Signature's "The Visit" is History in the Making

SHOW INFORMATION:  Through June 22.  Tues – Weds at 7:30PM, Thurs – Fri at 8PM, Sat at 2PM and 8PM, Sun at 2PM and 7PM.  Tickets are $56 - $77.  Tickets and Information at 703-573-SEAT or www.signature-theatre.org 

◊◊◊◊◊ out of five.  2 hours, 30 minutes, including intermission.  Adult language and situations, stylized violence.

 

With the opening this week of The Visit, Signature Theatre's Kander and Ebb Celebration has hit the bull's-eye once again, and it might just be the best of the three superb productions presented this spring.  The signs and brochures all over the area tell us that we will be a part of history – and they aren't lying. Two multiple Tony Award-winners (Chita Rivera and George Hearn)heading the cast of a show written by multiple Tony Award-winners (book by Terrence McNally, music and lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb) and helmed by Tony Award-winners Ann Reinking (choreography) and Frank Galati (direction) is pedigree of historic proportion.  And indeed, these masters are firing on all cylinders, creating an evening of musical theatre that is relentless in its dark viciousness, mesmerizing in its provincial presentation and profound in its complexity.  It is the best of all worlds – a thoroughly entertaining and thought-provoking musical. 

Like their masterworks, Chicago and Cabaret, The Visit is a deceptively deep piece that revels in looking at the dark side of human nature while luring us in with simple charms and a nice helping of razzle-dazzle.  Based on a play by the same title, the show tells the story of a bankrupt Swiss town and the return of its most famous citizen, Claire, who is, among other things, the richest woman in the world.  With her return, hope rides high that she will forget the past (they ran her out of town) and save the place from ruin.  And, as is likely to happen in this parable/fable, she has come back to do just that.  Relief spreads through the little burg until she names her one deadly condition.  While Claire manipulates and spreads her reign of terror, the town is slowly swept up in the fervor of utopian promises.  Forced to make a life and death situation, the town bands together in a frightening show of solidarity and nasty conformity, calling to mind the control of the Fascist and Nazi regimes.  Even their solidarity, shown by everyone wearing yellow shoes, forces a recall of vivid images of yellow stars and mob rule. 

Chicago and Cabaret both balanced all of that darkness with showy numbers – vaudeville and pastiche, and The Visit does the same, but in a much more subversive manner.  The script is also a beguiling patchwork of hilarity, touching romance, and several moments of sweet small town innocence.  The score, full of vibrant motifs (Claire's entrance music suggest both pure evil and high elegance), toe-tapping tunes and Kander and Ebb's signature commentary numbers, is a no less than a masterpiece, aching to be recorded and kept for posterity.  That that much variety can make sense in a two hour period, and STILL maintain a fable-like feel is truly magical – there is not a bad song in the entire show. 

Mr. Galati has used Signature's thrust stage to full advantage, drawing us in by allowing us to observe up close and from all angles, and then giving us a needed distance as alternate scenes take place far upstage on a balcony or in a series of provincial doorways.  Spare in furniture and often asking the audience to imagine, Galati and his design team ease us into this small world then leave us to imagine its beauty and ugliness for ourselves.  Derek McLane's set, a mixture of wood and brick, definitely calls to mind the European provinces, while Howell Binkley's moody lighting is notable both for what it illuminates and what it leaves in shadows, and Susan Hilferty's costumes do double duty as scene setters and as symbols, most notably in the black and white severity of Claire's evil entourage juxtaposed against the earthy tones of the frayed costumes of the townspeople. 

Ms. Reinking holds nothing back with her sharp choreography, which, like the play itself is a celebration of conflicting styles, wide in variety yet always making sense.  Her group numbers are all show-stoppers, but not in the huge, tap-dancing big Broadway way.  No, her moves are simple and complex all at once, and completely character driven – "A Happy Ending" and "Yellow Shoes" were fantastic in act one, and what will likely be talked about for years to come, act two's "The One-Legged Tango" was breathtaking.  And to add a romantic touch to the evening, Reinking has created several lovely pas de deux for Young Anton and Young Claire – glimpses at our hero and heroine as youth – beautifully danced by D.B. Bonds and Mary Ann Lamb. 

