This was the last
Kander & Ebb musical to open on Broadway and it took almost 15 years for
that to happen. I saw it when it opened in Chicago in 2001 and I thought the
score wasn’t among the team’s best work. Curiously, one of the songs I really
liked, the comic “You Know Me” (you can listen to this song at the end of this post) is missing from the score that opened on Broadway and I think it
probably was a little out of place in the show.
From the
“Prelude” to the “Finale”, this is Kander & Ebb at their most Kurl Weill
mode and the result is a haunting score that grows on you with each hearing. The
truth is I’m enjoying it more on this cast recording than when I saw it live on
stage. This is the kind of score that works better on the whole, is doesn’t live
of showtunes, although it has more than a couple of songs that standout. For me
the highlights are “Yellow Shoes”, the strange “I Would Never Leave You” and the
beautiful “Love and Love Alone”.
Leading the cast,
the legendary Chita Rivera gives her role all her personality and passionately
delivers her songs. This might be her swan song and it’s an exquisite one! Her
leading man, the recent deceased Roger Rees, may not have a great voice, but gives
his songs a human fragile quality that sounds perfect for the role. One last
word for Jason Danieley, who shines with “The Only One” (that remind me of his
song “I Miss the Music” in CURTAINS).
This still isn’t
among my favorite Kander & Ebb scores, but it’s better, so much better, and
musically more interesting than the majority of new musicals than open nowadays
on Broadway. Don’t expect a big Broadway musical, this is more like a chamber
musical that would probably work better Off-Broadway, and let the quiet charms
of the show conquer you.
Rate: 7 (from 1
to 10) / Photos by Thom Kaine and Sara Krulwich
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