Review: Hysterically Funny BACH AT LEIPZIG at Group rep

Bach at Leipzig/by Itamar Moses/directed by Calvin Remsberg/Group rep, NoHo/through May 1

Musical geniuses of yesteryear like Vivaldi, Handel, Mozart or Bach ... ah, a chosen few who left an unparalleled legacy...but not without bitter resentment and treachery from rivals, some talented, some not... Remember Amadeus by Peter Schaeffer? Salieri stopped at nothing to thwart Mozart's success. Well, now Itamar Moses pits not one, but seven musicians against one another for the coveted position of choirmaster/organist after Johann Kunau dies literally at the organ at Thomaskirche, Leipzig in 1722. There's a flurry of fanciful farce amongst the competitiveness currently onstage in Moses's Bach at Leipzig at Group rep, directed by the brilliant Calvin Remsberg and boasting a devilishly versatile cast, through May 1.

Die hard classical music fans will have a field day listening to the hysterically funny, egomaniacal rivals, as they introduce themselves. The entire storyline is akin to a fugue where each adds something different, yet maintains the harmony - or in this case, discord - of the whole. Flawed to the max, they all expect to be appointed...each and every one of them. Another very funny point is that every one of them is named either Johann or Georg. Fasch (Chris Winfield) and Schott (Larry Eisenberg) were former students of Kunau, and are the first on the scene. Schott still works and resides in Leipzig; Fasch, like five others, has traveled back because he has been invited by the council to audition for the prestigious post. Fasch's deceptive issue is that he is addicted to opium. Vociferous, vainglorious...and simple-minded, Schott considers himself the top contender, but was never allowed by Kunau to teach classes in the music school. Like an impudent fool, he is the only one who does not know the reason. Fasch explains that he simply wasn't good enough, that he lacked the necessary talent and flair. Lenck (Troy Whitaker) is the next to arrive...a gambler and petty crook, with only the clothes on his back to call his own. Then in tow come Kaufmann (Lloyd Pedersen), intelligent, but in a world of his own, and Steindorff (Mikel Parraga-Wills), the rabble rousing avenger, who challenges Lenck to pay his father the gambling debts he owes him or face imprisonment. Next there's Graupner (Todd Andrew Ball), the gayest man of the motley group, who will stoop lower to make illegal deals with many of the other contenders, but be the first to bellyache and deny it. The last, Teleman (Steve Terrell) is considered the greatest organist in Germany, and makes his splashy entrances and exits without a single word of dialogue, kind of like an impresario who resides ten leagues above the others.

Using the history of the eighteenth century which includes the Enlightenment and the impending changes at hand in art and culture, Moses twists and turns facts to his own pleasure just as he has taken real musicians and imbibed their characters with fictitious flaws that he wishes them to have, to suit the ludicrousness of the plot. What makes the story even funnier with all the lies, deceit, lechery, treachery, forgery, bribery and blackmail is that it all takes place within the walls of a church. Some like Schott persist at being devout; others like Fasch have turned against the Lutheran church, predestination... and the supposed godliness in the music, in favor of art for art's sake. To him it is content and not form that matters. Across the street from the church, by the way, is a tavern for the wenchen swein, called a new music shop... where the musicians like to ply their wares (ha ha!). There are attacks on the Italian musical composition of Vivaldi and Handel in England, unaware that Johann Sebastian Bach - who wins out over all the others - has revised the fugues to incorporate many of these non-German styles.

The ensemble under Remsberg's true genius are really enjoying themselves onstage, and this is the highest honor they can pay to an audience. Every actor has his moment in the spotlight. Eisenberg and Winfield have never been better as Schott and Fasch. They pull out all the stops and let the farce fly, as do Whitaker, Pedersen, Ball, and Wills. I must credit Wills for his terrific physicality and pratfalls, and the entire cast for the sustained fugue at play's end, which Remsberg has guided most miraculously. Also, kudos to A. Jeffrey Schoenberg for his outstanding period costumes, which add so much color, flair and meaning to the play; praise as well to Wig Rescue for the great period wigs. The fight choreography by Adam Conn is superb, and scenic and lighting design by J. Kent Inasy is wonderful, making the stage deeper and more expansive like the lobby, vestibule of a cathedral.

Not a single woman on board! This is an all male production with a harmony and unity that is first-rate. It takes a bunch of scalawags to carry off this type of farce...and this cast is more than up to the challenge. Don't miss Bach at Leipzig! You'll laugh your knickers off!

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