A Pair of Cole Porter Bio-pics

To end my calendar year, but not my Musical Year, I have a compare and contrast...

These two films are night and day in terms of how they present their story and even differ in major biographical details of their subject, Cole Porter. While the films are separated by much more than the 58 years between their making, both are enjoyable in their own ways.

Night and Day was made in 1946 and stars Cary Grant as Porter and Alexis Smith as wife Linda. De-Lovely was released in 2004 and stars Kevin Kline as Porter and Ashley Judd as Linda. In both cases Mr. Porter should feel flattered, not just in that two very attractive actors portray him, but also in their very nuanced, sympathetic performances.

The earlier bio-pic contains what must be many untruths in its rather whitewashed version of the Porters' lives. Mr. Porter's homosexuality is, of course, not revealed or discussed in the slightest way, according to the codes of the day. The marital troubles between the couple seem due to Cole's focus on his work. Linda Leigh's first unhappy marriage is never mentioned, and in this version Cole meets Linda much earlier in life than really happened. At the end of the film, though, when Linda returns to the United States and Cole's arms, Mr. Grant does not give the typical "happy ending" face. The music presented all falls in shows-within-the-movie settings and are mostly production numbers. They are good, even if they often go outside the confines of what would be possible on stage; the Busby Berkeley-like shots from above are particularly irksome.

The Kline/Judd version of the story is a lot more prurient and focuses a lot (maybe too much) on Mr. Porter's homosexuality, Mrs. Porter's declining health, and the couple's marital spats. The story-telling technique is also quite different, in that Porter is looking back on his life presented as a sort of stage show, with the Angel Gabriel (Jonathan Pryce) as guide. The songs and production numbers sometimes are within the story, but are more often commenting on Porter's life. Many of the songs are performed by singers outside the world of musical theater, with varying results. Diana Krall and Natalie Cole are very successful with their songs; Sheryl Crow and Alanis Morissette, less so in my view. John Barrowman (now known for Torchwood, but with a musical theater past) is rather charming in his small role and one song. Elvis Costello is physically nearly unrecognizable as a band-leader; but then he sings and it sounds just like Elvis Costello. The other men (Robbie Williams, Lemar, Mick Hucknall) who sing songs within the film were unknown to me. The finale ("Blow, Gabriel, Blow" from Anything Goes) is a good number, but felt just slightly under produced for my tastes.

In all, though, both films make we want to listen to more Cole Porter in my Year. Particularly to the novelty songs that may not be in shows--like "Miss Otis Regrets" and "Experiment". I have an Amazon gift card that may just help in finding CDs of this stuff, so, let's do it.

Night and Day
released in 1946 by MGM
Cast: Cary Grant, Alexis Smith, Monty Wooley (as himself)

De-Lovely
released in 2004 by MGM
Cast: Kevin Kline, Ashley Judd, Jonathan Pryce, James Wilby, John Barrowman, Diana Krall, Sheryl Crow, Elvis Costello, Alanis Morissette, Natalie Cole

Ghost light Monday--Doubt film at the multiplex

Keeping with the nun theme from my last entry...

Woe to me that I did not see the touring production of Doubt when it came to Chicago a couple of years ago with Cherry Jones in the lead. The power of this script and the charisma of Ms. Jones apparently made for a compelling combination. And now having seen the film version of it, I can understand why. Watching the film I kept trying to imagine the stage performances. Bad on me for not focusing on the stellar performances at hand.

Does anyone else feel that Meryl Streep's performances have become all about the accent? I don't begrudge any actor for using some aspect to get into the character they are charged with playing, but I would like to see a powerful performance by Ms. Streep that doesn't involve some kind of drawl, or twang, or yap or other. I think this prevented me from completely enjoying her performance. I kept waiting for the crack in the armour of Sister Aloysius. I had to wait until the final moment of the film. If Sister Aloysius is supposed to mirror the tension built over the course of the story, then it didn't build that strongly for me. Although the release at the end did bring tears to my eyes.

The other two primary performances in the film are good, but perhaps not as nuanced as I might have expected. Philip Seymour Hoffman is very relaxed and "natural" as Father Flynn which sits well in this part. Flynn represents a new "kinder" clergy in the Catholic Church, as opposed to Streep's Aloysius who is straight out of Vatican I. Amy Adams is appropriately mealy in the role "caught in the middle". The locations of church, school, rectory, and nunnery (that's not the right word, help me here....) are all lovely and slightly tarnished if not actually dilapidated.


