C’est La Vie At
the Light Opera Works Second Stage By Dan Zeff EVANSTON—When
Gregg Opelka the composer/lyricist is in charge, the Light Opera Works
production of “C’est La Vie” has its pleasures. When Gregg Opelka the book
writer takes over, the show goes down the drain. “C’est La Vie” is the Light Opera Works annual Second Stage
presentation, located in a compact auditorium on Maple Street rather than the
vast Cahn Auditorium on the Northwestern University campus. It’s not a great
performing space and it’s too large for a show like “C’est La Vie,” but it’s
serviceable and the theater has a parking lot, a considerable perk for
theatergoers these days.
The musical is a small show, just two performers backed by an
onstage pianist. The setting is supposed to be Paris in 1950 in a seedy
cabaret. Two singers named Dominique (Kelly Anne Clark) and Fatiguee (Jennifer
Chada) nightly perform the songs popularized by Edith Piaf. But the miserly
cabaret owner is spending this evening in police custody so the singers seize
the opportunity to break away from the Piaf repertoire straightjacket to sing
what they want to sing, which is the Gregg Opelka songbook. Dominique and Fatiguee sing what female French cabaret
singers have always sung about, love in general and faithless men in
particular. The 95-minute intermissionless production includes 14 Opelka tunes,
most of them rueful romantic ballad with a few numbers providing a comic twist. Clark and Chada both have large voices, especially Clark, and
both are comfortable in the French cabaret tradition. They manage the music
well enough but they sink like stones under the burden of the fey and lame
Opelka dialogue. The show staggers under relentlessly unfunny repartee and the
all-talking scene in the singers’ dressing room is interminable. The damage is
further exacerbated by both ladies assuming thick French accents that are
unintelligible at times.
“C’est La Vie” would be better off in a true cabaret setting,
an intimate dimly lit room with the listeners lubricating themselves with
beverages while the performers sing up close and personal. The show does have
potential as a 60-minute chanson revue, but it’s essential to lose the dialogue
(and the accents). A brief introduction to each song would suffice to keep the
customers happy. The musical accompaniment comes from the onstage pianist,
named Jean-Paul-Pierre, played by musical director Jeremy Ramey, who looks very
uncomfortable each time he participates in the action. The basic cabaret set was designed by Courtney O’Neill.
Charles Jolls designed the lighting and Darcy Elora Hofer the costumes. Rudy
Hogenmiller directs and choreographs. This isn’t a dancing show but the two
ladies get through their hoofing movements satisfactorily. No direct and/or
choreographer could circumvent the inadequacies of the book. “C’est La Vie” runs through November 15 at the Second Stage
Theater at 1420 Maple Street. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.
and Sunday at 3 p.m. Tickets are $24 to $39. Call 847 869 6300 or visit www.LightOperaWorks.com. The show gets a rating of 2 1/2 stars. October 2009
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Side by Side by Sondheim
By the Light Opera Works
By Dan Zeff
EVANSTON—“Side by Side by Sondheim” is still another compilation jukebox revue, at least the fifth that opened in Chicagoland within a two-week period.
It’s maybe inaccurate to call the show a jukebox musical, the sophisticated and literate Sondheim songs being several cuts above normal jukebox fare. But the principle remains the same—assemble a collection of songs identified by a single composer or performer or time period and spool them off, one by one.
“Side by Side by Sondheim” originated in England and had a healthy Broadway run starting in 1977. As originally conceived, the revue consisted of two men and two women performing numbers from the Sondheim songbook. There was no storyline and almost no dialogue. About half the numbers came from “Company” and “Follies,” two classic Sondheim musicals of the early 1970’s.
The 1977 cutoff date has been maintained in the revival by the Light Opera Works. That means the score doesn’t include music from such later Sondheim shows as “Sunday in the Park with George,” “Into the Woods,” “Assassins,” and “Sweeney Todd.” But there are still plenty of quality songs to go around, extracted not only from “Company” and “Follies” but from “Gypsy,” “A Little Night Music,” and “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” among others.
The Light Opera Works staging under Rudy Hogenmiller’s direction has revamped the format a bit. The singers are reduced to one man (George Andrew Woolf) and two women (Jennifer Davis-Johnson and Anne Gunn). The fourth singer has been replaced by a narrator, performed by Jo-Ann Minds, who supplies background for some of the songs and information about Sondheim’s career.
The narrator device is not a success. Minds, at least on opening night, was uncomfortable reading her material from a large handheld book. She also attempted to inject some arch and very forced comedy into her appearances. Indeed virtually every attempt at humor beyond the song lyrics fell flat during the evening. Minds did belt out one song during the evening, a moving rendition of “I’m Still Here” from “Follies.”
The other three performers are all pros who handle the Sondheim material well enough. Davis-Johnson contributed a highlight with “Losing My Mind” from “Follies,” reaffirming that masterpiece as one of the great pieces of musical theater created in the twentieth century. But “You Gotta Get a Gimmick” didn’t work, partly because Anne Gunn couldn’t get a sound out of her trumpet.
Sondheim wrote a lot of memorable songs but very few hits. In this revue the only really familiar song is “Send in the Clowns” from “A Little Night Music.” The majority of Sondheim’s songs lose impact when removed from the context of the narrative. But the man’s wit and verbal brilliance still can shine through in songs like “Barcelona” and “Another Hundred People,” both representative of Sondheim’s rather cynical view of human relationships.
Overall, the production, while competent, lacked the vivacity and cosmopolitan flair that makes Sondheim’s music soar. Part of the problem is the venue, a bleak auditorium that is the company’s Second Stage, a space better suited to school assemblies. The two-piano accompaniment by Jon Steinhagen and Nick Sula was fine. Dustin Efird designed the minimalist set. Joelle Beranek designed the costumes, including the ladies’s rather unflattering outfits in act two. David Lee Bradke designed the lighting.
“Side by Side by Sondheim” runs through November 9 at the Light Opera Works Second Stage, 1420 Maple Avenue. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., and Sunday at 3 p.m. Tickets are $24 to $39. Call 847 869 6300 or visit www.LightOperaWorks.com.
The show gets a rating of three stars. Oct. 2008
Contact Dan at zeffdaniel@yahoo.com