Review - Lost In The Stars

In April of 1949, Rodgers and Hammerstein shocked the Theatre World by writing a song for their new musical professing that humans developed racial prejudice by nurture and not by nature. Later that same year, a scene in the new musical by Maxwell Anderson and Kurt Weill showed two racially different young boys innocently striking up a quick friendship, unaware of why anyone would object.

More than sixty years later, Rodgers and Hammerstein's (and Joshua Logan's) South Pacific is deservedly considered a masterpiece of American musical theatre and the inclusion of "Carefully Taught" is remembered as a daring social and political statement that defied conventional wisdom. Weill and Anderson's Lost In The Stars, though critically praised, never enjoyed popular success and, aside from those with a passion for musical theatre's history, has been lost to the years. And yet, without any disregard for the former, Lost In The Stars, which argues that white oppressors must share the guilt for crimes committed by oppressed blacks, seems the riskier, more adventuresome and overall more interesting achievement. And as shown in this weekend's City Center Encores! concert staging, it is packed with gorgeous and emotional musical moments.

Having written Knickerbocker Holiday a decade earlier, this was the pair's second collaboration; the finale for Weill, who would pass on the next year. Their unusual choice for adaptation to the Broadway musical stage was South African author Alan Paton's 1948 dramatic novel of the racial divide that would eventually lead to apartheid, Cry, the Beloved Country. The plot, which alters the novel's narrative slightly, concerns a black rural preacher, Stephen Kumalo, whose son, Absalom, had previously set out for Johannesburg to make a life for himself. Not having heard from him in a year, Stephen makes a trip to the city and finds that Absalom and two other men are awaiting trial for attempted robbery in an incident where his son accidentally killed a white man who was both a family friend and an activist for racial equality. Absalom's friends have a chance to escape punishment by playing the legal game and lying in court but Stephen can't imagine his son doing anything but tell the truth and leave the rest in God's hands.

Though Weill is best known for the emotionally detached social criticisms he wrote in Germany with Bertolt Brecht, his music for Lost In The Stars, which he himself orchestrated for only 12 pieces, represents his most dramatically rich work. A choir that narrates and offers commentary receives its vibrant sound from the composer's adaptation of South African music. Stephen's solos are drawn from inspirational hymns and a number set in a Johannesburg nightclub sticks out for its jazz licks. Anderson's book and lyrics, in the style of musical dramas of the day, is filled with heart-on-its-sleeve sincerity and warm, simple poetry.

The mission of Encores! has traditionally been to highlight the scores of musicals that are rarely heard with their full orchestrations and the music and lyrics are certainly the stars of director Gary Griffin's minimally staged production. With the company spending much of its time singing on concert risers leading up to a platform for conductor Rob Berman and his players, the evening is musically exceptional. But David Ives' editing of the text and Griffin's lack of character work dilute the book's effectiveness, particularly in its ability to raise the score to dramatic heights.

Chuck Cooper provides a strong, sympathetic central presence as the humble Stephen Kumalo, particularly touching in the tenderness he brings to the beautiful title song, where the man of faith questions his trust that God is looking out for him. Quentin Earl Darrington is mighty charismatic as the leader of the commentating choir; his baritone soaring with anguish in "Cry, the Beloved Country," where he laments the loss of his people's culture, but the production never fully connects the two men; making it clear that the choral leader freely expresses what Kumalo keeps in his heart.

Absalom is played with a fine combination of innocence and nobleness by Daniel Breaker and Sherry Boone, as his pregnant girlfriend sings her solos with an enthusiastic belt. In their non-singing roles Sharon Washington and John Douglas Thompson spend all-too-little time on stage and the best spoken acting scenes of the night are between Cooper and Daniel Gerroll, who plays the wealthy father of the man Absalom killed, struggling with his own upbringing and the different way of life his son was fighting for.

Two unexpected showstoppers help lighten the mood a bit. In the first act, Patina Miller sizzles with sexy hip action in her jazzy nightclub number and near the end of the musical young Jeremy Gumbs' loudly and joyously belts his novelty song, "Big Mole," which got a rousing hand from the opening night patrons.

Photos by Joan Marcus: Top: Chuck Cooper and Sharon Washington; Bottom: Clifton Duncan, Daniel Breaker, Chike Johnson and Company.

