ZORBA @ CITY CENTER/ENCORES

[forgetmenotnyc]

Posted: 5/5/15 at 11:25pm

Encores has outdone themselves again - delivering a beautiful rich production of ZORBA for their final offering of the season!

Everyone off book & a beautiful production design helped to convey this as no 'old-school staged reading' Encores. Orchestrations are rich, consistant (lots of wonderful underscoring) & simply superb. The heavy strings w/mandolins & mandolas, the interesting drum/percussion parts, & exotic bouzoukis & dumbek further enrichen the very full wash of sounds. It is so incredible to witness this rare Kander & Ebb musical chock full of tunes you probably have never heard before.

Songs include: LIFE IS; THE FIRST TIME; THE TOP OF THE HILL; NO BOOM BOOM; MINE SONG; THE BUTTERFLY; GOODBYE, CANAVARO; GRANDPAPA; ONLY LOVE; THE BEND OF THE ROAD; WHY CAN'T I SPEAK/THAT'S A BEGINNING; Y'ASSOU; WOMAN; THE CROW; HAPPY BIRTHDAY; MINE SONG (REPRISE); I AM FREE; LIFE IS (REPRISE.)

John Turturro & Zoe Wanamaker (My Family-BBC, Harry Potter's Madame Hooch), even though not really musical theatre performers, take charge with their Greek & French roles & bring star power that only helps the proceedings. Vocal stalwarts Marin Mazzie & Santino Fontano bring lyrical chops to the scores strongest numbers. Marin is probably the best thing in the show. Rich deep sounds from her while performing with a focused economy of physical flourish. I've never enjoyed her work more (mainly because I have never found her particularly funny & this role has no comedy or even speaking lines.)

Only Elizabeth A. Davis seems wildly vocally miscast: at times she sounds like Bjork (which is still being kind.) She just doesn't vocally blend or match those singing with & around her & it is so very apparent from the first time she opens her mouth. Oops.

Dir. Walter Bobbie & Choreographer Josh Rhodes have mounted the piece beautifully even though there are some book issues. Sound, lighting & costumes just seemed perfect.

John Kander at 88 was in attendance. So was Barry Weissler whose 2011 revival plans with Antonio Banderas never happened.

A special opportunity to catch this here. Don't put it off. What did YOU think?

Updated On: 5/6/15 at 11:25 PM

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 5/5/15 at 11:29pm

I'm going on Saturday! Can't wait

[theatreguy12]

Posted: 5/5/15 at 11:41pm

I'd love to see this.  Alas, I'm on the wrong coast.

[DAME]

Posted: 5/6/15 at 12:19am

I love the score.   I have fond memories of the Anthony Quinn revival.  

[LarryD2]

Posted: 5/6/15 at 7:53am

I was at the dress last night and I agree with the OP 100% (including, regrettably, that Elizabeth Davis--so wonderful in ONCE--is all wrong here). Turturro, Wanamaker, Fontina, Chanler-Berat, and especially Mazzie (god, that voice--it hasn't aged a day in 30 years) are spectacular. If you don't have tickets already, buy them immediately. This is essential.

Updated On: 5/6/15 at 07:53 AM

[jayinchelsea]

Posted: 5/6/15 at 9:27am

Loved the original production, Bernardi and Karnilova were wonderful, that score is amazing. Saw it again a year later, with John Raitt (he sang it very well) and Chita Rivera as the Leader (great). Glad to hear that this production is so good, can't wait!

[jv92]

Posted: 5/6/15 at 10:11am

Seeing it Saturday! Should be exciting! 

[pennydreadful]

Posted: 5/6/15 at 10:57am

I'm seeing it tonight!  Very excited.  

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 5/6/15 at 11:05am

what's the duration of the show?

[yfs]

Posted: 5/6/15 at 11:18am

It's about 2 hours 15 minutes. 

 

[Tony2600]

Posted: 5/6/15 at 11:58am

While I enjoyed the performance I can’t muster up the same enthusiasm as the OP. “Life is” is one of those great musical theater opening numbers that should be a wow. This version is far from that and I think a lot of that has to do with the uninspired choreography by Josh Rhodes. You know the choreography is weak when the dance highlight is a sensational belly dancer. If I were seeing this at a community theater it might be okay but we have been spoiled in recent years by some outstanding choreography on that City Center stage. Tuturro makes Zorba his own and while his singing voice leaves a lot to be desired, his acting chops are remarkable. Zoe Wanamaker is fabulous and gives a Tony worthy performance. Santino Fontana gets better and better with every show he’s in. Marin,who looks like a goddess on Mount Olympus, is fine as the leader but I do wish they would have gone more ethnic not only with her but with some of the ensemble. The entr’acte played with a trio (quartet?) of Greek musicians is wonderful. All in all I would say go see it and hear a lovely and rarely performed Kander and Ebb score.

