SOUND OFF: Risky REGINA

I'm Smiling

Today we are taking a listen to the new Sony Masterworks & Arkiv Music re-release of Marc Blitzstein's half-musical/half-opera REGINA, based on THE LITTLE FOXES by Lillian Hellman. A little bit like Adam Guettel's THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA or Michael John LaChiusa's MARIE CHRISTINE in that it defies any traditional definition or classification, it is a true masterpiece and a marvel of craftsmanship and creativity, whatever it is. Leonard Bernstein once called REGINA his favorite theatre score of all time and perhaps no other score of the period comes closest to the classical aspirations - actual accomplishment, actually - as much as Bernstein's own CANDIDE which he wrote with Lillian Hellman and John Latouche seven years later, inspired by this show. This score virtually has it all: opera, jazz, Dixieland, blues, gospel spirituals, Victorian parlour songs, stirring symphonic sequences, stunning arias, glorious choral swell-ups, biting satirical anthems, cakewalks, recitative and some serious - seriously innovative - dialogue/song centerpiece scenes to all three acts of this operamusical. Whatever you want to call it: a triple-decker treat awaits!

A Holiday Of Thinking

Marc Blitzstein's REGINA - Original Broadway Cast Recording

SCORE: 9/10

Musicals and operas should be a match made in heaven given their shared central sensibility of storytelling through song, yet they have always seemed somewhat unseemly bedfellows on Broadway - and beyond - for some reason. Maybe it's brains (or lack thereof). This has been true of everything from Leonard Bernstein's operetta-ish CANDIDE in 1956 as well as Marc Blitzstein's REGINA in the 50s (OK, so it originally opened on Broadway on Halloween night 1949 and closed on December 17, so not quite 1950s, but damn close) all the way up until the twenty-first century with Michael John LaChiusa's MARIE CHRISTINE (the last musical that opened in the twentieth century on Broadway, appropriately enough) starring Audra McDonald and Anthony Crivello, in addition to Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas's THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA (which one a slew of Tony Awards, including Best Score). Bernstein and Blitztein never quite achieved the level they aspired to in their Broadway scores, as strong and unforgettable as much of their work for the stage was - and both failed to receive the credit for their theatre scores that they so richly deserved - maybe much more so in the case of the latter than the former but also true of Bernstein all the same, as 1600 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE's valiant but foolhardy and obvious problems are quite clearly evident, almost inexcusably so - and perhaps that whiff of pretension that critics seemed to sense at the time - whether it actually existed or not - cast a pallor on the more adult and serious musical dramas that attempted to use the tools of opera - as well as the voices and performers suited to that type of music, at times, in addition to Broadway performers with an operatic bent - or perhaps they just wanted snappy tunes and showgirls. Whatever the case, it is a score like REGINA - or Frank Loesser's highly operatic masterpiece THE MOST HAPPY FELLA recently discussed in this column on Frank Loesser's centennial - that refuses to be relegated to a mere label. What it is - musical, opera, musical drama, whatever - is ferocious, forceful and musically sophisticated in a way few scores composed for Broadway have ever been.

Blitzstein's best score and Bernstein's favorite, could you ask for much more? Yes, perhaps that makes it all sound a bit lofty and stuffy, but there is a lot of good old fun to be had here and quite a lot of melody - much more than you may, at first, assume there would be given that many cite the score as an all-out opera. Perhaps none of the performers names ring a bell to a twenty-first century crowd, but they certainly are committed to their characters across the board and provide interesting and multi-layered characterizations of Hellman's quite complex and complicated Southern figures. Plus, the accents. The remastered recording sounds absolutely pristine and the orchestra alive and breathing. Truly, it all sounds far better than it otherwise could have given the sixty-year vintage of the recording itself. While perhaps not as fresh and new as Blitzstein's powerful score - what is - it is quite good and the high quality of production at the time and the intentions of those originally responsible for the recording are quite clearly expressed and appreciably, appealingly evident in the execution of this remaster that could have very easily otherwise been neglected by a less-caring label and left to the annals of time to whither, die and disintegrate, lost forever. Thank Regina that that is not the case for REGINA thanks to the wonderful folks at Masterworks Broadway for now you can have it once and for all, forever, in a format more reliable than so-easy-to-scratch/so-hard-to-find vinyl.

The Prologue establishes the tone, style and mood of the nearly three-hour opera almost instantly. There will be melody, dissonance, cacophony, and a compartmentalized compositional style befitting the segregation and class strictures of the Southern society in 1900 the story depicts. The recording itself is well over two-hours and generously preserves most of the thrilling drama of Hellman and Blitzstein's conception, but some sequences are missing. Hellman's source material screams "MUSICAL!" in many ways, but in Blitzstein's oh-so-capable hands - not unlike those of his peer and mutual admirer Bernstein- the material is elevated even beyond its loftily high levels of brilliant complexity and satiric-yet-searing story. Also, speaking even further of Bernstein's affection for Blitzstein, it must be pointed out now that we have come to it that in the second track on the album, "Introduction", there is a heavy use of a melody uncomfortably similar to "Maria" from WEST SIDE STORY (written nearly ten years later) and once it has been pointed out to the listener it seems unavoidable in recognizing to even the most casual Broadway or Bernstein fan familiar with his melody. It's just a coincidence, right? As is the case with so much of this sumptuous and rich score, "Music, Music" is a three-part masterwork that simultaneously moves the plot forward, enthralls us with a vocal performance with formidable prowess as well as establishes a main plot point and characterlogical musical style. Next, the invocation and implication of gospel music - particularly at-times playful, at-times somewhat mournful spirituals - makes its appearance and at that moment in the listening experience it is quite astounding to realize the scope and variety of the score so far in the show, before even the end of the halfway point in the first of three acts! Please note that I have been intentionally vague on the plot as to not spoil the juicy twists and unexpected turns of Hellman's devilishly witty and engrossing plot for those unfamiliar with the source material or REGINA itself. Additionally, considering the lack of any traditional song titles - more along the lines of opera titling with libretto quotations - it is not elemental to include song titles for purposes of this review. Indeed, this is a score best discussed in larger themes, if not only because it is so BIG and grand in its scope, aspirations, themes, politics, performances and sound, but also because it is frankly quite obscure and very rarely revived, then, now or in the intervening years. After all, this recording is the first time the score has appeared in a digital format and only one of two English recordings ever released on any format.