Doubt
by John Patrick Shanley
opened on Broadway in 2005
Film directed by Shanley opened in 2008
Cast: Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Viola Davis

Nunsensations!: The Nunsense Vegas Revue

God has truly blessed Dan Goggins. The phrase "no one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the general public" comes to mind, as creator Mr. Goggins and his initial Nunsense investors have made collection plate-fuls of money since the franchise was inaugurated in the 1980s. The unseen character in all of the shows must be Sister Lois Common Denominator, because much of 2007's Nunsensations! The Nunsense Vegas Revue really panders to its audience just as the taping showing gleeful audience members panders to the at home audience of this DVD.

That said (and several ducks to avoid the lightning bolts), I didn't dislike all of this show. I was often impressed with the cast, all of whom are asked to sing and dance similtaneously while wearing what looks to be heavy, restrictive costumes. Bonnie Lee as Mother Mary Regina is consistently energetic, even in her ruler-on-the-knuckles phases. Jeanne Tinker as Sister Mary Paul Amnesia, is rarely off-stage and bears the brunt of the audience interactive sections of the show. I could have done with a little less anmnesia, to be honest.

While a lot of the score is very specific to time, place, and habit, there are several songs I really liked which could have life outside the show. Mother Mary Regina's song "Fifth from the Left" is funny. "Why Sing a Ballad (when you can belt a show tune)" would definitely work in a cabaret setting. And Sister Marienette's song (the title of which I can't list for fear of censorship) is hysterical and could even be sung without a sock puppet on your hand.

Nunsensations! The Nunsense Vegas Revue
Music and Lyrics by Dan Goggins
Filmed before a live audience and released on DVD in 2007
Cast: Jeanne Tinker, Bonnie Lee, Bambi Jones, Carrie Keskinen, Deborah Del Mostro

Rent film on DVD

For Christmas Eve, I have a show that begins and end on two Christmas Eves. It is a coincidence, 'cuz I didn't know this about the show.

I lived in a cultural cave for much of the 1990s, so I had actually never seen Rent on stage or heard much of the score in recordings. I had heard the song "Seasons of Love" as it seems to be sung by every group from the Chicago Gay Men's Choir to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, proving those two diverse groups perhaps have more in common than not. Can't we all just get along and sing?

Chris Columbus's 2005 film version of the 1996 stage show has much to admire in it. Firstly, Mr. Columbus is an accomplished filmmaker, able to create both intimate moments and full-blown production numbers--and this show requires both.

While it is admirable that much of the original company was cast in the film, I do question how the nearly 10 years of experience may have seasoned these performers beyond what the show's theme can handle. What probably were more raw performances on stage, didn't quite feel believable to me in the film. Of course, this may be due to what I know about the performers' careers after hitting it big in this show. Taye Diggs in now a TV star in a spin-off show. Rosario Dawson is a film star. Idina Mendez is not only married to Taye Digss, but became an even bigger stage star in Wicked. Adam Pascal went on to star in Elton John's Aida. Anthony Rapp went on to be Charlie Brown. Jesse L. Martin is also a star in a bonafide TV franchise. Did I mention this show is about growing up and selling out?

I don't begrudge any of these performers their successes; I only point it out because knowledge of the casts' careers prevented me from believing their characters' viewpoint in this film.

There are a lot of ideas in this film--perhaps too many, which could be the curse of a young playwright, Jonathan Larson. I felt the love affair between Roger and Mimi was cheated a bit, while the death of Angel, the ups and downs of Joanne and Maureen, and the career track of Mark were given equal billing.

There are also a lot of ideas in the music and lyrics of Mr. Larson's score, which again prevents some of the songs from being as powerful as they might be. But I was surprised how much I did like the music in this show--which is not normally my musical cup of ti, or do re mi, either. Ms. Mendez is a powerful singer and I wished to hear more from her. Ms. Dawson did not impress me with her singing, but her pole dancer number was great. Mr. Rapp has a pleasant voice that reached into the upper register effectively. Mr. Pascal perhaps suffered the most under my interest in his 10 years since the live show premiered; he didn't feel or sound believable to me as a raw, rock talent. Perhaps that sound comes through on the 1996 cast album.