[laurenmwendt]

Posted: 5/6/15 at 12:26pm

Going on Saturday! I'm so excited to see Santino Fontana back in a musical -- its been too long!

[Copperfield2]

Posted: 5/6/15 at 8:13pm

I had a feeling this might be worth seeing because it's so rarely done. I'm going in a cheaper seat Saturday evening and then my subscription seat up close on Sunday night.

I'm glad most of the cast is shining in this. Santino Fontana has been cast in a TV show so I hope we don't lose him from the stage.

I wish Fontana were playing opposite Laura Benanti in She Loves Me. I know Josh Radnor is more well known to TV audiences but Fontana was perfect in the part when he did it in Caramoor. And I'd love to see Fontana and Benanti on stage together.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 5/6/15 at 8:48pm

Going Sunday.  This was my first B'way show, August 1969, last row of the Imperial mezz ($5 on a Saturday night!)  I don't expect this to duplicate that experience, but it already looks more inspired than the revival.

Noticed from the clips that they've given up the grittier (Prince dictated) bosouki circle conceit, which was inevitable, understandable.  Does the framing device as redesigned and simplified serve? Have all of the circle lines been cut?

Updated On: 5/6/15 at 08:48 PM

[pennydreadful]

Posted: 5/6/15 at 11:34pm

*spoiler alert*  Was not expecting three characters to croak!  I found it weirdly dark, but maybe that's the point, and I went in expecting Hello Dolly, or something.  But John Turturro appeared to be having a blast and Zoe Wanamaker is my everything.  I sat a few rows behind Ben Brantley and watched everyone else watching Ben Brantley.

Updated On: 5/7/15 at 11:34 PM

[RippedMan]

Posted: 5/7/15 at 12:09am

The Visit rekindled my love for Kander and Ebb, and I've never seen/heard/know nothing about this show, so I'm willing to give it a try. Is the cheapest $30? Still not a bad deal. 

[devonian.t]

Posted: 5/7/15 at 1:30am

It looks gorgeous, and that is one stellar cast.

I wish I could be there!

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 5/7/15 at 2:36am

"Going Sunday.  This was my first B'way show, August 1969, last row of the Imperial mezz ($5 on a Saturday night!)  I don't expect this to duplicate that experience, but it already looks more inspired than the revival.
Noticed from the clips that they've given up the grittier (Prince dictated) bosouki circle conceit, which was inevitable, understandable.  Does the framing device as redesigned and simplified serve? Have all of the circle lines been cut?"

 

To my disappointment, all reports (and that song list) show that this is probably based on the 1983 revised production.  (It should be noted that adding That's a Beginning to Why Can't I Speak was done in the original Prince tour because Ebb was reportedly disappointed that the rather unorthodox song--one of my faves--was not getting a big hand at the end.  I like Beginning fine, but I loved the original structure of Why Can't I Speak.)  So I assume the circle lines have been cut or slightly changed as they seem to be in the revival (mind you it's a long time since I listened to a bootleg of the entire script.)  As I'm sure you know, Auggie, the revised version eliminated the concept altogether (The Leader became The Woman and a character in the piece--even if she does still sorta seem to narrate through many of the songs.) 

Still, most of what I've heard of this production, one of my fave musicals and scores, has been very good, so I'd still like to see it--I just think it's a shame they didn't go back to the darker original, especially since it's a limited run and they'd have to worry less about keeping a large audience.  The production looks great from the clips for an Encores production--and it looks much darker than the 83 revival which is doubly odd that they include the songs used to, as Ebb says, "soften" the dark ness of the show.  So...  which lyric did they use for Life Is?  While you're waiting to die, or 'till the moment you die?

 

Updated On: 5/7/15 at 02:36 AM

[jayinchelsea]

Posted: 5/7/15 at 8:18am

The whole purpose of Encores is to recreate the "original" show as much as possible, and not to incorporate changes made by anyone later or in subsequent productions. Yes, I know  that writers like David Ives are often brought in to revise and streamline the librettos, but generally speaking the scores are meant to be intact. For example, when GOLDEN BOY was done some years ago, they did not incorporate the "new" songs that Strouse and Adams had later added to the show ("There's a Party Going On" and "Yes I Can"), regardless of their quality. 