The supporting cast is uniformly wonderful, defining even the smallest roles with full characterizations.  The central family, the Schells, has a marvel in Karen Murphy who plays the world-weary wife.  She has the unenviable task of being having to portray a giant range of emotion, from harried wife and mother, to shrewd business woman to hopeful townsperson, swept up in the hope of a bright future, even as it will come at great personal cost.  Cristen Paige and Kevin Reed are charming as the Schell children, young adults torn between a love for their family and daring to want life outside the town. 

Mark Jacoby plays the Mayor to perfection.  A simple mixture of slick politician, smooth diplomat and concerned citizen, Jacoby is a delight as his mayor tries to make it all look more complicated than it is.  And, as you might expect, he is in fine voice.  James Harms is downright scary as head butler in Claire's creepy entourage, suggesting both evil and cold death all at once.  Ryan Lowe and Matthew Deming, in bowler hats, checkered tuxedoes and rose-colored glasses, amp up the hilarity and creepy factor as Claire's eunuch assistants.  Their voices are hard to believe. 

Jeremy Webb as the Schoolmaster gives a breakout performance, as the lone townsperson who refuses to conform and wants to bring the town back from the brink of disaster.  His performance is masterful, as he slowly but surely is stripped of his beliefs and becomes one of the masses.  That downward spiral is both sad and frightening.  His "The Only One" is a highlight of the second act. 

It is almost impossible to believe that Mr. Hearn and Ms. Rivera have had decades-long careers, given their amazingly energetic performances.  And what chemistry!  One need only look in their eyes to see years of heartache and longing for a love that was doomed by bad choices and unnecessary hatred.  Both, as you might expect, command the stage whenever they are on, but they both also give graciously to their co-stars, never upstaging or bringing a diva presence to their times on the sidelines.  George Hearn is in marvelous voice, and he and director Galati have wisely chosen to make his solo numbers all the more poignant taking place on an empty, mostly dark stage, letting the words and the actor really carry the moment.  His "I Must Have Been Something" and "Fear" are compelling tours de force, as he brings a homespun quality to the role of father, shopkeeper and erstwhile lover.  And the musical theatre gods have given us a true gift when he and Ms. Rivera share breathtaking duets in each act. 

You simply cannot mention the name Chita Rivera without using the word legend, and this wonderful woman is just that, a living legend.  But she is not resting on any laurels here.  No, she is playing an unlikeable character to the hilt, and she has not lost her touch, giving the requisite broad strokes of musical theatre acting, matched only by the subtleties of a master actor finding honest complexity and a troubled woman.  Chita fans may be taken aback at first, as she starts Claire off as an unapproachable bitch, doling out her songs with a talk-singing croak of a voice, but it only takes a few moments to realize Chita is not off – she is in full character.  And just as Claire gains strength from reuniting with her only love and from the power she has over the town, so, too, does her performance gain unbelievable power, belting out her final numbers just like she did 50 years ago in West Side Story, and the lady can still dance.  (I am sure I am not the only one who finds some irony in the fact that of theatre's greatest dancers of all time is a lead dancer again, but this time as a character with a wooden leg!)  Let there be no doubt who leads that "One-Legged Tango."  It is pure Chita Rivera, and she simply does not disappoint.  

Given recent events with Signature Theatre's last Broadway attempt, I am a little afraid to say it, but I will and I mean it.  The Visit deserves/needs a life after this, and a transfer to the Great White Way with Hearn, Rivera and company would truly bring Glory Days to the new season.  Bravo to Signature for bringing Kander and Ebb to DC theatre goers in such fine style.

 

Photos of the East Coast Premiere of The Visit by Scott Suchman.  TOP to BOTTOM: George Hearn and Chita Rivera; D.B. Bonds,Mary Ann Lamb and Chita Rivera; (clockwise) George Hearn, Karen Murphy, Kevin Reed and Cristen Paige;  George Hearn; Matthew Deming, Chita Rivera and Ryan Lowe.