BWW Reviews: Kander, Ebb & Stein's Underappreciated ZORBA! Gets a Robust Encores! Production

Back in 1966, composer John Kander, lyricist Fred Ebb and director/producer Harold Prince had their naïve leading character assure us that "life is a cabaret," in a musical that warned how the hatred that gave rise to Germany's Nazi party paralleled the opposition many white Americans had to the civil rights movement. Cabaret, of course, was a smash.

Two years later, the trio's newest musical, based on Nikos Kazantzakis' novel Zorba the Greek, had a wiser woman advising us in its opening song that "life is what you do while you're waiting to die." A morbid way of putting it, perhaps, but despite the musical's dark textures (there's a murder, a suicide and the threat of rape), Zorba, with a finely-crafted book by Joseph Stein, continually pushed an uplifting message of grabbing at all life has to offer. Its leading character questions an old man's determination to live as though he would never die, preferring, as he puts it, to live as though he would die any minute.

Though not an out-and-out flop, Zorba's nine month run was a disappointment and revisions were made for the ensuing national tour. Further revisions were made when the stars of the hit 1964 film version of the novel, Anthony Quinn and Lila Kedrova starred in a 1983 revival helmed by the movie's director, Michael Cacoyannis. At Quinn's insistence, the opening song's lyric was changed and life became what you do "till the moment you die." The softened up version of the show was a hit for as long as Anthony Quinn wanted to star in it, which was several weeks longer than the original run.

The fine and robust production of Zorba! (the exclamation point now added) mounted by City Center's Encores! this week incorporates some of the revisions and, thankfully, dismisses others. (Life is, once again, what you do while you're waiting to die.) This is a musical that, in its sublime, Greek-inspired, character-driven score and humorous, but realistically honest book, often achieves the brilliance of Cabaret and director Walter Bobbie's concert staging brings much of that brilliance forth.

Don Walker's exciting and atmospheric original orchestrations, played by music director Rob Berman's 30 piece orchestra, prominently features parts for dumbeg, bouzouki and oud. First-timers to the score should be pleased to hear them play a classic John Kander vamp that pre-dates those for "All That Jazz" and "New York, New York."

Though not exactly known as a musical theatre star, John Turturro is a perfect fit for the title role, a boisterous middle-aged traveler with a troubled past determined to enjoy whatever time is left by going wherever his feet take him. His singing voice may not be especially musical, but he's in there singing every note and when he dances it's a passionate expression of what his character is feeling.

He's paired with the wonderfully impish Zoë Wanamaker as Madame Hortense, a former cabaret chanteuse with fond memories of her kittenish past, now renting rooms in her home on the outskirts of a mining village in Crete. Like Turturro, she is not exactly a singer, and she speaks her lyrics now and then, but the fine classical actress conveys the meaning of every musical emotion with charm and pathos.

What brings the two of them together is that Zorba has talked his way into a job managing the reopening of an inactive coal mine. The owner, a young American named Niko (Santino Fontana), is visiting the mine for the first time after inheriting it.

Shy and inexperience in life and love, Niko is attracted to a young widow (Elizabeth A. Davis) who has become the target of harassment for the unemployed minors of the town, who perceive her quiet introversion as an elitist attitude. The earnest Fontana and the frightened Davis provide some touching moments as their characters' relationship hesitantly begins to blossom.

Kander and Ebb were hesitant to write the score for Zorba until Prince conceived the idea of having the tale told by a rowdy group of musicians and actors improvising entertainment in an old Greek café, led by a woman who sings commentary on the action. Sadly, that concept has been dropped for this production, along with the opening lyrics that lead up to "Life Is (What You Do While You're Waiting To Die)" and give the sentiment greater impact.

Marin Mazzie sings the role of the choral leader, but without the opening scene to explain her presence, there is no indication of who she is and from what vantage point she and the chorus members are commenting, stagnating the evening's momentum instead of propelling it. On top of that, the normally engaging Mazzie seems oddly reserved and emotionally distant singing lyrics that express the raw passion and sexuality of the piece.

As with many questionably revised revivals, the strength of Zorba's material is enough to provide someone unfamiliar with the musical an intriguing and satisfying time, but, despite some very good work throughout, Zorba is a better musical than what this concert production conveys.

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