Nov. 27, 1997
at the Group Repertory Theatre
A strange time warp attends any production of Happy End, in which
wiseguys cross paths with the Salvation Army and the gang leader falls for the
lady preacher. This Weimar-era Brecht/Weill concoction predates both Damon
Runyon's short story and the musical Guys and Dolls by several
years, but the similarities of plotting, milieu, and ironic themes are uncanny
enough to be eerie, if no longer actionable.
In any case, Michael Feingold's deft, amiable adaptation of the
original, which is the English-language performance standard, makes a lively,
respectable entertainment. And in his new production, director Malcolm
Atterbury, logically and mostly fruitfully, has taken the material back to
Brecht's initial inspiration for his "American" stories: silent
films. There are witty bijou-style title cards, slightly less witty piped-in
sound effects (more about that), a constant soundtrack of rinky-tink piano
versions of "Bilbao Song" and such, and a few scenes performed
broadly in a flickering strobe.
And he's aptly outfitted the show with a gallery of vintage,
inter-continental criminal types: the dese-dem-dose wiseguy contingent led by
Christopher Winfield's tough-as-nails boss, Robert Gallo's gap-toothed sharpie,
and Van Boudreaux's dim, hotheaded tough, and the more European tradition of
evil geniuses and dandies headed up by Philip McKeown's sleek hitman, Klair
Bybee's oily "reverend," and Marius Mazmanian's deadpan slack-jawed
professor.
The Salvation Army contingent is a tad less iconicÑthere were no
Keystone Kristian comedies, after allÑbut it's got the passionate young
firebrand, Hallelujah Lil (Mary Jo Niedzielski, with a great period look), the
gruff but lovable major (Vicki Pacifico, doing a passable Marjorie
Main-meets-Maureen Stapleton), the dim sidekicks (Gwen Van Dam and the
excellent Beverly Allen), the fussy prude (Mark Atha), and the lisping choirboy
(Daniel Trippet, overdoing it). The army and the gang are all dressed in the
crisp, varied palette of Shon LeBlanc's costumes, and work mostly well on
Atterbury's excellent, subtly bifurcated set. In general, the show works quite
fleetly and nicely as a play.
Unfortunately, though, it tanks as a musical. Only Shandra
Sinnamon, as Ÿberboss the Fly, puts across a winning number (the difficult
"Ballad of the Lily of Hell"). The restÑand I won't single anyone
outÑare either out of tune or time. Granted, these are not the kind of logical,
plot-furthering book songs we're accustomed toÑall the more reason they need to
be knocked out of the park.
But the real tempo and dynamic problems come from an
over-produced, pre-recorded, piped-in scoreÑa perverse choice, considering that
musical director Darrin Degenhardt is present in the house to lead the singers.
From what I could see, Degenhardt doesn't play a note on his KurzweilÑand,
while it puts across Brecht-via-Feingold quite well, this production doesn't do
much for Kurt Weill, either.
"Happy End," presented by and at the Group Repertory Theatre, 10900 Burbank Blvd., N. Hollywood. Nov. 14-Dec. 29. (818) 769-7529.