The Band Wagon
Music by Arthur Schwartz. Lyrics by Howard Dietz. Skits by Dietz and George S. Kaufman. Edited and restored by Bradford Conner & Benjamin Sears. Directed by David Frieze. Musical direction by Margaret Ulmer. With Valerie Anastasio, Ken Avery, Eric R. Bronner, Mary Callanan, Bradford Conner, Roberta Gilbert, Bree Greig, Bob Jolly, Jim Jordan, Mary Ann Lanier, Merle Perkins, Brent Reno, Diana Rice, and Benjamin Sears, with Ulmer and Conner at the piano. Presented by American Classics at Longy School of Music’s Pickman Concert Hall, to be repeated November 4.

Although you might be surprised to learn that the early works of lyricists and composers as revered as Irving Berlin, the Gershwins, and Howard Dietz and Arthur Schwartz have been reassembled only recently by historians of the American musical stage, keep in mind that a live performance is over when the curtain comes down. With the closing of a show, the sets and costumes frequently are hauled off to a landfill and the score goes to the composer’s bottom drawer. There is no cueing back, as in the case of film, television, and recordings, to a favorite portion except in the ear and eye of the mind.

Performers and musicians Bradford Conner and Benjamin Sears have engaged in a love affair with American musicals, particularly those of the good old days when melody and romance ruled the stage. Like detectives, they’ve posed themselves the challenge of reconstructing a show a year, in addition to presenting cabaret performances of songs by individual composers. Last year the duo mounted Berlin’s first Broadway outing, the 1914 Watch Your Step. The current endeavor, The Band Wagon, had never been revived since its 1932 closing following a successful Broadway run and national tour, despite its legendary reputation. (The 1953 film of the same name has Fred Astaire, who had starred in the Broadway show with his sister Adele, and five of the songs, but the resemblance ends there.)

The revue format calls for an assortment of songs and sketches, with the only continuity provided by performers who reappear throughout the varied numbers. The impact depends on the topicality of the material, the wit, and a memorable score, plus an overlay of spectacle. Other than the music, none of the above is easily transportable across the decades. (Think about listening to Bush-Gore election jokes in the year 2070.)

What’s necessarily missing in this revival are the Astaires, then at the height of their popularity, the innovative double revolving stage, the ballerina Tilly Losch backed by the Albertina Rasch Dancers, and the visual effects of the costumes, sets, and lighting. That said, it’s good to have a look at the show, which has been patiently pieced together by Conner and Sears from private collections and a box at the Library of Congress, in which much of the score and the sketches had been hidden away.

But what’s also lacking in this book-in-hand presentation is a sense of style, except in the case of cast member Bob Jolly, who learned his lessons from the Gilbert & Sullivan canon. The rest of the company assembled by and including Conner and Sears has the vocal ability to carry such stalwarts of the Dietz-Schwartz songbook as " New Sun in the Sky, " " I Love Louisa, " and the luminous " Dancing in the Dark. " But the performers badly need a director who understands the first principle of invoking memories of theatrical times past. The rules require keeping it simple and letting the actor-singers deliver the material without condescension. Any rolling of eyes, sashaying around the stage, mugging with gestures and grimaces, and faked-footwork imitations of softshoe become an affront to the imagination.

The creators of The Band Wagon were among the most sophisticated show folk of their generation, with numerous hits to their credit. If sketches like " The Pride of the Claghorns " or the sight-gag ending of " The Great Warburton Mystery " are no longer funny, some of George S. Kaufman’s lines remain gems, especially in the context of the search for humor in the depths of the Depression. Fans of old Broadway scores will also delight in the rediscovery of such forgotten songs as the charming " Hoops, " well sung by Valerie Anastasio and Conner, and the sentimental " High and Low, " performed by Mary Ann Lanier and Brent Reno. At least one viewer would have liked to see musical director Margaret Ulmer, who is assisted in four-hand piano arrangements by Conner, rather than have her hidden by the cast.

Issue Date: November 1-8, 2001