Encores!, the well-established and popular series of quickie revivals of seldom-seen Broadway musicals, now has a younger sibling. Called Encores! Off-Center, it hopes to follow in its predecessor’s successful footsteps by offering up semi-staged versions of Off-Broadway shows.
To judge from its first production at
City Center, Marc Blitzstein’s Depression-era musical The Cradle Will
Rock, it is still a little wobbly on its feet.
In a speech before the invited dress
rehearsal, artistic director Jeanine Tesori talked nervously about the
breakneck speed at which everyone involved put the production together. But,
with all due respect (and I do have tremendous respect for the near-miracles
that Encores! has pulled off over the years), if you want to be part of the
Encores! family, that’s how they operate.
So, let’s take a look at this first
effort.
On the plus side, the cast is
wonderful, with outstanding performances by Anika Noni Rose, playing both the
downtrodden prostitute Moll and the condescending woman-of-wealth Mrs. Mister;
Judy Kuhn as a corrupt newspaper editor; and Danny Burstein as the
arrogant and powerful Mr. Mister, owner of the steel mill and pretty much
everyone and everything in the town. In smaller but key roles, Raúl Esparza and Da’Vine Joy Randolph give rousing
star-turn performances of their respective numbers as well.
However, there are some
problems, beginning with the fact that—even though the talented Sam Gold is
credited as director—this is a concert production, not even partially staged.
In truth, Encores! itself does not always hit a homerun in the staging
department, but still…a concert is a concert. If you go, know that
you will be seeing folks dressed in tuxes and gowns sitting on a row of chairs
and rising to sing at stand mikes.
Second, while the
performers are nicely accompanied by a 13-piece orchestra, under the sure hand
of Chris Fenwick, the orchestrations are not the ones that Mr. Blitzstein
wrote; rather, they have been written by Josh Clayton. Mr. Clayton
is a fine orchestrator, but using the originals is kind of a hallmark of
Encores! productions and serves its mission well.
The Cradle Will Rock has a famous (indeed, legendary) history surrounding its first performance, which featured Mr. Blitzstein doing solo duties at the piano. The new orchestrations are cool, but the originals would have been cooler, and having just a piano accompanying the singers would have been coolest. A couple of years back, I saw a piano-accompanied production by Theater 1010 at the Park Avenue Christian Church. It was vibrant, very well performed, and strove to capture the feel of the 1937 original. I was hoping for the same again.
The Cradle Will Rock has a famous (indeed, legendary) history surrounding its first performance, which featured Mr. Blitzstein doing solo duties at the piano. The new orchestrations are cool, but the originals would have been cooler, and having just a piano accompanying the singers would have been coolest. A couple of years back, I saw a piano-accompanied production by Theater 1010 at the Park Avenue Christian Church. It was vibrant, very well performed, and strove to capture the feel of the 1937 original. I was hoping for the same again.
As for the musical
itself, The Cradle Will Rock is a solid work, thanks to Mr.
Blitzstein’s timeless and always-engaging jazz and pop-infused score. It
certainly owes much to Brecht and Weill—and the Encores! Off-Center production,
which has shrunk the show to a taut 90 minutes, plays up the themes of corruption
and cynicism, which, for obvious reasons, resonate with today’s
audiences. It even evokes the spirit of the founder of the
philosophy of cynicism, Diogenes, though the use of one of his more stinging
quotes displayed in large letters on the back wall: “In the rich
man’s house, the only place to spit is in his face.”
If you’ve never seen a
production of The Cradle Will Rock, I do recommend you go. This
initial outing by Encores! Off-Center may disappoint for the reasons I’ve
explained, but given the caliber of talent singing into those mikes, it is
certainly worth the visit.
By the way, the other
two productions for this initial season are the already-sold-out single
performance of Jeanine Tesori’s own Violet (starring
Sutton Foster), and Nancy Ford’s I’m Getting My Act Together and Taking It
On the Road.
I wish Encores!
Off-Center well. To have a home like this for Off Broadway musicals
is a splendid enterprise. Some suggestions: The Secret
Life of Walter Mitty, Dames At Sea, Little Mary
Sunshine, or even something else by Blitzstein, perhaps No For An
Answer, his follow-up to The Cradle Will Rock.
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