Within minutes of “The Beautiful Lady” starting, you might wonder if the show owes a little to “Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812.” After all, here we are again with the noble Russian crowd at the cabaret. , sings of life, loss, hope and love.
but “O beautiful lady,The 1984 Elizabeth Swados musical is actually a rendition of Dave Malloy’s “The Great Comet,” despite having just premiered at New York’s La MaMa under a provocative direction by Anne Bogart. artistic ancestor.
Swados is best known for her 1978 show Runaways (which was briefly revived by Encores! Off Center in 2016, months after her death). “The Beautiful Lady” further strengthens the evidence that she was one of the most singular and creative songwriters and lyricists of her generation. (A few years ago, Malloy played on a tribute album with Michael R. Jackson, Taylor Mack, and Shaina Toub. “Liz Swados Project”)
More like an opera cycle than a traditionally structured, story-driven musical, The Beautiful Lady is set in the real-life Stray Dog Cafe in St. hosts literary shows. Anna Akhmatova (Kate Fuglei), Osip Mandelstam (Henry Strum), Marina Tsvetaeva (Ashley Perez Flanagan) and Alexander Bullock (George Abdo, from “The Band Visit”) Celebrities in the years leading up to World War I. Appreciating ideas and ideals, some admiring each other, dreaming of political, sexual and artistic revolutions.
Swados and Paul Schmidt, who translated many of these writers’ poems (most of which are incorporated into the show), wrote the book, revised by Jocelyn Clarke, and serves primarily as the thread that connects the songs. And oh, they are amazing. It’s vibrant and funny, hopeless and pathetic, and sometimes heartbreaking and adorable.
Bogart makes the most of La Mama’s deep stage, with just a few chairs and tables (set design by Andromache Chalfant) and bold lighting with a focus on blues and reds ( Designed by Brian H. Scott) created an impressive tableau. The effects are intense and never overwhelm the humans at the center of the story.
Around the middle, when they change into gray jumpsuits, it’s a reminder of how often revolutionary dreams ended under repressive regimes. In a musical dream world, Stray Dogs remains open for so long that its inhabitants have to face its reality and resort to gallows-like humour, replete with the likes of Orwell’s Newspeak and Thought Crime. , need to tell each other jokes that dig up the cruel absurdities of life under Stalinist rule. (Some of these jokes have been reused for Putin and still work.)
“My lady is made of silk and sighs,” Sergei Yesenin (Andrew Porek, far from Bats in Hell) sings a hymn to American dancer Isadora Duncan. , longing but helpless as his world crumbles. “My lady, full of laughter and goodbyes.” He may be describing the spirit of the show—poetically, of course.
Beautiful woman
Until May 28th at La MaMa in Manhattan. lama.org. Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes.
