ICT's World Premiere of When Garbo Talks

When Garbo Talks
music by Mort Garson; book & lyrics by Buddy Kaye
directed by Jules Aaron
ICT in Long Beach
through November 7

Sweden's great beauty Greta Gustafsson, later renamed Greta Garbo has been the subject of several plays, but, to my knowledge, When Garbo Talks is the first musical to recount her fascinating career. ICT's world premiere production in Long Beach is well directed, has an excellent cast, but at best comes off disconnected and unduly and unclearly satirical. If parody is the intent, it is far from apparent at the beginning.

It's a curious treatment, indeed, very much a somewhat, at first glance, realistic biography set to music, which quickly seems to divide itself right down the middle as to style and presentation. Whenever Garbo (Jessica Burrows) and her mentor Mauritz Stiller (Michael Stone Forrest) are center stage, the book is serious and straightforward with rather operatic/discordant sounding music, but when Louis B. Mayer (Matthew Henerson) and his cohorts (Nick Rogers and Teya Patt) hit the spotlight, it's a parody of old Hollywood and the tunes become fast patter and camp. Showing a divergence in musical styles here: "My Winter Tree" is a beautifully poignant ballad sung by Garbo in Act II, as she longs for her homeland; "The Great Garbo Must Go" is a darkly entertaining fast paced number right out of vaudeville or burlesque.

There seems almost to be two shows in one, bumping up against each other. Are we to be amused or do we sympathize with the gentle, graceful Garbo and what is happening to her? It is an unseemly fit throughout, but at least Act II plays somewhat better.
When Stiller is unfairly dismissed by Mayer, Garbo stays with the silent picture reluctantly (The Temptress, 1925), at Stiller's request. Tragedy eventually ensues for the pair, but Garbo meets and falls in love with costar, matinee idol John Gilbert. (Flesh and the Devil, 1926) Gilbert wants to marry Garbo, she unwillingly accepts and then does not show up for the wedding. They live together for a while, but when talkies become the rage (1929), Gilbert is out of the studio and her life; Garbo, however, remains queen of MGM.
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The entire cast is winning under Jules Aaron's expertise, with Burrows a striking presence throughout. Looking more like Sophia Loren, with her stunning cheekbones, her Garbo, nonetheless, is alluring and forever sad and mysterious. Forrest is marvelous as Stiller, the acclaimed Swedish director who taught Garbo everything, only to be shunned and abandoned by Mayer in typical Hollywood fashion. Matthew Henerson is delightfully entertaining as the hypocritical tyrant Louis B. Mayer as are Rogers and Patt as his assistants. Within the confusing style of this play, they come off, through no fault of their own, like villains in a theatrical melodrama. Chris Carothers makes an affable Gilbert, who ended up a dismal failure due to Mayer's conniving ways. Alexandra Ackerman as Garbo's Swedish coach Signe and possible lover is very good in a rather thankless role, and versatile Scott Kruse completes the ensemble in a variety of smaller roles.

Garbo had a complicated personality. She had many lovers besides Gilbert, but did not believe in the confinements of marriage. She was also touted as having several lesbian liaisons without being labeled bisexual. What remains undoubtedly clear is that she was a strong woman who struggled for her art. She knew what her star power meant to MGM and stood up to Mayer to get what she was entitled to monetarily. Through her letters to Signe, she makes us aware of how unhappy the Hollywood system made her. Having determined in Sweden to become a true cinematic artiste, under Stiller's tutelage, she therefore never lived up to her true potential, although becoming involuntarily an American screen icon.
Within the confines of Kaye's book, When Garbo Talks is in many ways engaging, but are the Hollywood stooges presented the way Garbo really saw them? The cartoonish glimpse of them is just off kilter with the heartfelt Garbo star-making story. Once Kaye decides on the appropriate mood and texture for the show, a rewrite is in order. Until then, When Garbo Talks will be classified as a somewhat weirdly mysterious take on a mysteriously elegant and unique Hollywood star.