Sing Happy! The Collaboration of Kander and Ebb – GRAND

The collaboration of John Kander and Fred Ebb spanned over four decades producing musicals that helped shape the landscape of musical theater. Their shows blend entertainment with gutsy social commentary and understanding of what it is to be fallibly human. Rodgers and Hammerstein tackled issues in a popular palate. Kander and Ebb brought darkness and sophistication to their work.

John Kander is known for his sentimental and melodic compositions, while Fred Ebb (now passed) brought a campy and cynical edge to lyrics. Songs are driven by character and theme. The men had equal talent but as people were polar opposites. “Tonight, we explore some lesser known material and look at the familiar in new ways,” begins host David Loud.

Loud was musical director for four Kander and Ebb shows, beginning with 1997’s Steel Pier. (The company sings “First You Dream”.) “John was kind, funny, and happy. Fred took his time opening up. When he found out I had worked with (Stephen) Sondheim, however, it stuck in his brain.” he says. “I’m sure your friend, Sondheim would’ve done it better, but this is my humble offering,” Ebb would quip, presenting a new song. The lyricist’s wry pokes at his peer pepper this evening. Some moments:

Julia Murney, Heidi Blickenstaff

1965’s Flora, the Red Menace introduced “nepo firecracker, Liza Minnelli.” “Gimme, gimme, gimme a chance,” the company sings with collective determination. Howard Taubman (The New York Times) called the show “as mechanical as a joke book and as simple minded as a fable for infants.” “I have three words for you,” Kander advised the company, “enjoy the work.”

The night after opening, as was his habit, Hal Prince gathered creators in his office to talk about the next show…which would be Cabaret. A mere four years after teaming up, Kander and Ebb established themselves as a Broadway success story. Loud deems their oeuvre, “the final flowering of the Golden Era of musicals.”

The inimitable Kate Baldwin offers “City Lights” (The Act 1977) with credibly building, albeit distinctly, ladylike frustration. A duet with Ivan Hernandez presents “Seeing Things” (The Happy Time, 1967) in which the last four lines are part Kander part Ebb:  I am earth/And I’m of sky/I love you very much/Goodbye… Baldwin approaches every performance as high stakes investment.

“New York, New York” (New York, New York 1977) arrives unusually slow and lyrical with Baldwin sitting on the stage lip. It’s a love song. The artist rises; music swells. Elbows bend, hands reach out, shoulders jerk back as if the city pumps in electric current. Headlong she slaloms towards the finish, vocal almost visibly fanning out.

Heidi Blickenstaff duets mother and daughter turn, “The Apple Doesn’t Fall” (The Rink, 1984) with Julia Murney. Rock, paper, scissors determines who plays mom. Kander and Ebb were masters at wry songs for competitive women. Think of “The Grass is Always Greener” from Woman of the Year. The ladies have an infectiously  good time. At one point, striving for common ground, mom calls in the handsome Hernandez. “What’s up?” he congenially asks. Both women raise their shoulders and sigh. (Nifty.)

“This is the thing that might save us in the dark times we currently find ourselves,” introduces “Sing Happy” (Flora, the Red Menace 1965). The vocalist palpably appeals to orchestra and audience making it dramatic instead of Pollyanna. Poignancy borders on anthem. Bleckenstaff sells it. She does less well with a subdued “Maybe This Time” (Cabaret, 1966) which lacks bite.

Ivan Hernandez, new to me and a find, jauntily sings “Sara Lee” – yes, the confection purveyor, with cutely staged vocal back up. Attitude is fun without becoming too broad (And the World Goes Round, 1991). Showcasing occurs by way of seemingly very different, back to back songs, “Love and Love Alone” (The Visit, 2001) and “Life Is” (Zorba, 1968) with essentially the same message.

The first packs a wallop. Arms at his sides with minimal head movement, Hernandez gives us a powerful, emotionally translucent parenthesis:  When you’re young/Feeling oh so strong/What can prove you wrong?/Love and love alone …He then steps forward into light embracing Zorba’s trenchant passion. Pivot affects, but oh, for a few dance steps!

Adam Kantor exhibits subtle comic acting in the duet (with Julia Murney) “Not Every Day of the Week” (Flora the Red Menace, 1965). The two, stuck in an elevator, begin with hostility and end in shy warmth. Offering his paper bag for her panic attack, then gifting her the apple within works sweetly.

Two songs from 1984’s The Rink are to me, the only weak choices tonight. Kantor nonetheless does a cozy job of inhabiting the guileless young man. Participation in the vaudeville staged “Military Man” (The Skin of Our Teeth, 1999) is playful. Loud bemoans the musical’s never having made it in to New York. “If anyone out there has a couple of million dollars…” he appeals.

Julia Murney’s “Colored Lights” (The Rink, 1984) is appealingly tuneful, but lacks longing. Her rendition of “Money Tree” (The Act, 1977) is more rewarding: The day will come/He’ll come running to me/The day the sun turns black/And there’s a money tree…Stop/start phrasing captures sarcasm without being heavy handed.

The artist is persuasively apprehensive in “Not Every Day of the Week” and effectively depicts an over the top, cocaine-sniffing murderer in “Cell Block Tango” (Chicago, 1975). The latter number is imaginatively staged, each actor stepping forward with justification. It’s all in the (terrific) timing.

“Cabaret” (1966) is (sadly) always relevant. It works no matter what they do to it,” Loud declares. Matthew Scott’s version of the title song is tremulous and balladic. Eleven o’clock numbers from that show trade volume for impact this evening. “I Miss the Music” (Curtains, 2006) garners new meaning with the host’s comment that it was written just after Fred Ebb’s death: I miss the music/I miss the song/Since she’s not with me/It comes out wrong…Scott’s unhurried, unvarnished take makes it all the more moving. We end with a (literal) kickline of “Show People” (Curtains, 2006).

David Loud, whose warm sensibility, musical skill, humor, and articulate, insider storytelling is reason enough to see any Lyrics & Lyricists, helms the show with aplomb and appreciation. The host plays piano for a solo part of the overture to Steel Pier, which is haunting. Apparently John Kander himself executes it on the show’s original cast recording.

Direction by Noah Racey is creative and distinctively apt. Like Kenny Rogers sang, “he knows when to hold’m and when to fold’m.” Serious lyrics are underplayed, gestures employed when organic; fun manifest with innate wink.

Projection design (Kylee Loera) is clever but so overdone, it distracts from performance.

Arrangements are rich and textured; vocal arrangements particularly innovative. Overlapping, counterpoint and harmony are adroitly employed. The orchestra might be a full Broadway pit for its lush sound.

Photos by Richard Termine

Recommended: Facing the Music- A Broadway Memoir by David Loud

Lyrics & Lyricists present
Sing Happy! The Collaboration of Kander & Ebb
David Loud – Artistic Director/Orchestrator/Writer/Host
Noah Racey – Director
Paul Staroba – MD/Piano

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