Rent
Music, lyrics and book by Jonathan Larson
Opened on Broadway in 1996
Film directed by Chris Columbus premiered in 2005
Cast: Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp, Idina Menzel, Taye Diggs, Rosario Dawson, Tracy Thomas, Jesse L. Martin, Wilson Jermaine Heredia

Fosse television taping of live stage performance

I have to confess, I'm not much into dance. I realize that if I knew the components of the art form better, and understood how they are put together, I would be able to appreciate it more. Sorry, Mr. Fosse, as I understand it, you were a great progenitor of a new style of Broadway dance who created a new language not only in the dance world but also the world of the Broadway musical as a whole. And the 1999 review of your work, Fosse, showcases the wide range of your choreography.

I do know just enough to realize his choreography and direction form a bridge from the so-called "Golden Era" of the Broadway music to more diverse styles of musical which started in the 1960s and continues today.

From the early form comes numbers from Damn Yankees and Pajama Games. Dances from Pippin, Cabaret, Chicago, and Sweet Charity make up much of the new style. Also included are numbers from a television special, Liza with a Z, the film All That Jazz, and a strictly dance concert, Dancing, each which Fosse created and/or choreographed.

The show was put together and the choreography re-created by Ann Reinking, one of the final dancers to work heavily with Mr. Fosse. The former Mrs. Fosse (Gwen Verdon) served as artistic supervisor to the show, forming the link to Fosse's early work. Ms. Verdon died before the taping of the performance near the end of the show's run.

For me the most interesting parts were seeing the similarities in numbers. Often three dancers were used. Movement is often presented in profile. Hats form a big bit in many pieces. And of course, the iconic isolation moves of arms and legs.

There is some singing included in the show, and the best of it is done by Ben Vereen, whose voice sounds surprisingly fresh considering he had made his Broadway debut more than 30 years earlier.

Fosse
Music by many composers
Lyrics by many lyricists
No book
Original choreography Bob Fosse
Presented as a show in 1999
Cast: Ben Vereen, Dana Moore, Ann Reinking, and a bunch of other incredibly limber and energetic dancers.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

An iconic film adaptation of a stage musical is on today's docket. The title may contradict me, but I much prefer the brunette in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Yes, this is a marquee performance for Marilyn Monroe, and her "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" number is a classic, but Jane Russell seems to have a lot more fun.

A lot of Jule Styne's music for the show is not included in the film, so it would be unfair to make any judgement of the score. I need to look for a cast album. Carol Channing played the Marilyn Monroe part on stage. A brief revival of the show in the 1990s starred KT Sullivan and some other people I've never heard of.

Apart from the afore-mentioned "Diamonds" song, also included in the film is "Two Little Girls from Little Rock" which seems to be a reworking of the a song from the show which is just for Lorelei.

Gentleman Prefer Blondes
Music by Jule Styne
Lyrics by Leo Robin
Book by Anita Loos
Film released in 1953 based on the 1949 stage musical
Cast: Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell, Tommy Noonan, Elliot Reid

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat television production on DVD

I think this was produced for television, but it may have been a feature film release. Either way, it's a very lavish, colourful production, basically recreating the stage production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat that swept across the planet in the 1990s. The film was made in 1999, thirty years after the show was created for performance by schoolchildren, and 18 years after if first appeared on Broadway.

I've known versions of this show since the early 1980s when a church in my hometown produced the children's version. I've seen the adult version of the show twice, once in a professional summer stock setting, and once in a community theatre production (where my sister played the hairy Ismaelite--get some waxing already!). In any version this show is a delight--witty without being self-pretentious and telling it's wide-ranging story with a lot of verve.

This film version stars Donny Osmond who has done somewhere around 2000 performances as Joseph around the globe. He was in the Chicago production that was here for seemingly ever, but I never saw it. Hats off to Mr. Osmond. In 1999, he would have been 42 or so; he looks good. And we see quite a bit of him as he spends a lot of the show bare-chested in a loin-cloth. That clean Mormon living has some benefits. More to the point he sounds good singing as Joseph, rarely relying on pop-isms when not appropriate and showing good lyric lines in the big ballad "Close Every Door".

