Waltzing to a different drummer

 

by Michael Kotze

 

In the beginning, there was operetta. Having triumphed in Europe, operetta looked west, across the Atlantic Ocean. In America, it came, it saw, it conquered.

 

But once in the New World, something began to happen to operetta. It fell

in with a different crowd, and soon had no time for its old pals, the soulful

princesses, dancing hussars and gypsy barons that used to be operetta’s

constant companions.

 

It was now hanging out with gangsters, bootleggers, madcap American

heiresses and tap dancers, and going by a different name: musical comedy.

 

What happened? Jazz happened. As the new American popular music began to

find its way to the stage, operetta underwent a metamorphosis as one great

populist art form gave way to another, and the American musical was born.

 

Firmly rooted in the Old World

 

Some Broadway composers were born to Jazz; others had Jazz thrust upon

them. None could ignore it, and they all assimilated the rhythms and harmonies

of the new American sound into their work.

 

With one exception: Frederick Loewe. He was unique among the great Broadway composers in that his musical style never absorbed the American popular vernacular. To put it bluntly, Fritz didn’t swing.

 

Not that this proved much of a handicap. Loewe produced a string of hits

that places him among the most successful composers of the American musical

theater. And while the other top composers of his era, from Leonard Bernstein to

Jule Styne, kept Broadway swinging with such shows as West Side Story and

Bells Are Ringing, Loewe, innocent of jazz, labored on a series of romantic

period pieces that, though undeniably modern in the sophistication of their

storytelling, hark back unmistakably to the old world of operetta.

 

Loewe’s career was a virtual renaissance for time-honored operetta fundamentals, from the folk costumes and dances of Brigadoon (Scottish here, not the genre’s typical Austro-Hungarian goulash), to the unabashedly high-flown romanticism of Camelot, to the gowns and waltzes of My Fair Lady and Gigi. And all with lyric soprano heroines—unlike the other Broadway composers of his time, Loewe was not following in the footsteps of George Gershwin and Cole Porter, but walking the now somewhat overgrown pathways of Franz Lehár and Sigmund Romberg.

 

This all may come as no surprise when one considers Loewe’s background.

Born in Berlin in 1901 to Viennese parents, he was the son of Edmund Loewe, a

celebrated operetta tenor; when Frederick was four years old, his father played

Danilo in the Berlin premiere of The Merry Widow.

 

New York to Montana and back

 

The boy followed in his father’s musical footsteps. He was a child  prodigy at the piano, and made his solo debut with the Berlin Philharmonic at the age of 13. As if that weren’t enough, at 15 he published the song “Katrina,” a tribute to “the girl with the best legs in Berlin,” which purportedly sold two million copies.

 

Loewe traveled to America in 1923. His father had been summoned to New

York by theatrical impresario David Belasco with an offer of a part in a new

show; the 22-year-old Fritz (a nickname that stuck his entire life) tagged along,

hoping to get a break on Broadway. Edmund Loewe died while rehearsals were

underway, leaving Frederick and his mother 4,000 miles from home and in

desperate financial straits.

 

Fritz went to work. He played piano in movie theaters, and claimed to have boxed professionally as well, despite the seemingly mutually exclusive digital demands of pianism and pugilism. For a while he taught horseback riding (apparently at least one aspect of his German military school training paid off) and later traveled west, working in Montana as a cowboy. This period of Loewe’s life is poorly documented, and we rely heavily on the colorful recollections with which he regaled friends and reporters later in life.

 

Fritz meets his match

 

By the early thirties, Loewe was back in New York, building his musical career. He played piano in restaurants and Broadway pits, and continued to compose. But it wasn’t until he met the young Harvard-educated lyricist and playwright Alan Jay Lerner that things began to happen. They teamed up in 1942 to write a musical comedy for a stock company in Detroit. This modest success took them to Broadway, where they collaborated on two short-lived shows, What’s Up and The Day Before Spring.

 

Then, in 1947, Lerner and Loewe finally had their hit. Brigadoon ran for nearly 600 performances, and set the tone for the period romances that would follow: Paint Your Wagon (1951), My Fair Lady (1956), Gigi (1958), and Camelot (1960). In each, Loewe’s music captures the atmosphere of its time and place to perfection. Equally remarkable is Loewe’s gift for musical characterization; the vocal stylings invented for each of Lerner’s vast and varied casts of characters is utterly convincing, whether a Cockney flower girl, Parisian playboy, or legendary king of England.

