Review: A MINISTER'S WIFE: Love, Marriage, and the Poetry in Between

With audacity and distinction, SAPAC concludes another impressive season with A MINISTER'S WIFE, a chamber opera based on CANDIDA, George Bernard Shaw's 1898 sociopolitical comedy. Theater fans will recall PYGMALION, another Shaw masterpiece that spawned the plot idea for MY FAIR LADY.

Let me state the obvious: While Shavian wit is expected, the shows are nothing alike, particularly from a musical context. Note, however, that the song-heavy production has significant dialogue to suit Mr. Shaw's magniloquent appetite.

It's reasonable to be old-school in your preference for tuneful classics, but expectations are best curbed on this one since composer Joshua Schmidt had other plans besides emulating Lerner and Lowe.

A MINISTER'S WIFE is an acquired flavor, and that's a good thing. SAPAC never promised to whet our palate with sweet, predictable cuisine. That the company is capable of offering an alternative fare is refreshing, to say the least.

Schmidt's score employs a dissonant variety that exploits the foibles and whimsy of Victorian sensibilities. Schmidt had previously impressed the cognoscenti with his groundbreaking score and libretto for ADDING MACHINE, a musical adaptation of Elmer Rice's play of the same title.

In A MINISTER'S WIFE, the composer's collaboration with Austin Pendleton (book), and Jan Levy Tranen (lyrics) dilutes his influence on CANDIDA's transcription, relegating the audience to a compendiary version that eliminates, among other elements, Candida's businessman father - a staunch capitalist foil to her socialist husband, the Reverend James Morell. Just as well, I suppose, given the daunting task of mixing up politics with a love triangle.

And what a unique triangle. Jodi Darling is an ebullient and engaging Candida who wields enough sass to hold her own ground in a man's domain. She is also tender and adorable, which is sufficient justification for a young poet to fall head-over-heels in love with her.

That poet, Eugene Marchbanks, is played with desperate abandon by Jeremy Vega (there's enough tongue-in-cheek treatment to retain the humor). Vega's lyric tenor is achingly stirring, his solos deliberately melodic as if Schmidt devised it to isolate a lovelorn soul.

The title is perhaps the principal conceit here inasmuch as Candida barely takes center stage. It's about James Morell's transformation as much as it is about Marchbanks' eventual recognition of his own youthful folly. It's about the decisions we learn to live with when we choose to define a path forward.

Dennis Tamblyn completes the triangle as Reverend James Morell, he of noble virtue and idealistic impulse. A dramatic tenor, Tamblyn may find Morell's baritone range less challenging than usual, and he's skilled enough to render a low register with relative ease. He tends to slip in and out of the English dialect, most notably during heated crosstalks with Vega's Marchbanks, whose British delivery appears most reliable of the five-person ensemble. Tamblyn can always be counted on to carry the weight of a show on his back, but here he has the good fortune of a solid cast to get it done.

Which brings up the two remaining cast members, splendid in their roles as parish staff Prossy Garnett and Lexy Mill (Kate Scally and Steven Wright, respectively). Scally is a fine mezzo-soprano with an exceptional command of a character's nuances. Likewise, Wright is a winsome curate with a lyrical discernment, a rather ideal choice to assist the charismatic and imposing James Morell.

Director Susan Stokes ought to be proud of her first outing with SAPAC, though clearly her résumé proves a hefty background in the performing arts. Annette Hillman provides a handsome scenic touch, certainly becoming of a Victorian London interior. Daniela Ayala's costumes are delicate, refined, and appropriately stuffy.

Last but not least, kudos to the ever-dependable Elizabeth Spencer on the piano, who leads an exquisite band composed of violin (Rose Tadero), cello (Marguerite Salajko), and bass clarinet (Ethan Brown). It's a dynamic quartet that could stand to do a show on their own.

A MINISTER'S WIFE has an approximate run time of 110 minutes with no intermission. The Wall Street Journal hailed it as "the most important new musical to come to New York since LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA." It continues through Sunday, March 13, at The Scoundrel and Scamp Theatre.

Photo Credit: Blake Adam

For tickets, call 401-594-4895 or visit www.sapactucson.org/tickets

email: boxoffice.sapac@gmail.com

Scoundrel & Scamp Theatre
738 N. 5th Ave
Sutie 131 in the Historic Y
Tucson, AZ 85705

To post a comment, you must register and login.