Two Gentlemen of Verona--Original Broadway Cast Album

I happened across the CD release of this show in a bin at the library and knowing absolutely nothing about it (except assuming the story was at least based on the Shakespeare of the same title) I thought I'd give it a whirl. I hadn't realized that Galt MacDermot had written another musical besides Hair, but he did and it is Two Gentlemen of Verona.

Well, this one is going back to the library as soon as possible. I have no desire to hear any of it again, nor to investigate the show or its score any further. I find it remarkable that this show beat out Sondheim's Follies for the Best Musical Tony Award for 1972. Well, Follies has been revived often, and Two Gentlemen, never (at least on Broadway), so I guess Sondheim has the last laugh.

There was only one song of the 34 on the CD that I wanted to listen closely to, or hear again; the funny and satirical "Bring All the Boys Back Home" is still surprisingly timely given that it was written almost 40 years ago. But then, world leaders have been hiding behind and capitalizing on war since the Greeks ransacked Troy.

I was sorry that none of the singing voices captured my attention, either. Clifton Davis has a pleasant enough voice, but doesn't sing any songs that really lets it shine. Raul Julia may have been a mega-wattage stage presence (as the very good liner notes to this recording say), but it is not obvious from the cast album.

My primary problem with the score is that it seems to lack the infectious fun of Hair, as well as the singability.

Two Gentlemen of Verona

Music by Galt MacDermot

Lyrics by John Guare

Book adapted from Shakespeare by John Guare and Mel Shapiro

Opened 1971

Cast: Raul Julia, Clifton Davis, Diana Davila, Jonelle Allen, John Bottoms

Lost in the Stars--film on DVD

Kurt Weill's career and works are generally divided into two sections, his Wiemar Germany days-- which include Threepenny Opera, the Mahagonny songspiel and opera, and The Seven Deadly Sins--and his Broadway efforts, which include Street Scene, Lady in the Dark, and One Touch of Venus. The two periods contrast one another in themes, musical styles, and structure.

However, Lost in the Stars, Weill's final Broadway effort before his death in 1950, feels to me like a synthesis of the two Kurt Weills. Here is the theme of poverty and the struggles of "have-nots" against "haves" from his early works. Also musically, this show uses its chorus much as the German Weill used the chorus--commenting on the action and extolling some of the inner dialogue of the main characters. While there are certainly more tuneful songs in Lost in the Stars than in Threepenny Opera, some of Stars' music sounds like the Wiemar Weill, too--harsher, more confrontational, and angry.

Perhaps it is the story line that lead Weill to include these aspects in the score. Based on Alan Paton's Cry the Beloved Country, Stars follows the story of Stephen Kumalo a Black, rural South African minister looking for his grown son in the slums of Johannesburg. When he finds him, the son Absalom has shot a wealthy white man and is going on trial for murder. Despite Absalom's repentance and decision to tell the story truthfully in court, he is found guilty and sentenced to die by hanging, while his cohorts lie about their involvement and are let go for lack of evidence against them. The elder Kumalo resigns his post as minister, because he finds he can not see God's justice in this world. That nihilist viewpoint seems right out of Weill's days with Bertold Brecht.

There are several beautiful songs in this score that are not heard enough elsewhere. The title song, sung by Stephen Kumalo when he is asking God for help for those of us "Lost in the Stars", is the most familiar tune of the show. Rightfully so, it is a lovely lyric and a fine legato tune. I had also heard the song "Trouble Man" from this score and like it very much, but I was also taken with the song "Stay Well" sung by the same character (Irina, the pregnant girlfriend of the condemned man).

This film version of the 1949 show was made in the 1970s and at times is a little awkward in its camera-work. Brock Peters as the elder Kumalo has a wonderful resonant baritone and delivers his songs well. Melba Moore as Irina sells "Trouble Man" for all it's worth, but struggles somewhat with the more challenging "Stay Well". Clifton Davis as the younger Kumalo has one song that seemed very much in the Wiemar style--angry, tuneless, and with a chorus commenting on his emotion and action.

As I first sat down to watch this, I wondered why concert stagings and opera house versions of Weill's Broadway shows happen regularly, but Lost in the Stars is not done. Having watched and listened, I know why. In addition to the challenges of finding a primarily African cast, there are great sections of this show that feel stylistically awkward and would be a challenge for a contemporary audience, despite the still-timely issues of race relations and struggles with poverty.


Lost in the Stars
Music by Kurt Weill
Book and lyrics by Maxwell Anderson
Opened on Broadway in 1949, film version released in 1974
Cast: Clifton Davis, Melba Moore, Brock Peters