 

In this, Loewe went a step beyond the operetta composers of the previous generation who didn’t generally trouble themselves with the kind of detailed word-setting that Loewe regularly produced in his collaborations with Lerner.   This compositional care gives Loewe’s work spontaneity and life, along with a conversational ease that is distinctly modern, despite its operetta roots.   Fritz didn’t swing, but as his triumphant career proves, that didn’t mean a thing.

 

Click on photo for enlarged image.

            

Natalie Ford (Gigi) and           Natalie Ford (Gigi) and Nicholas         Robert Hildreth (Honore

Nicolas Foster (Gaston          Foster (Gaston Lachailles) "fly          Lachailles) and Natalie

Lachailles) find love in           to the sky on champagne."              Ford (Gigi). 

Paris.

 

For Immediate Release:                                        Contact: Rachel Greenhoe

May 2, 2008                                                         (847) 869-7930 ext. 15 (Press Only)

                         

 

Light Opera Works Presents Lerner & Loewe’s GIGI

June 6-15, 2008

 

Who:        Light Opera Works

What:    Lerner & Loewe’s GIGI

Book and Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner

Music by Frederick Loewe

“Based on a novel by Colette”

As Produced by Edwin Lester for the Los Angeles and San Francisco Civic Light Opera Associations and by Saint Subber for Broadway

Run: Friday, June 6, 2pm

         Press Opening Night:  Saturday, June 7, 8pm

         Sunday, June 8, 2pm

         Friday, June 13, 8pm

         Saturday, June 14, 8pm

         Sunday, June 15, 2pm

Where:     Cahn Auditorium

600 Emerson Street

Evanston, IL

Tickets:   Main Floor- $85, $65 and $45

                 Balcony- $65, $45 and $29

*Children ages 21 and younger are half price.

Box Office: The Light Opera Works Box Office is located at 927 Noyes St. in Evanston.

To purchase tickets call (847) 869-6300 or order online at LightOperaWorks.com.

 

Evanston, IL: GIGI is the story of a young girl in Paris at the turn of the century who is being raised by her aunt and grandmother to become a courtesan.  Gigi blossoms into a woman, escaping her intended profession and finding true love.

 

GIGI will be directed and choregraphed by Light Opera Works Artistic Director, Rudy Hogenmiller.  Hogenmiller has directed and choreographed many productions for the company including KISS ME, KATE, SOUTH PACIFIC, THE MIKADO, THE MERRY WIDOW and THE SOUND OF MUSIC. He has been recognized with six Joseph Jefferson Awards and 16 nominations for best direction and choreography in Chicago. Hogenmiller has been a member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers for more than 25 years.

 

Light Opera Works Music Director Roger L. Bingaman will conduct the 28-piece orchestra.  Bingaman made his first appearance on the Light Opera Works podium in 1997, conducting THE MERRY WIDOW.  Since then he has conducted many Light Opera Works productions including BEAUTIFUL HELEN OF TROY, THE STUDENT PRINCE, SWEETHEARTS, NO WAY TO TREAT A LADY, SOUTH PACIFIC, 110 IN THE SHADE, KISS ME, KATE, BITTER SWEET and OKLAHOMA! Bingaman has been director of the apprentice program and chorus master for the Sarasota Opera since 1998. 

 

Casting for GIGI includes Natalie Ford (Gigi), Nicholas Foster (Gaston Lachailles), Robert Hildreth (Honore Lachailles), Barbara Clear (Mamita) and Jo Ann Minds (Aunt Alicia). 

 

Natalie Ford (Gigi) appeared with Light Opera Works in OKLAHOMA! and BERLIN TO BROADWAY WITH KURT WEILL.  She is a graduate of Indiana University, Bloomington, where she received a Master of Music in Voice and was Zerlina in DON GIOVANNI, Tytania in A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, and Pauline in Bloomington Music Works’ THE TOYSHOP.  She has participated in summer voice programs including the Charlie Creek Vocal Workshop, The Bay Area Summer Opera Theater Institute and The University of Miami at Salzburg. 