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Name your musical The Road To Qatar! and in less than five words and an exclamation point you've communicated to your audience what to expect; a zany, lightweight, tuneful fish-out-of-water comedy set in an exotic locale featuring a Bob Hope/Bing Crosby-ish pair with a healthy dose of sex and romance provided by a Dorothy Lamour-ish babe. And for a good deal of their pocket-sized ninety-minute musical, Stephen Cole (book and lyrics) and David Krane (music) deliver as promised. At its best, The Road To Qatar! is a funny, breezy musical comedy hoot with some legitimately toe-tapping melodies. But while enjoyable, the material isn't quite memorable, though the current production at The York has the feel of an early version of something that could be whipped into a pretty terrific show.

The production's big selling point is that the story presented on stage is nearly 100% true, beginning with the fact that one day in 2005, the two writers, who had barely known each other, each received an email from a representative of the Emir of Qatar, offering them a lot of money to pen a new musical for the opening of what would be the world's largest domed soccer stadium.

The boys, described in a catchy song as, "Two short Jews who write musical comedy," are soon on the road to... well, Dubai, at first... where they're granted every luxury that can be offered (except alcohol) in exchange for scripting an enormous spectacle that adheres to all the Emir's requirements; among them, the story must be about a sultan's son who, for some inexplicable reason, cannot leave the palace. There must be room in the plot for a herd of camels, a flock of falcons, a flying carpet, a full ballet troupe, a team of acrobats and an appearance by Muhammad Ali (yes, the boxer). Also, the musical must be named Aspire and there must be a Ricky Martin-type title song for the finale that repeats the word "aspire" ten times.

The theatre lobby has a wall full of photos of the actual production on display, and although I didn't spot the champ in any of them, it seems all the demands were met. And that's part of the show's major problem; there really isn't much of a plot. The Qataris make demands and the writers, perhaps after minor resistance, swallow their artistic integrity and do what they're told. There's lots of gags about musical comedy, living on the Middle East, demanding Jewish mothers and being gay but there's no danger, no conflict, no romance, no bonding between the main characters or anything else to frame the jokes into story worth following. There's the suggestion that the Qatari are in for some suffering if the show isn't a hit with the Emir but none of that seems to be of any concern to our heroes. A little less truth replaced by some interesting fiction might be in order.

Fortunately director Phillip George, who mounted several editions of Forbidden Broadway, has a knack for freewheeling fun and he has an excellent cast of comics to work with. Standing in for the real-life authors are Keith Gerchak, playing the composer as a New York Jewish neurotic in the Woody Allen tradition, and the snazzy James Beaman as the bookwriter/lyricist. Bill Nolte plays the producer as a big demanding blowhard, very much in the "Road" picture style of villains and Bruce Warren also has his broad, funny moments as both an Ethel Merman-loving special consultant and a flamboyant Italian director. Sarah Stiles combines a Dorothy Lamour look with a hilarious comic sense as the shy Lebanese translator. She's an absolute scream in the evening's funniest routine, where she attempts to accurately mimic her boss' violent outbursts.

Though the travels of Hope, Crosby and Lamour are remembered for their silliness, they were balanced out with realistic moments that kept the audience involved with the characters. Real life has given The Road To Qatar! its silliness. Now all that's needed is to create some realism in which to wrap it up.

Photos by Carol Rosegg: Top: James Beaman and Keith Gerchak; Bottom: Sarah Stiles, Keith Gerchak, Bruce Warren, James Beaman and Bill Nolte.

Click here to follow Michael Dale on Twitter.

"The theatre is the involuntary reflex of the ideas of the crowd."
-- Sarah Bernhardt

The grosses are out for the week ending 2/6/2011 and we've got them all right here in BroadwayWorld.com's grosses section.

Up for the week was: DRIVING MISS DAISY (17.0%), Colin Quinn: LONG STORY SHORT (4.9%), THE LION KING (3.6%), MAMMA MIA! (3.3%), MARY POPPINS (2.9%), MEMPHIS (0.4%),

Down for the week was: Million Dollar Quartet (-16.2%), THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (-15.6%), AMERICAN IDIOT (-13.8%), LOMBARDI (-12.9%), THE ADDAMS FAMILY (-11.2%), SPIDER-MAN TURN OFF THE DARK (-7.4%), CHICAGO (-5.4%), BILLY ELLIOT: THE MUSICAL (-4.5%), WICKED (-3.1%), THE MERCHANT OF VENICE (-2.4%), LA CAGE AUX FOLLES (-2.4%), JERSEY BOYS (-1.4%), THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST (-0.8%),

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