Loving the score of ZORBA as much as I do (and feeling the Anthony Quinn "revisal" was no improvement), it concerns me to read that changes have been made to the original score for this Encores production. I'll be seeing it on Sunday, and hopefully this is not the case. "Life is what you do while you're waiting to die." 

[Auggie27]

Posted: 5/7/15 at 8:21am

They're using "...while you're waiting to..." (die).  And as far as I know, Mazzie is playing The Leader, not The Woman. (Correct me, those who have attended.)  But from what I've seen in the clips, the bouzouki circle or its equivalent is not in this production, or Mazzie wouldn't be dressed (oddly, to my thinking) in traditional Muse-like attire (there's a whiff of "Hercules" or "Xanadu" in her look, which may be a perfectly reasonable interpretation, if not my preference).  Alas, I will miss the gritty realism of the Hal Prince circle.  Will never forget it. That contemporary point of access via a collection of modern players who just want to tell the story, and almost fight one another to do so. The framing device grounded the Leader's introduction and songs in a distinctly modern perspective.*  If she is the stuff of myths, she is less immediate and the storytelling once removed, just in my opinion. Still, I can't wait to see this on Sunday.

I saw the OBC (1969), full company intact, then the bus and truck with Michael Kermoyan and the great Vivian Blaine as Hortense (Fall of 1970). Then the 83 revival with Quinn (meh).  

*An early review at BWW states: "...a tavern-philosophy framing device that finds its perpetrator, known only as The Leader (Marin Mazzie), and her acolytes weaving into and out of (and comment upon) the action..."  Is this very similar to the original bouzouki motif?  Anyone care to comment? "Tavern philosophy" suggests something akin to it.

Updated On: 5/7/15 at 08:21 AM

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 5/7/15 at 2:32pm

Auggie, I love reading your thoughts on the original production--for a long time it seemed hard to get info on (one of the Hal Prince books devotes all of a paragraph to the show--thankfully another one seems to give the production its due.)

This combined version of various past revisions seems to be the one John Kander wants performed.  So I guess that's why we have the revival song sequence (including the new songs to try to make it less dark like the Mine chorus, and Woman--a song that feels so wrong to the show for me) but things like the original Life Is.

In the past it was clear from interviews and their book that Fred Ebb always wanted Zorba to be a bigger audience hit--I don't remember Kander speaking about it in past interviews (I've been told there's a program note for Encores! where he says basically they felt that the show finally came together with the revisions for the original Prince tour--although I guess they felt they should incorporate elements (and all the new songs) from the 80s revision.

For the record, I believe the only available production Samuel French licenses is the 1983 revision (anyone know for sure?  I know with Cabaret now you have theoption of the 1967 original, the 1987 revision or the Mendes/Marshall revision.)

Updated On: 5/7/15 at 02:32 PM

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 5/7/15 at 2:36pm

"The whole purpose of Encores is to recreate the "original" show as much as possible, and not to incorporate changes made by anyone later or in subsequent productions. Yes, I know  that writers like David Ives are often brought in to revise and streamline the librettos, but generally speaking the scores are meant to be intact. For example, when GOLDEN BOY was done some years ago, they did not incorporate the "new" songs that Strouse and Adams had later added to the show ("There's a Party Going On" and "Yes I Can"), regardless of their quality. 
Loving the score of ZORBA as much as I do (and feeling the Anthony Quinn "revisal" was no improvement), it concerns me to read that changes have been made to the original score for this Encores production. I'll be seeing it on Sunday, and hopefully this is not the case. "Life is what you do while you're waiting to die." "

The issue I guess is when someone who owns the rights or is a creator doesn't want their original version performed.  We know they, like all major productions, had to agree to James Goldman's widow on Follies.  So, while rumour was there was some interest of recreating the original version of Merrily We Roll Along, for example, they instead had to work with what Sondheim wanted done. Although I agree with you that in theory I think Encores! should try to use as their basis the original production, obviously that's hard to do if one of the people who helped write or has rights to the original doesn't want that done.

Updated On: 5/7/15 at 02:36 PM

[forgetmenotnyc]

Posted: 5/7/15 at 3:27pm

If anyone knows how to add the broadwayworld.com video clips or the city center show pics - please do

[Cesare2]

Posted: 5/7/15 at 4:47pm

Here's the original production's staging of "Life Is," from the Tony broadcast.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5oQbvr4RoM

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 5/7/15 at 5:11pm

The BWW reel has a lovely clip of "The Butterfly" as well.