprisingly upbeat rendition) and "Strike Up the Band," there is a plethora of forgotten gems from "Typical Self-Made American" to "If I Became the President," "Hanging Around With You" (complete with tap specialty), "Mademoiselle in New Rochelle" and "How About a Boy". And just in case you slept through any of the show, the ladies chorus comes back with a musical recap of the whole sugar-coated trifle. Broadway and recording stalwarts Brent Barrett, Rebecca Luker, Jason Graae and Beth Fowler headline this glorious sounding disc under the ebullient baton of Conductor John Mauceri. The results will be a must for fans of Gershwin and classic musical comedy. The new CD is dedicated to the late orchestrator Russell Warner, whose vivid work is now splendidly preserved, twenty years after it was recorded and over eighty years after the original score was first heard on a Broadway stage. I believe it was worth the wait.
Also
new from PS Classics this month is "The Trumpet of the
Swan," subtitled "A Novel Symphony for Actors and
Orchestra". This is not a traditional musical at all, but
it does come with some big theatrical names. Playwright Marsha
Norman ('Night Mother" and "The Secret Garden")
adapted E.B. White's gentle children's novel about a trumpet swan who
finds his voice in a most unusual way. The score is composed
and conducted by Jason Robert Brown ("The Last Five Years"
and "Parade") and the PS Studio recording features an
incomparable cast of John Lithgow, Kathy Bates, Jesse Tyler Ferguson,
Mandy Moore, James Naughton and Martin Short in spoken roles, with
Christopher Michael Venditi supplying the pivotal trumpet solos for
Louie the Swan.
As Norman writes in the liner notes for this 79-minute CD, it took 15 years for her to realize her vision of a great, big American "Peter and the Wolf" derived from the author of "Charlotte's Web" and "Stuart Little". The result was commissioned by the Kennedy Center as a symphony for orchestra, actors and trumpet. Lithgow sensitively narrates the memories of a boy who befriended the young swan as he overcomes a disability to discover the true music in his heart and soul. At times eloquent, witty and graceful, "The Trumpet of a Swan" is as unique and wondrous a creation as its subject. It should find favor with any orchestra searching for an unconventional family friendly program. For more information on these titles and many others, visit www.psclassics.com.
About Joe Stead
Joe
Stead has enjoyed a lifelong passion for the theatre, which has
involved acting, directing, producing, designing and reviewing since
1984. He served as founder, producer and Artistic Director of
Curtain Up Productions in Baltimore, Maryland and Four Star Players
in Tampa, Florida. Favorite productions have included "Life
With Father," "Deathtrap," "The Odd Couple,"
"The Miracle Worker," "Brighton Beach Memoirs,"
"You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown" and
"Godspell". He has also performed leading roles in
"Fiddler on the Roof," "Pippin," "The
Phantom of the Opera," "The Front Page," and most
recently as Hucklebee in "The Fantasticks" for Waukegan
Community Players. Joe holds a degree in Commercial Art from
Tampa Technical Institute. As a critic, he has reviewed
everything from Broadway to community theatre and major regional
theatres throughout the United States including the Kennedy Center in
Washington, D.C., Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey, Goodspeed Opera
House in Connecticut, and the Asolo Theatre in Sarasota, Florida.
Since 1998, he has been a proud resident of Chicago, the greatest theatre city in America. He served for two years as Theatre Editor for College News and Central Newspapers. He created the website Steadstyle Chicago in 2000 to showcase the city's outstanding and diverse theatre scene. Joe was proud to serve alongside a distinguished panel of theatre professionals as a judge for two seasons of Speaking Ring Theatre's "Vitality" Festival of original short plays. His most fulfilling role, in addition to reviewer and all-around theatre fanatic, was as director of the 2007 production of Peter Shaffer's "Equus" at Actors Workshop (now Redtwist) Theatre, which was nominated for five Joseph Jefferson Award Citations and won for Best Actor (Peter Oyloe).