A bit of Kern here, a touch of Sousa there, a wink to Gilbert & Sullivan, a hint of Bernard Hermann, a nod to Puccini, and a hearty helping Weill/Brecht (especially at the blistering and bitingly satirical and political end of Act I); Blitzstein's score for REGINA contains a an almost comprehensive collection of the many different styles a composer worth his salt can manipulate to create a score worth its weight, even a period piece like REGINA. Without a doubt, this is a heavy, heavy score worth every single ounce and each note of its weight, though there are a few sequences which are missing from this recording (most notably, the controversial and constantly-rewritten party scene). Back to the musical identities and the larger ideas at work in REGINA, especially considering there are at least six or seven distinct musical styles representing each respective plot and subplot of the drama, a hallmark of expert musical theatre writing for an epic operatic musical such as this. The men in the musical get some mighty and musical music - although at one point ("The Box") there is some unsettlingly sweet and sensitive music that eventually reveals itself to be a rouse - just as the African American characters get their own style, tone, mood and instrumentation, these along with the other clear-cut styles and sounds of the score and show drawing deep-cut lines in the sonic sand - as well as the drama of the plot itself. It is with these strongly drawn differences that the cacophony and harmonies - and, oh, what harmonies - gain their greatest power and become as emotionally revelatory as they do. This story could have easily come across as painfully over-the-top or even camp, but Blitzstein imbues this score with so much fire and passion and variance of style - and, oh, what style - that we never even notice the wheels working all the while. This score is constantly changing and evolving as it propels towards the end of each act, and each act seems to start a new engine so that by the end of the third act - which, somehow, possesses even more eviscerating and emotionally evocative material than the first two - there is a three-engine, magnificent machine of musical mastery firing on all axels and blasting forth into the stratosphere of dramatic storytelling through song. REGINA is conceptual cohesiveness made real and expressed fully.

Take note musical theatre composers, lyricists, librettists and directors: this is how you do serious, adult musical storytelling without sacrificing an ounce of any integrity or innovation, with the entire enterprise bolstered by an edgy, powerfully prescient and provocative political message. Speaking of which, the capitalistic theme - and scathing sarcasm - was not welcomed in 1949 and seems to have not been embraced by the public at large since then, but it is a biting and thought-provoking statement being made by the authors here all the same, whatever your political assuagements may be. Surely, Hellman and Blitzstein were both known for their politics always informing their work - Blitzstein watered down but kept the spirit of Brecht & Weill for Off-Broadway, after all, in the form of the most successful THREEPENNY OPERA to this day. Blitzstein's work here demands respect, if not immediate affection. Honestly, though, it's a melodically rich and varied enough of a score to hold a twenty-first century listener's attention - even now, sixty years after it premiered. It also must be noted that although I have eschewed most mentions of specific cast members, four must be singled out: George Lipman; the two Williams: Wilderman and Warfield; and, of course, Brenda Lewis. Lewis deserves a mention if only for the fact that she is so committed and convincing as Regina, a character who could have come across as the very definition of camp - or, worse, shrill and screechy. Just listen to the section of the sequence on tracks 9 and 10 for proof in the pudding as far as a few of those four performers go - excellent all around.

A non-traditional and genre-busting score and show like this deserves a review with some semblance of the same spirit, so here it is, if you‘ve been wondering why this isn‘t a traditional track-by-track analysis as usual for this column. In short, as far as the story, score, sound, sonic quality, orchestra and performances on this re-release of Blitzstein's REGINA goes: A richer appetizer, meal and desert is near impossible to find, served up by master dramatic chef and musical server in the form of Hellman and Blitzstein and, though it may require more utensils than we are accustomed to using on an everyday basis - especially fancy miniature forks to parse the politics - a fine sonic dining experience is hard to fathom, sixty years ago or today. Plus, this is the party of the (20th) century, or at least one of the first. The best of Blitzstein, the best of Broadway, - and somewhere between the opera and the musical, the best of both worlds. Once again, old Lenny Bernstein was right-on in his assessment of musical and theatrical genius and innovation, for if anyone besides him would know it would have to be Hellman and Blitzstein. Maybe it's a bit too brainy for Broadway, but brilliant all the same. Bravissimo!

UPDATE: Masterworks Broadway is now streaming the entire album on their website for free! Enjoy!

http://myplay.com/audio_player/myplay/336687/550068/550092