Review - The Blue Flower

Three years ago I posted a review emphatically praising the Prospect Theatre Company's developmental production of Jim and Ruth Bauer's The Blue Flower, calling it, "a unique, intelligent and wondrously creative evening of musical theatre" that "skillfully tackles the tricky business of mixing the art of musical theatre with the anti-art movement of Dada." A German creation born amidst the rubble of the First World War, Dada was an artistic, literary and theatrical movement that attacked the sensibilities of a culture that could send millions of young men to slaughter by celebrating anarchy and irrationality.

At the end of the year I named The Blue Flower my favorite theatre offering of 2008, particularly praising the score's delicate highlight, "Eiffel Tower," a glistening ballad about accepting the changes that come from tragedy.

Unfortunately, I find myself less enthused about the higher-profile production of the musical which has now opened at Second Stage. Directed by Will Pomerantz, who has staged all four productions of the piece, beginning with its 2004 mounting at the New York Musical Theatre Festival, the proceedings seem to have been injected with an unhealthy dose of lugubrious reality. Characters have been reinterpreted (and at least a couple made significantly less interesting) and much of the musical's absurdist spirit has been toned down. Perhaps a hint of what happened can be found in the billing. Jim Bauer, who wrote the score, was credited at Prospect as having written the book based on Ruth Bauer's story. The musical's official website now credits them as co-bookwriters. I would need copies of both librettos in front of me to catch specific details and determine if the difference lies mainly in the text or the interpretation, but the upshot is that what was once a thoughtful and emotionally thick musical about the emergence of Dada that told its story in a theatrical manner that emulated the movement now comes off as a musical about Dada told more conventionally.

But even in this not-quite-peak form, there is enough true brilliance and originality in the evening to capture the attention of anyone interested in the growth of musical theatre as a dramatic art. The four main characters, suggested by the lives of artists Max Beckman, Franz Marc and Hannah Hoch and scientist Marie Curie, observe and react to the drastic episodes of an ever-changing Europe in the first half of the 20th Century in a narrative primarily spoken aloofly by a certain Mr. O. (Graham Rowat).

The focus is on Max (Marc Kudisch) looking back on his life through items pasted into a scrapbook. The structure resembles a theatrical collage utilizing archival and imitation archival film footage (created by the Bauers) with a fascinating collection of theatre songs that combine the period Weimar sound with American country-western (Max is a big fan of cowboys.), including a fun moment when Kurt Weill is quoted with a pronounced twang. The result acts as a living art instillation; a fact-based fictional musical documentary.

Known for his robust traditional Broadway baritone, Kudisch's highlight moments in The Blue Flower come when Max sings and speaks in his invented language, Maxperanto, which was born out of a life-threatening situation. English translations are projected, but the lovely sound of the syllables is so warmly embraced by the actor that there is great beauty even without the knowledge of meaning.

Sebastian Arcelus is sweetly engaging as the innocent Franz, whose love of horses prompts him to join the cavalry in a war that didn't end until "Germany ran out of 17-year olds." Megan McGeary, who I saw in 2008, once again plays Dadaist cabaret artist, Hannah ("I wish I could eat enough as I'd like to puke," she sings.) with luscious zest but her rebelliously nonsensical performance pieces get swallowed up in Beowulf Boritt's rather drab set, a large structure of wooden staircases and platforms. And while Teal Wicks has a fine singing voice her Marie lacks the qualities that would turn her "Eiffel Tower" into a heartbreaking character moment.

Musical theatre is difficult enough as it is and, despite any negative comments on my part, The Blue Flower is to be admired for its daring and appreciated for its effectiveness. It's musical theatre for those who really care about musical theatre.

Photos by Ari Mintz: Top: Aaron Serotsky, Marc Kudisch and Julia Osborne; Bottom: Megan McGeary.

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