Reviewed by Jerry Kraft
Richard
Rodgers wrote
"I Remember Mama," the last of his forty Broadway musicals, in 1979.
The lyricist was Martin Charnin. In the years since then, his style of musical, with
lush melody, meticulously crafted lyrics and classically constructed drama
built on deep, authentic sentiment has become passe, almost archaic. Except
that when that music and those shows are revisited, the beauty and strength of
the work, when performed by talented singers and musicians, re-emerges as vital
and immediate as ever.
Martin
Charnin now lives in Seattle, and he has assembled a retrospective tribute to
his former colleague, America's greatest composer of musical theatre. Presented
by Showtunes, the organization devoted to concert performances of lost,
under-appreciated or forgotten musicals, Charnin and a fine company of four
singers and three musicians present a wealth of amazing composition and a
survey of the course of the Broadway musical over half a century. With such a
huge catalogue it was probably unavoidable that the show be a bit too long, but
Charnin's insider's view of Rodgers and his remarkable collaborators was
fascinating and the music was, for me, unexpectedly spellbinding. This may not
be where the Broadway musical is at today, and may not be where it ever goes
again, but oh was it once a wonderful time and place.
Beginning
with "The Sweetest Sound" performed by Shelly Burch, then joined by Christian
Duhamel, Richard Gray
and Jimi Ray Malary, the trademark sound of Richard Rodgers' music led to Charnin's
introduction of the lyricists who formed such great partnerships with him over
the course of his career. Lorenz Hart, Oscar Hammerstein II, Stephen Sondheim,
Sheldon Harnick and Martin Charnin each brought his own distinctive voice to
Roger's melodies. In the process, an extraordinary collection of shows came to
life.
There
are so many songs in this show that it would be both pointless and impossible
to review them all, and many are so familiar, so famously introduced by great
stars, that simply saying they were successfully presented here is not faint
praise. Still, these performers bring their own style to the songs, keeping it
very much stage music, music that lives naturally within a show, but also
making this evening a free-standing concert.
Jimi
Ray Malary did a remarkable job on the musical monologue "Soliloquy"
from "Carousel" and successfully gave us a taste of the entire
dramatic context of the piece. Christian Duhamel found enormous grace in
"I Do Not Know A Day I Did Not Love You" from "Two by Two"
and Richard Gray had a great good time with "There Is Nothing Like a
Dame" from "South Pacific." Diana Huey, a young singer with a lovely,
rich voice brought sweetness and dignity to the almost forgotten "I
Remember Mama" from the show of the same name. Even Martin Charnin,
allowing the words to say all that they can, delivered a moving "Carefully
Taught." Best of all, the ensemble worked very well together, getting some
terrific energy from songs like "Happy Talk," "Some Enchanted
Evening" and a medley where they covered (or at least acknowledged)
thirteen songs in just over three minutes. Throughout the performance,
excellent accompaniment was given by pianists Mark Rabe and Dwight Beckmeyer and percussionist Alec
Wilmart. For all
the success of this ensemble, one member really stood out. Shelly Burch is a veteran Broadway actress
(and married to Martin Charnin) and even more than her lovely, strong voice she
brought such dramatic conviction to her songs that they were simply in a
different league. She was enchanting with "Bewitched, Bothered and
Bewildered" and made "Ten Cents a Dance" into a life-story. Her
performance of "An Old Man" was so tender and earned that it
literally brought tears to my eyes. I thought she was simply wonderful.
"Rodgers
&" was more than a simple review, a retrospective on well-known work
from the Golden Age of Broadway musicals. It was an appreciation and a
re-discovery of a unique musical talent and the collaborations that created the
through-line of the musical stage in the past century. Showtunes should be
proud of this fine production and as appreciative as we are of Mr. Charnin's
generosity and talent.