Volume 17 Issue 8 - May 2012

Laurence Lemieux is Lily Bartin House of Mirth.of New York salon culture inthe early 20th century. Ironically, heuses the piece to expose the repressive manners andmanipulations of the society that treasured the form — a “hot-houseof traditions and conventions,” as Edith Wharton called it.In the novel, Wharton charts the descent of Lily Bart froma glittering social circle in 1890s New York to poverty and asolitary death, her dreams of marriage — whether for wealth or forlove — shattered by convention and her own conflicted desires. Thechallenge for Kudelka and his collaborators has been to create avocabulary of music, movement, and theatre that evokes the novel’smoral issues while, simultaneously, it illustrates Lily’s inner life thatevolves through her relationships with a number of men.For composer Rodney Sharman, this challenge is tantamount tocreating a structure that unites the disparate elements of the score.The music, he explains, “must set an atmosphere for the dance”;equally as crucial, it “must convey the most important moments inLily’s story.” The songs sung by the men in From the House of Mirthuse Poch-Godin’s libretto to convey much, but not all, of the exposition.“In the pivotal scene where Lily is disinherited,” Sharmannotes, “there is no song whatsoever.” Moments like this lead him toremark, “it is a testament to the power of dance that the women inthe piece can communicate so much, so fully, without using words.”At the end of Wharton’s novel, when Lily dies from an overdoseof a sleeping powder, her complicity in the event is left ambiguous.Not so Wharton’s attitude to the milieu she depicts with her cautionarytale. Summarizing its theme as “lost illusions and destructivemelancholy” she pares her point-of-view to a succinct descriptionthat highlights the novel’s social critique. Coincidentally, one couldapply her summary to the characters in Rent. At least for them,however, love survives, even as idealism fades.Ah, New York, New York: “if you can make it there, you canmake it anywhere …” Plus ça change …And THERE’s MORE!May is the month for musical adaptations (or so it appears this year),at least two of which deserve mention in addition to those above.Opening early in the month is West Side Story, one of the mostfamous adaptations in recent history, in a touring version presentedby Dancap Productions. Inspired by William Shakespeare’s Romeoand Juliet, the book by Arthur Laurents updates the rivalry betweenthe Capulets and Montagues to New York’s Upper West Side in themid-1950s where the Jets and the Sharks, two teenage gangs, fightto control the streets. The Sharks and their Puerto Rican heritageare taunted by the Jets, a white working-class gang, even as Tony,a Jet, falls for Maria, the sister of Bernardo, leader of the Sharks.With a soaring score by Leonard Bernstein, poetic lyrics by StephenSondheim, and the electric choreography of Jerome Robbins, theshow is one of the great achievements of American musical theatre.West Side Story premiered on Broadway in 1957. Fifty years later,Arthur Laurents undertook a major revival of the show by weavingSpanish lyrics and dialogue into the English libretto, arguing that“the musical theatre and cultural conventions of 1957 made it nextto impossible for the characters to have authenticity. Every memberof both gangs was always a potential killer even then. Now theyactually will be. Only Tony and Maria try to live in a differentworld.” This new “edgy” production, even more successful thanthe original, is the one on tour to Toronto.Opening late in the month, Dear World is possibly as obscureas West Side Story is well-known. Using music and lyricsby Jerry Herman to refashion Jean Giraudoux’s play, TheMadwoman of Chaillot, the show was a flop when it opened inNew York in 1969 for a brief, calamitous run. Despite negativereviews, it won Angela Lansbury a Tony Award for herperformance as the Countess Aurelia, a woman driven mad bya lost love who spends her days reminiscing in the basement ofa Parisian bistro — at least, until it is targeted for demolitionby an multinational oil corporation. Conceived as a chamberpiece, the show reputedly was overwhelmed by the grandiosedesign of its initial staging. A subsequent revision of the bookby Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee returned the script to itsintimacy, and Herman added three new songs to expand his melodicand clever score. Presumably, this version is the one that the CivicLight Opera presents at the Fairview Library Theatre until June 9th.Check it out.Based in Toronto, Robert Wallace writes abouttheatre and performance. He can be contacted atmusictheatre@thewholenote.com.STEVE’S MUSICStaff recommendations forstudents & teachers on a budgetFor a limited time, get 30% of specially marked PrintMusic and DVDs. Look for the “RED DOTS”!Check out our new and expanded Orchestral StringRepertoire selection featuring Baerenreiter editions!Wittner Mechanical Metronomes, various sizesand finishes starting at $43Full selection of “newer used” woodwinds &brass starting at only $169.00Student level Stentor Solid Top 4/4 Violins with deluxecase/bow starting at $209!educational@stevesmusic.comwww.stevesmusic.com(416) 593-8888TMPaul Antoine TailleferMay 1 – June 7, 2012thewholenote.com 17