Operetta! That gone but not forgotten genre returned for one glorious night to The Town Hall, the first of three evenings billed as the Summer Broadway Festival, and cleverly titled (with no apologies to the Marx Brothers) A Night at the Operetta . Producer/writer Scott Siegel serves as host of this show, and, as he also does with his popular Broadway by the Year series, delivers anecdotes, dates and bits of related trivia between the songs. It was not one particular operetta that entranced the audience but a concert featuring 19 songs from a variety of operettas performed by a lustrous array of singers. An offspring of its parent opera and its cousin once-removed opera-comique, operetta is often recognizable for its easy-on-the-ear mixture of melodic song and spoken libretto.
We were spared any synopsis of the mostly silly romantic plots, but treated to a wealth of rhapsodic melody, broad comedy, boisterous drinking songs, lilting waltzes and blissful duets that are the primary joy of the operetta. There is no denying that the lush scores by Franz Lehar, Sigmund Romberg, Rudolf Friml, and Victor Herbert had their impact on the next generation of theater composers such as Rodgers and Hart and his later partner Oscar Hammerstein II, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, and Cole Porter.
The early masters got their due in a program that showcased some of the musical theaters most attractive and lauded singers. Supporting all of their flawlessly interpreted performances was the accompaniment of the four-piece string plus piano orchestra, under the direction of musical director/arranger/pianist Fred Barton. For the entr’acte, they played a delightful medley, and produced a sound that was reminiscent of a salon orchestra on a cruise ship of yore. Heaven.
It was apt that Lehar’s The Merry Widow had the opening slot, as it is known as the most successful and most beloved of all operettas. Mark Jacoby offered a jaunty tease of the score’s eternally effervescent delights singing “Maxims.” Sadly it was to be truly a tease, as no other song from that 1907 jewel was to be heard. The always winning Jacoby teamed with the stunningly beautiful Sarah Jane McMahon for an unplugged (no microphones) “Wanting You,” from Romberg’s The New Moon and later with Paul Schoeffler for the jovial if politically incorrect “ When You’re Wearing the Ball and Chain,” from Herbert’s 1914 The Only Girl. Earlier Schoeffler shared a charming ditty with Karen Murphy, “Talk About This, Talk About That,” from Herbert’s Sweethearts, another score that got one pass only. The enchanting Murphy spoofed wannabe divas in “Art is Calling for Me,” from Herbert’s The Enchantress.
One of the more atypical renditions during the program was the way comely Douglas Lanier crooned through the 1909 hit “I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now.” Despite his mellow delivery (and maybe because it was his birthday) displayed a little later in the program that he had the vocal chops needed for “Romance” from The Desert Song . Milla Ilieva, a descendent of White Russian nobility but more impressively a winner of a 2006 Back Stage bistro award, empowered the trifle “Giannini Mia,” from Friml’s The Firefly.
Manu Narayan (of Bombay Dreams ) vigorously sang “Song of the Vagabonds,” from Friml’s The Vagabond King and without usurping the memory of Nelson Eddy. Rebecca Eichenberger and William Michals did more than evoke the memory of Eddy and his film partner Jeannette MacDonald in the “Indian Love Call” from Friml’s Rose Marie, and even sang it a lot better. Eichenberger’s offered a radiant “ Romance,” from The Desert Song,” and Michals sang the haunting “ Strange Music,” from The Song of Norway, both sung unplugged to the audience’s rapturous approval.
Despite his stiffness (undoubtedly a result of his opera training), John Easterlin gave Mario Lanza a run for the money singing “Serenade” from The Student Prince, and with Christiane Noll, sang the impassioned “Deep in My Heart, Dear” from the same opera. Noll twittered joyously and memorably through “Italian Street Song,” from Naughty Marietta . Gavin Lee (currently a sensation in Mary Poppins ) sang and danced with esprit through “The Streets of New York” from Herbert’s 1906 hit The Red Mill . There is no real fun at these concerts unless Marc Kudisch lends his inimitable comic flair to the proceedings, in this case carrying on with him a donkey’s head on a stick, to which he sang to everyone’s delight “The Donkey Serenade,” from Firefly . A grand finale with the entire company singing “Toyland,” from Herbert’s Babes in Toyland, had as many choked up by the beauty of the music as by the knowledge that this totally disarming show, briskly directed by Dan Foster, had come to an end. Kudos to the women for wearing so many beautiful gowns. The men also looked good.
Well, Siegel and company didn’t exactly cover the gamut of what any vintage musical theater lover would want, but what they selected was choice. The genre has fallen into hard times and even the most renowned operettas are rarely revived these days. Why? It is because we are more sophisticated and our tastes have changed. Phooey. However, operetta retains its place in the history of Broadway as the principal and presiding musical theater form during the first 20 years of the 20th century. Are we looking forward to A Night at the Operetta Part II? You bet!
A Night at the Operetta (one night only Monday July 16, 2007)
The Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street
This series continues with Broadway’s Rising Stars on Monday, July 23 and All Singing! All Dancing! Choreographed and directed by Noah Racy on July 30.
Tickets are available at the box office or by calling 212 – 840 - 2824 or through TicketMaster, 212 – 307-4100 or www.ticketmaster.com or at the box office.