"Lady in the Dark": Volksoper Vienna, January 18th, 2022

Jan 19

Jan 19 "Lady in the Dark": Volksoper Vienna, January 18th, 2022

What I'd refer to as a „Mammuth production" (Dancers who can act and sing, an Orchestra without the boasting of a conductor's entrance, Acrobats, Chorus, Children, Actors who can sing – not Singers who can „act a bit" - an extensive wardrobe for three dream sequences that are practically independent plays within the play, incredibly quick set changes, tricky scenery etc.) „Lady in the Dark" is still for many somewhat a secret, something of a „novelty" - at least that was also what I have heard yesterday during intermission (To be honest with you, I must confess that I love to eavesdrop and hear opinions, especially in Theatres which are visited by a less international public).

But let us not forget one thing: the concept, the formula on which „Lady" is based upon was revolutionary back in 1941 – 80 years ago – but not now. Therefore this „music play" is, together with „Pal Joey" one of the „pre-Oklahoma" pioneers of the modern Broadway musical that opened doors to Kander & Ebb's „Cabaret", Sondheim's „Follies", Wright & Forrest's (very underrated)„Grand Hotel and many others.

And the music… the divine and unique Kurt Weill's melodies, which is sometimes strongly criticized here in Vienna and his arrangements (On the contrary of many composers that worked for Broadway, he orchestrated the score himself). Not the „European Weill" who cooperated with Brecht but the „American" Weill, the one that just a few years before had composed „September Song" for the musical „Knickerbocker Holiday" that did not make it to Broadway and would compose for some musicals which, except for „One of touch of Venus", did not add much artistically to his career.

It seems that my connection with „Lady in the Dark" is always being „restored and renewed", well, at least once or twice, every decade or so.

In the 60s I remember as I child watching it on film and being very impressed by Eliza, alias Ginger Rogers climbing desperately a Wedding cake while tearing her dress to pieces at the End of the „Wedding Dream", This film, even though with fabulous sequences and incredible costumes was made by Mitchell Leisen, who funnily hated Kurt Weill's music so much that, incredibly, „My Ship" is not sung completely but just hummed here and there during the film.

During the 70s I found Julie Andrews singing „The Saga of Jenny" in “Star!” (Gertrude Lawrence’s biography) and that was a great improvement over Rogers's rendition.

In 1981 I watched Herbert Mogg's disastrous venture at „Raimund Theater" here in Vienna with, of all people, Nadja Tiller, who could not sing, in the role of Eliza. This experience, which was extremely badly received by either public and critic, was a setback in my connection's evolvement with this piece.

Then by the End of the 80s, with the advent of „VHS", it was possible to get priceless material which you had never seen before and this included not only Rodger & Hammerstein's „Cinderella" but also „Lady in the Dark" with Ann Sothern – a brilliant Eliza with a very reserved, unglamorous personification of the role (in the „here and now" sequences), which I think would somehow resemble Gertrude Lawrence's, the original Eliza on Broadway.

But the best was yet to come and in London, in 1998, I saw an incandescent „new actress/singer" whose career I had been following quite closely, Maria Friedman at the Royal National Theatre's production of „Lady". Her unforgettable performance is not only an example but also sets quite a scale for others to follow. The whole production does. Especially because of the original orchestrations by Weill. It is inevitable that comparisons, even though I try to avoid them, happen to happen.

After that I saw a not very good production at Theater des Westens in Berlin under the direction of Helmut Baumann. Quite forgettable - nevertheless I must say that I was lucky enough to witness some productions on stage of a play that is very rare to be seen.

The present Volkoper production, perhaps the best one from this House in the last years, is definitely a must and should be seen, analyzed, and precisely studied for its very good intentions. A beautiful „music box" (I am talking about the ones you'd have on top of a chest of drawers) filled sometimes with madness and dare. Quite exciting, in fact.

Copyright: Barbara Pálffy / Volksoper Wien

Susanne Hubrich's costumes for the three dream sequences are inventive, very effective even though sometimes extremely unflattering to the main character, and fit “like a good glove” in the general atmosphere. The „here and now" costumes leave something to be desired. Eliza's are not „plain" enough, not „austere" enough to contrast with the ones used in the dreams. The others' are unimaginative, somehow dull and one cannot concretely connect them to any period of the last decades.

Hans Kudlich's sets are not only beautiful but inventive, creative and intelligent. The mirror on top of the psychiatrist's consulting room, which gives the actress the possibility of laying down on a divan but also makes possible for the audience to see her facial expressions and her body language is worth mentioning. But also his solutions, including the use of the revolving stage (which I normally cannot see anymore), huge elements like the one on which the Circus director sits, exciting colours and fabrics and, in many excerpts of the dreams, portray that strange feeling of a nightmare, of an "indigestion one" in which forms and textures and our perception of them are distorted. That is very clever of him.