 

Nicholas Foster (Gaston Lachailles) was previously seen at Light Opera Works in BITTER SWEET as Hugh Devon and RAGTIME as Younger Brother. Other credits include: SWEET CHARITY (Oscar/ Vittorio/ Charlie) at Drury Lane Oakbrook, PARADE (Leo Frank-Jeff Citation Award) at Bailiwick Repertory/ Mercury Theatre, A NEW BRAIN (Roger), CLOSER THAN EVER (Man 1- After Dark Award Best Ensemble), THE SECRET GARDEN (Dr. Craven), INTO THE WOODS (Cinderella’s Prince/ Wolf) and CHILDREN OF EDEN (Cain/ Japeth) at Porchlight Music Theatre, DO I HEAR A WALTZ (Eddie Yeager) and SHE LOVES ME (George understudy/ Ensemble) at Theatre at the Center, GRAND HOTEL (Baron understudy/ ensemble) at Drury Lane Water Tower, CABARET (Emcee), BABY (Danny), and GREASE (Eugene) at Pheasant Run Theatre. In addition, he has performed cabaret shows at Speakeasy Supper Club and Davenport’s Cabaret in Chicago.

 

Robert Hildreth (Honore Lachailles) has performed in a wide spectrum of music and theatre ranging from baritone soloist for the US Army Field Band to M. LeFevre and M. Andre in the first National Tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. His Orlando Opera appearances include Captain Tarnitz in THE STUDENT PRINCE and Hugh Devon in BITTER SWEET opposite soprano Roberta Peters. His Chicago credits include Vittorio Vidal in SWEET CHARITY, Heatherset in ME AND MY GIRL Heavenly Friend in CAROUSEL, Tackaberry in HOW TO SUCCEED, Andrew Carnes in OKLAHOMA!, Dean Webber in BABY, Frederick Damon in THE MALE ANIMAL, and Pickering in PYGMALION.

 

Barbara Clear (Mamita) is making her first appearance with Light Opera Works and will return later in the season as Mrs. Paroo in THE MUSIC MAN.  In the Chicago area she has appeared at Apple Tree Theatre as Marina in UNCLE VANYA and as Mrs. Curtin in A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE.  Barbara has worked at the Guthrie Theatre, Playwrights Center in Minneapolis and Pennsylvania Centre Stage, among others.  Favorite roles include Molly in THE FRONT PAGE, Joan in SAINT JOAN and Joan in DAMES AT SEA.  In addition to her MFA in Acting from Pennsylvania State University, Barbara holds an MS in Child Development from the Erikson Institute in Chicago. 

 

Jo Ann Minds (Aunt Alicia) returns to Light Opera Works after playing Lady Devon in last season’s BITTER SWEET.   Additional performances include Juno in ORPHEUS IN THE UNDERWORLD, Madame Armfeldt in A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, Duchess of Plaza- Toro in THE GONDOLIERS, Maggie Grant in LADY IN THE DARK and Maria in THE MOST HAPPY FELLA. Well known in the Chicago area for roles in opera, operetta and musical theater, she has also been the guest soloist with the Evanston, Niles, DuPage and Harper Symphony Orchestras and has appeared on stage in leads with Apple Tree Theater, Opera Factory, Chamber Opera Chicago, Cameo Opera, Palmero Opera and North Shore Theater. Her Gilbert and Sullivan repertoire includes all thirteen principal alto roles, which she has performed in 31 productions with the Savoy-Aires and Gilbert and Sullivan Society, and has extensively toured Chicago and Indiana area theaters and schools with Papai Players Children‘s Theater. She recently appeared in the world premiere of THE PATRIOTS, by Ronald Combs, at Northeastern University creating, the major mezzo role of Hannah.

 

The design team for GIGI includes Nick Mozak (Scenic), Jeff Hendry (Costumes), Tatiana Srutwa (Hair and Make-Up), Andrew Meyers (Lighting), David Lee Bradke (Sound), Jenniffer J. Thusing (Stage Manager) and Paige Keedy (Production Manager). 

 

Ticket prices for GIGI range from $29 to $85.  Ages 21 and younger are half price.  To order tickets, or for more information, call the Light Opera Works Box Office at (847) 869-6300 or order 24 hours a day online at LightOperaWorks.com.

 

Light Opera Works is a resident professional not-for-profit theater in Evanston, founded in 1980.  The company's mission is to produce and present musical theater from a variety of world traditions.  All productions are presented in English, with foreign works done in carefully edited modern translations.  Maximum scholarship is employed to preserve the original vocal and orchestral material as well as the spirit of the original text whenever possible.  Audiences have come to know that at Light Opera Works they will experience repertoire often unavailable on the stages of commercial theaters and opera houses, in modern productions with professional artists and full orchestra.

 

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Light Opera Works’ mission is to produce musical theater

from a variety of world traditions, to engage the community through

educational and outreach programs and to train artists in musical theater.