AISLE SAY Berkshires
FIORELLO!
Book by Jerome Weidman and George Abbott
Music by Jerry
Bock
Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick
Directed by Bob Moss
Berkshire Theatre Group/Unicorn Stage until July 23
413-997-4444/Berkshire TheatreGroup.org
Fiorello!
won major awards following its
premiere in 1959, but since then it has never received a major revival and,
sadly, has had few productions altogether. The score, by Bock and Harnick, overwhelms the libretto with its observations and
smart blend of satire and humanity. The score is also a treasure of melodies
and rhythms that never fail to surprise. The production at the Unicorn Theatre (the smaller venue at the
Stockbridge campus of Berkshire Theatre Group, boasts a large cast with the
musical muscle to more than justify the score.
The story of Fiorello LaGuardia is told
chronologically and, by the second act, reveals the challenge of including
pertinent historical and personal events in a theatrical setting that also must
lead to musical high points. The first act, up to its final scenes, wherein
Fiorello votes to draft men into the First World War, enlisting himself as
proof that he believes in the principles he has fought for, is masterfully
structured. Dialogue leads to song and moments that erupt into dance are
seamless – the ideal of musical theatre is achieved. But then the research intrudes
to scatter the focus of the writing and to accelerate events so that what began
as strong narrative deteriorates into bullet-point statements.
The cast of the BTG production is
enthusiastic and musically adept. They are a young company and many are cast to
play roles for which they are clearly too young and for which they haven’t the
necessary weight of years or experience. And perhaps this is where the
weaknesses in the script are more evident than they might be with
age-appropriate character actors. Finally, the whole is much like an excellent
college production, though the leading players are certainly ready for prime(r)
time.
In the style of the late 1950’s Broadway
musical, Fiorello! is written in twenty scenes. The era of hi-tech was decades
away, but the pattern was entrenched in a kaleidoscopic vision of the world as
it could be presented on a stage. At the Unicorn, the design, by Carl Sprague, manages to define
offices, street scenes and more with economy and imagination – the changes,
though not swift or slick, contribute to the ensemble nature of the evening and
to the credibility of the work produced by BTG.
The onstage company is large and probably too
large for the intimate space. Kate
Birenboim, Rebecca Brudner and Matt McLean are especially strong. Austin Lombardi, in the title role, is saddled with having to
portray a character well beyond his years. He trades high energy for the skill
of an instinctive politician’s shrewd mind. He moves about the stage with force
and unstoppable drive that animates his passion but blunts the arguments he
fights to win.
The direction, by Bob Moss, helps to sustain the continuity of the story, but Michael Callahan’s choreography tends
to the hum-drum and literal. The great strength of the piece is that it is a
musical play with characters that need to breathe and to speak their thoughts
without being coy. In a number like Politics
and Poker, there is no need for the men to prance around the stage with
every chorus of the song. In fact, it’s the lack of such staging that sets
Fiorello! apart from so many other run-of-the-mill musicals of its time. We
would benefit from hearing the cynicism of duplicitous politicians rather than
watching them do a circle dance. And given today’s reality in the political
arena, the play has enormous resonance in those scenes to let the language
disturb as at the same time that we hear ourselves laughing.
Return to Home Page
Road
(National) Tour Review Index
New
York City & Environs Theatre Review
Index
Berkshire,
Massachusetts Theatre Review
Index
Boston
Area Theatre Review Index
Florida
Theatre Review Index
London
Theatre Review Index
Minneapolis/St.
Paul (Twin Cities) Theatre
Review Index
Philadelphia
& Environs Theatre Review
Index
San
Francisco Bay Area Theatre Review Index
Seattle
Area Theatre Review Index
Toronto,
Ontario (Canada) Index