Highest praise to James Holmes' conducting – even though I have missed a „jazzy undertone" in „The Saga of Jenny", which according to legend, Gertrude Lawrence, inspired by a Cotton-Club performance used so she could „emphasize the highlight" of the show (just after the show-stopper „Tchaikovsky", not sung by her) and which Maria Friedman used to the best with her incredible range in the ENT's production.

The very „unusual" concept of the show must have inspired many others („Hello Dolly!" also has the Highlight of the show in the middle of the second Act and not as the 11 o'clock number) but Moss Hart dared to finish the first Act also without a 1st Act Finale. And that does not “request” an applause from the audience.

This reminds me of Jakob Semotan, his usual mannerisms that usually do not vary from role to role, and the strange decision of director Matthias Davids to have an „obligatory" repetition of the Tschaikovsky number. An „encore" that was not asked for. Let me explain that: It is a Broadway legend that Danny Kaye delivered this number so brilliantly that the public asked for an encore – and this nearly eclipsed Lawrence's „Jenny" - but, as mentioned before, the public ASKED for it because it had been a phenomenal delivery – which was not the case yesterday. His singing performance revealed a kind of German (I don't mean the language but the country) singing style influence that is very recognizable in singers who have had their vocal training in Musical schools and is extremely annoying when high-pitched notes are given so „even" which always reminds me me of the way people “sing” in “MacDonald’s” or “Merci” advertisements. This imposed „encore" was the only BIG flaw of the evening. To „milk applause" is unspeakable. “Artificial” show-stoppers never really work.

Robert Meyer, very restrained as the Psychiatrist. Ben Connor not quite right for the role of Randy Curtis except for his wonderful voice. Randy is supposed to be a „Hunk of a man" (The original was Victor Mature, John Hall played him on the film) and Mr. Connor played it more like a caricature of a caricature – even being „funny" and awkward during one of the most endearing numbers of the play, „This is new".

Axel Herrig as Kendall, Ursula Pfitzner as Maggie, Regula Rosin, and Klaudia Nagy were very correct and capable in their relatively small roles. Marie-Christiane Nishimwe's very colloquial „germanic" accent (and sometimes expressios) should be worked upon into a more „neutral" German. Johanna Arrouas' Allison is delightful and funny – her entrances were always welcomed by the audience. Energy.

Christian Graf is a constant joy on stage, a talent I most admire since years but yesterday's performance surpassed the average – especially during the „Circus Dream". The kind of madness required for this role was there. Presentness at its best.

Julia Koci lacks somehow the power to differentiate the „here and now" Eliza from the Dreams' Elizas. Her first act was a kind of recitation of lines without any nuances, feelings, intonations. It felt more like an Oration, which she had memorized, without any highs and lows. Apart from that, vocally, a performer with a more Musical (talking about the genre) approach would have been more appropriate. An actress who can sing very well instead of a Singer who can „act".

Incredibly, the play is not dated – even though when it was written, „Analysis" was something quite new and very “en vogue” in America. And many were prejudiced against it. The text reference to “a Viennese accent” says it all.

The Central theme remains actual – even though feminists may have something against it: Women, seduction, appeal, beauty, and chic.

The choreography by Florian Hurler is definitely one of the strongest highlights of this production. And this was the main reason why I visited this show yesterday.

It is dynamic. It is fresh in every sense of the word – particularly the „cheeky" one. It keeps the whole production going in a sort of energetic fluidness that is contagious. Clever solutions (like placing the dancers in front of the members of the Chorus, when those are supposed to dance so that they can be guided throughout the number) that work and an extreme merger of Dancers with Actors and Singers (and even Children and an acrobat). This exciting approach to the play should not go unmentioned – much on the contrary – because it brought exactly the best on each of the dancers, and it is not to oversee that some of them seemed to be feeling more at ease doing this show than in other productions they have to dance in. The choreography and its place in the production is surely a natural product of a very close collaboration between Matthias Davids and Florian Hurler. It is such a pleasure to witness this lack of superficiality and to know that collaborations like this still exist.

The only big problem of this production, and there's absolutely nothing that can be made about that, is the language. It is nearly a sacrilege, an act of audacity to have Ira Gershwin's lyrics translated into German – I am not sure if this is the same German version that was used back in 1981 at Raimundtheater– a language never considered very suitable for the musical theatre. How could one translate appropriatelly lyrics that fit the music by Weill so precisely as “Passion doesn’t vanish in Portuguese or Spanish but she would make up her mind” or “and poor Jenny kicked the bucket at 76” or “But at 17 to Vassar it was quite a blow, that in 27 languages she couldn’t say no” and “on the very day the book was published history relates, there were wives who shot their husbands in some 36 States” without losing the charm and wit from the original?

But with little or big flaws, this is a highly recommendable show. Enjoyable from Beginning to End.

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