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WEILL CELEBRATION Send This Review to a Friend
It was a night to remember for a composer to remember. The house lights dimmed, the orchestra eased into the "Threepenny Opera " overture, and Jerry Orbach materialized, singing the familiar, acerbic lyrics of "Mack the Knife" as he moved slowly, almost stealthily, across the stage, hauntingly interpreting the Kurt Weill-Bertolt Brecht song with the requisite edgy mix of menace and humor that most singers rarely get exactly right. Orbach did, and so began a classy, nostalgic evening honoring the great Kurt Weill in the 100th year since his birth.
The scene on Thursday evening, February 10, 2000, was the elegant Howard Gilman Opera House of the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The "Weill Style" gala was one of the many scheduled presentations saluting the composer this year, with BAM as the major center of New York activity with its Deutsche Bank-sponsored, ambitious program, including a film retrospective, seminars and the imported staging of Weill's rarely performed 1937 opera "The Eternal Road." Numerous artists had gathered to pay their respects by delving into the broad repertoire of Weill's work. Before his sudden death in 1950, Weill had composed for opera, Broadway and Hollywood and left behind a rich legacy of music and the memory of his legendary collaboration with his wife Lotte Lenya.
Another highlight was Tony-winner Donna Murphy's beautifully chilling rendition of "Pirate Jenny," the bitter song of revenge from "The Threepenny Opera." Murphy reached into the depths of its meaning, giving each word bite and power. She also provided an elegant rendition of "My Ship" from the Broadway musical "Lady in the Dark." Samuel E. Wright, in his rich, compelling voice, sang the amusing "A Rhyme for Angela," from "Firebrand of Florence," and "Lost in the Stars," from the musical of the same name. Hudson Shad sang "Economics" from "Love Life" and Mark-Linn Baker amazed the audience with the rapid-fire tongue-twister "Tchaikovsky," which rattles off the names of Russian composers, a number that Danny Kaye made famous in "Lady in the Dark."
Patricia O'Callaghan, who has been making Weill's music a specialty, impressively sang "Sailor's Tango" from "Happy End," and teamed with opera star Jerry Hadley on "It Never Was You" from "Knickerbocker Holiday." There was much more, including the overwhelmingly beautiful "Lonely House" from "Street Scene," sung with intense feeling by Hadley, and the memorable "Saga of Jenny" from "Lady in the Dark," which Ann Magnuson made the most of in a grandly entertaining performance spiced with playful sexuality.
Actor Dick Van Patten, who was in "The Eternal Road" as a child, reminisced about his experience, and Hesper Anderson, the daughter of playwright Maxwell Anderson, Weill's friend and collaborator, wittily recalled her memories of Weill. Nanette Fabray also recounted personal memories of Weill in addition to perkily singing "Green-Up Time" from "Love Life."
By the time the entire company, including performers not mentioned here, gathered to sing Weill's ever-lovely "September Song," the point had been majestically made: Weill's enormous musical contribution lives on.
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