European Music, American Musicals: An Interview with Roger Rees

It might strike some as strange that a European actor with only one musical theatre credit to his name would host an evening charting the European influence on the evolution of the American musical. But when that actor is Tony-award winning star Roger Rees, the newly-appointed Artistic Associate of the esteemed Collegiate Chorale, and the evening is the Chorale's celebration of European composers in America, it doesn't just make sense. It seems as though it couldn't be otherwise.

Roger Rees became involved with the Chorale when he narrated Oberon for them at Carnegie Hall in 2002. "There," he recalls, "I met the charismatic and brilliant maestro of the company, Robert Bass, and we hit it off." Rees affectionately describes Bass as an "endlessly curious and witty fellow," and says that they work well together because they both find "excitement in trying to find many ways for the human voice and music to correspond to each other." He describes his association with the Chorale as "endlessly happy," and adds that "it's a joyous thing to work with music like this. It's thrilling."

Since becoming involved with the Chorale, Rees has contributed his talents to several events for the group, most notably narrating last year's hit concert of Kurt Weill music, which featured Bebe Neuwirth and Larry Marshall. "This evening is in a similar format to that," he says. "We're celebrating the incredible work of Victor Herbert, Rudolf Friml and Sigmund Romberg." These musicians, European by birth but American in attitude, brought music from their countries of origin to America, and in the early part of the 20^th century, directly contributed to the development of what became a uniquely American art form: the musical. This creation could only have happened in America because of the very nature of the cliched melting pot culture. "Every one of us came to America in the last three or four generations," Rees explains, "and many sorts of people brought their music to America: memories of grand opera, Viennese waltzes, French operetta, and European music hall. They all sort of come together in this extraordinary mixture, which became American operetta, which... lead to birth of the American musical."

The evening will feature selections from many different shows, but will also focus on Herbert's Naughty Marietta and Romberg's collaboration with Oscar Hammerstein II, The Desert Song. These two operettas from the early part of the century are, today, largely credited with begetting the modern musical. "[The audience will get] a refreshing appreciation for this all-too-easily dismissed music," Rees says. "It's very beautiful and extremely melodic, but also very human." Ultimately, he says, "the evening is a celebration of the very roots of the American musical itself."

The Collegiate Chorale: An Evening of American Operetta will be presented on Tuesday, February 1st at 8:00pm at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall. Tickets are $25-60. Call (917)-322-2140 for more information, or visit www.collegiatechorale.org.