The rest of the cast is also good. Maria Friedman as the Narrator is a new name to me, apparently with a busy musical career in England. And deservedly so; Ms. Friedman has a lovely voice, capable of both belt and lyric singing without an obvious break. She is also a lively performer, although I felt sometime she was overused in the film when she was not singing, and the focus should have been on other performers.

In the cast as Simeon is Jeff Blumenkrantz, whom I will make a point of finding again for my Year--if only to name-drop a bit. Jeff and I did summer stock one year on Cape Cod. He was a star in everything, I was an enthusiastic but unfocused chorus member. Some Google-stalking has shown that Jeff has a successful and wide-ranging career, both as performer and song-writer. His song "I Won't Mind" which I first heard on an album of Audra McDonald is beautiful and haunting.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Lyrics by Tim Rice
Film in 1999
Cast: Donny Osmond, Maria Friedman, Richard Attenborough, Joan Collins, Jeff Blumenkrantz, Ian McNeice, Robert Torti.

Broadway Melody of 1929

It seems that right after the Greeks invented drama in the 5th Century BC, they followed it up by inventing the musical sister act. And one of the first musical sister acts to be put on film must be that of the fictional Mahoney sisters in Broadway Melody of 1929.

While this is billed as an early film musical, I don't know if it has enough music to actually qualify. There are about two songs--fortunately both good, but unfortunately often reprised in the film: "You Belong to Me" and "Broadway Melody".

The plot surrounds scrappy sister Harriet "Hank" (Bessie Love, center), and beautiful sister "Queenie" (Anita Page) and their struggles to make it on Broadway with the help of singer/composer Eddie Kearns (Charles King). Eddie starts out as Hank's long-suffering fiance, but ends up as Queenie's husband. And as shrill as Hank is portrayed, who can blame him for going over the side of the blond.

One of the best things to look at in this film are the clothes the women wear, particularly the cloches hats. There is also a very odd DVD extra with dogs portraying people--straight out of vaudeville.

Broadway Melody of 1929
Music by Nacio Herb Brown
Lyrics by Roger Edens
Directed by Harry Beaumont
Released in 1929 by MGM
Cast: Charles King, Bessie Love, Anita Page, Eddie Kane

Classical Monday--Trouble in Tahiti

Leonard Bernstein is the ultimate cross-over artist, it seems to me: both in terms of his personal popularity as a conductor and performer, but also in his composing life. The line between his classical compositions and his popular compositions is blurred in his one-act chamber opera Trouble in Tahiti.

As this production created in 2001 for BBC television clearly shows, this is a theater work for opera singers. The range and lyric singing required needs performers with that level of training. But the acting challenges are not without their own demands, particularly for Dinah the primary female character stuck in a loveless marriage. Fortunately, soprano Stephanie Novacek is up to the task on all levels. Baritone Karl Daymond is asked significantly less in the acting department as husband Sam, but delivers on the challenging, rangy music. He looks a bit like a cast member of Madmen, without being as totally hot as John Hamm. The other three singers in the piece are a bit like a Greek chorus popping up and commenting on the action.

The production values of this filming are very good, and the house set is particularly fun to see, with all its 1950s kitchen gadgetry.

The tour de force from the score is the title song "Trouble in Tahiti" sung by Dinah after she storms out of a movie of that name. I have heard this song before, but didn't know how it fit into the story of the opera. Well, I'm still not sure--I think on one level it is supposed to show how Dinah's want of adventure has been squelched by a repressive home life. Regardless if or how it comments on Dinah's predicament, it's a wonderful song, giving its singer opportunity for much vocal game-playing and send-ups.

Trouble in Tahiti
Music and lyrics by Leonard Bernstein
Composed in 1952
Produced for BBC Wales in 2001
Released on Opus Arte
Cast: Stephanie Novacek, Karl Daymond, Tom Randle, Toby Stafford-Allen, Mary Hegarty

Ruddigore television production on DVD

This is another in the rather pedestrian British television series of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. I've previously discussed The Mikado and Patience. Like Mikado, this production of Ruddigore includes a "What the Hell!" cast member--namely Vincent Price. Mr. Price does admirably with the dialogue, but doesn't bring a thing to the music.

