For nearly a month, Opera Zuid tours through the Netherlands with a remarkable theatrical piece by Kurt Weill, Lady in the Dark. It is more appropriate to call it a musical than an opera, where the collaboration of Weill with Ira Gershwin certainly has much to do with it. Opera Zuid offers a whirling and skillfully staged production that makes an acquaintance with the piece, which has lost nothing of its topicality, definitely worthwhile.
It is fascinating to encounter the same composer in two totally different theatrical worlds in barely three months' time. Yet upon closer inspection, he is very recognizable: his alert and critical eye on social circumstances, his sharp analysis of characters, the layered quality of the story that still maintains an exciting coherence. These are characteristics we find both in Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny – which was to be seen in September at Opera Vlaanderen – and in Lady in the Dark.
Liza Elliott is the editor-in-chief of a well-known fashion magazine, Allure. Her extreme ambition leads her to suffer from panic attacks and depression for some time. Somewhat doubtful of its effect, she nevertheless seeks out a psychiatrist. She also has problems in her private life: she cannot choose between a marriage proposal from her lover and boss Kendall Nesbitt, who finally announces his divorce, and the courtship of film star Randy Curtis. Within the magazine's editorial office, she is also not spared friction, partly due to the threatening competitive pressure from manager Charley Johnson. The therapist's analysis delves into Liza's past and rakes up through dreams significant moments from her life in order to get to the core of her problems. The confrontation of these dream experiences with the current events she experiences makes up much of what is compelling about the musical. If a happy ending can be discerned at all, it is that she can come to a positive agreement with Charley Johnson for the continued success of the magazine Allure.
Carefully considered characterization
The direction of Anna Pool is simultaneously austere and aesthetic and, in collaboration with the set design, clearly conveys the storyline. Even before the music begins, we hear rattling typewriters and see the printing press turning. A strip of the set depicts the magazine cover on all essential passages. A clear statement: the magazine is and remains all-consuming in Liza Elliott's life. Her desk at the editorial office is also permanently present. And the movements of the many visitors are repeatedly announced amusingly via the lift levels. Each dream sequence receives a handy scene change with beautiful lighting every time (circus passage, high school diploma presentation, etc.). Of course, a large armchair stands centrally in the psychoanalysis passages.
The characters are sharply drawn: the "establishment" lady Liza Elliott, as well as the soberly costumed and almost humbly appearing serious lover Kendall Nesbitt, whereas the film star Randy Curtis appears as a ridiculous cowboy, who subsequently undergoes an almost metamorphosis when it turns out he means it and lets his feelings run free towards Liza. Liza is excellently characterized both in her fickleness and in her desperate search for balance. As is the discreetly background-remaining therapist. Thus the production is a model of simple yet carefully considered characterization of the characters. The depressive Liza ultimately evolves into a liberated woman, which director Anna Pool has set as a current objective.
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From Broadway to cabaret
The cast ideally unites singer-actors. Maartje Rammeloo as Liza Elliott has a clear beautiful diction but is equally a convincing singer with a supple soprano in songs such as One life to live or the moving My ship (My ship has sails that are made of silk), in which we find Weill as the composer who has ideally adapted himself to the American musical world of cabaret, Broadway, and Tin Pan Alley. The collaboration with Ira Gershwin and Moss Hart certainly had much to do with this. Among the other actors, Elliott Carlton Hines (Charley Johnson) and Quirijn de Lang (Randy Curtis) are particularly noteworthy as excellent interpreters of their roles, while actually nobody is out of place. Apart from the soloists, the choir and dancers also deserve nothing but applause, which they received at the end of the performance.
David Stern conducted an engaged philharmonie zuidnederland, whereby he gave expression to the whole diversity of Weill's music, the jazzy passages, the sharp moments of threat and fear, the emotional passages with romantic Broadway music.
Opera Zuid is an organization that programs a number of operas from different periods each year and tours them through Dutch theaters. Their goal is: "to reconcile tradition and innovation, masterworks from the past touch the heart of our here and now. New creations we connect with tradition and relevance." As an illustration of this mission, this production of Kurt Weill's Lady in the Dark is definitely successful. It is a co-production with Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg and is supported by the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music.
WHAT: Kurt Weill, Lady in the Dark
WHO: Anna Pool [direction], David Stern [conductor],
Theaterkoor Opera Zuid in collaboration with Kooracademie Maastricht philharmonie zuidnederland
Sylvia Poorta, Maartje Rammeloo, Elliott Carlton Hines, Quirijn de Lang and others.
WHERE: Opera Zuid
WHEN: 22-11-2022, Parktheater Eindhoven
Tour continues until 11 December
Interview with David Stern