This was the first G&S in my Year, that I did not previously know--either by having seen it or been in it. My first thought is that there is a lot of dialogue, and that many of the musical numbers seem under-developed. I was also struck by the number of duets in this show--it seems to me that usually only the young lovers have a duet, but in Ruddigore, there are duets for everyone.

The plot revolves around the brothers Murgatroyd, which has to provide some of the best rhymes ever (unemployed, so annoyed, hemmoroid), and a curse on their family in Castle Ruddigore.

The vocal standout in the cast is Sandra Dugdale, who was also in Patience. Ann Howard tries admirably with Mad Margaret, but doesn't quite get there for me--either vocally or acting. Several in the cast (including Mr. Price) are significantly older than their characters, which doesn't work in something as close-up as television.

This is an odd show also for the chorus. The men portray the ghosts of the family Murgatroyd. The women are a roving band of bridesmaids. Neither group has that much to do, not even a rousing final chorus at the happy conclusion.

Ruddigore
Music by Arthur Sullivan
Libretto by William Gilbert
first produced in 1887
filmed for television in 1982
Cast: Sandra Dugdale, Ann Howard, Keith Mitchell, Vincent Price, John Treleaven,

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum film on DVD

Eek, a week since my last entry. Sorry, a combination of work obligations and internet connectivity issues have hog-tied me. So it's a good thing I had a farcical romp like A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum to entertain me.

I didn't realize this had music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. For some reason I thought he did the lyrics only, like he had for Gypsy and West Side Story. But no, he did both for this show. Was this Sondheim's first Broadway score? If so, "Comedy Tonight" is a home-run. The rest of the score is probably greatly compromised from stage to film and doesn't really hold its own.

The clowning does hold its own for me, even if the very 1960s filming techniques seem a bit dated now. Zero Mostel and Jack Gifford reprise their roles from the stage version, which premiered in 1962. Phil Silvers is added to the film along with Buster Keaton, to create a whos-who of top-notch clowns. Bland-ola Michael Crawford is the young lover, Hero. He has the skinniest legs ever, and should never were a toga again. Fortunately, the primary song for Hero "Lovely" is better suited to Crawford's voice than what he was asked to sing in the film version of Hello Dolly.

About ten years ago, this show was remounted with Nathan Lane in the Zero Mostel role. I can imagine the antics being much funnier on stage than on screen, which tends to flatten the action for me sometimes. Mr. Lane was later replaced by Whoopi Goldberg. Did she play the character as a man or a woman? The sex-capades of the romp would change dramatically, depending on that answer.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart
Film directed by Richard Lester
Released in 1966
Cast: Michael Crawford, Zero Mostel, Jack Gifford, Phil Silvers, Buster Keaton, Annette Andre

Naked Boys Singing! film on DVD

Yes, they are singing. Yes, they are naked. And yes, they are definitely boys. And while there is a lot of male genitals on display, there is some heart on display, too, in Naked Boys Singing!

This is a film made to look like a taping of the live stage show, and was released in 2007, almost ten years after the stage show premiered. While much of the filming does justice to the campy fun of the show and most of its numbers, some of the transitions between songs are awkward.

I've often wondered if novelty songs were still being written and, if so, from where they are coming. Well, this show provides a couple of good ones that deserve life outside--and you don't even need to be naked to sing them. "Bliss of a Briss" is particularly funny. The two more sentimental numbers are "Window to Window" which includes a lovely pas de deux, and "Kris, Look What You Missed" is a nice song about a man looking back on long-deceased lover

All the performers are very watchable, if you'll excuse the bum, I mean pun. Jason Currie has the nicest singing voice of the bunch and is well used in his two numbers ("Robert Mitchum" and "The Entertainer"--both of which could be clothed solo numbers in either a man or woman's cabaret act). Some of the performers have attributes other than their singing voices to their credit.

And if you're wondering if I went back to watch some, umm, parts again...yes, I did--twice.



Naked Boys Singing!
Created by Robert Schrock
Music and lyrics by a lot of people
Choreographed and Directed for film by Troy Christian
But for sheer hutzpah alone, all of the cast deserve to be listed: Andrew Blake Ames, Jason Currie, Jaymes Hodges, Joseph Keane, Anthony Manough, Joe Souza, Kevin Alexander Stea, Ethan La Phong, Salvatore Vassallo, Vincent Zamora

Dirty Dancing pre-Broadway live performance

I have to be careful with this one, and judge it for what it is, and not for what I wish it were. I had a clever opening all written in my head when I planned to have this entry appear on Thanksgiving Day. But that would have been unfair, too, for Dirty Dancing: The Classic Story on Stage has a lot going for it and is definitely not a turkey.

The first thing to clarify is right in the title: this is THE classic story. It's not a version of the story. It's not an adaptation of the story. It's not a musicalization of the story. It's THE story. If you know the film, you know this show--down to every scene, every line of dialogue, every gesture, every tracking shot, every location, every note of underscoring. How is that possible, I hear you asking.

Well, this show may go down in history as the most technologically advanced show in Broadway history. Granted, I don't have a lot to judge it against in that regard, but this feels like Broadway 2.0.

To start with the stage mechanics: there is a turntable which lifts up and splits in two, and rotating tracks around the turntable, and lift sections of the stage around the rotating tracks, and pop up doors. To continue with the lighting effects: there are programmable lights with changing patterns, there are scrim projections and projections on proscenium screens and a giant curved-screen television, and there are FOUR mirrored disco balls. To finish with the set pieces: there are at least two bedroom scenes that slide out, numerous dining tables and chairs, and a car that we see from both the front and back and which pivots during one scene.

With all of that stage equipment, I was surprised there was still room for 30 performers. And room for them to dance. Fortunately, the dancing is very good, particularly by Josef Brown as Johnny Castle and Britta Lazenga as Penny Johnson. Both are performers with a lot of legit dance credits--you know, ballet and stuff. Ms. Lazenga danced for seven seasons with the Joffrey Ballet, and given that her legs seem about as long as the whole show, I bet she was good. What was on display in this show certainly was good.

The standout actor in the bunch was Amanda Leigh Cobb as Frances "Baby" Houseman. Ms. Cobb is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama and includes in her bio The Coast of Utopia on Broadway and significant regional company credits. That kind of breeding shows; while keeping the character of Baby distinctly her own, Ms. Cobb manages to hit all the familiar marks that fans of the film will expect. And then she gets lifted into the familiar pose that inhabits the poster for this show.

I'll be interested to see this show's reception when it opens in New York, if it opens in New York. It leaves Chicago in January and goes to Boston for a month.

Dirty Dancing: the Classic Story on Stage
Music is all of the era
Lyrics are the original song lyrics
Book by Eleanor Bergstein from her screenplay for the 1987 film
Live at the Cadillac Palace Theater in Chicago until January 17, then to the Boston Opera House until March 15, 2009
Cast: Josef Brown, Amanda Leigh Cobb, Britta Lazenda, John Bolger

Classical Monday--Lulu live at the Lyric Opera of Chicago

I just love British 60s pop icon Lulu and her ubiquitous song "Shout."

This, however was Alban Berg's 1937 opera, repleat with three very challenging, thickly scored acts and a vocal line akin to a Richter scale reading during the Big One. That said, I couldn't take my eyes or ears off the four-hour production of Lulu which I saw last week at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

The main reason for my rapt attention was the performance of 40-year old German soprano Marlis Petersen, who imbued her characterization with so much life (even in death) that you actually didn't mind that she killed so many of her husbands before being stabbed herself. Fraulein Petersen somehow managed what no other singer in the production could--how to communicate to the other characters on stage (and thereby to the audience) while still staying connected with conductor Sir Andrew Davis and the Lyric Opera Orchestra.

I suppose it is forgivable given the difficulties of this score, but this is not a "park and bark" opera where singers can get away with standing and showing off their lovely lyric voices. This opera demands singing actors, and Petersen met every one of the criteria, while still zinging out high Bs, Cs and Ds when called for.

While certainly not Broadway fare, this opera does have one notable connection to a current Broadway hit: Lulu is based on a couple of plays by Frank Wedekind, whose Spring Awakening was adapted by Duncan Sheik and Steven Slater. So let's hear it for the enfant terrible of German expressionism and his 21st Century interpreter, Marlis Petersen. Wedekind is in good hands.

Lulu
Music by Alban Berg
Libretto by the composer

Presented at Lyric Opera of Chicago (sorry, it closed yesterday)

Directed by Paul Curran
Conducted by Sir Andrew Davis
Cast: Marlis Petersen, William Burden, Wolfgang Schone, Jill Grove