Encores Golden Apple — Page 3

I saw the show tonight. Well! I was rapt. I was with it all the way. Total and tearful surrender. How wonderful to be served the best Don Perignon and caviar with all the flat beer and head cheese being dished out around town these days. My congratulations to all involved. And my thanks.

I, too, have the boot from the original production. I think it was achieved by "clipping" one of the backstage loudspeakers. It came in handy when we did the show at NYU in the 1980's- the material from Tams was in incomplete and atrocious condition. There is also a video out there of a complete performance from Light Opera Works (Evanston, IL) in the 1990's. Clips from it are on YouTube.

"The Golden Apple" is my favorite musical and I loved this production. I'm sure it will never receive a better performance, at least in terms of the music. I was especially enthralled by Mikaela Bennett--according to the program she is still a student at Juilliard but she doesn't sound like she has anything else to learn! Ryan Silverman was also excellent in what must be one of the biggest roles in terms of stage time in all of musical theatre.

In response to some of the posters who had trouble with the plot, I will say that seeing it staged I did notice a few problems with the narrative (in particular, there was no sense that Ulysses' stay in Rhododendron lasted 10 years). But I have always considered this primarily a concept musical rather than a traditional narrative, so my enjoyment of the piece derives from my admiration of the cleverness and skill with which the authors worked out their concept. I don't just mean re-telling the Homeric story in turn-of-the century America, but also the clever double casting between the first and second acts, and also the way Latouche's commentary manages to be relevant to both 1950's America and today's.

But ultimately what makes this my favorite musical is Moross's music--and for the reason that it sounds like no other Broadway musical. Copland-style Americana, yes, but written with such delicacy that it makes "Oklahoma" seem ham-fisted. In fact I thought the choreography of this production missed the mark--it seemed more suited to the barn raising sequence in "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers." But the singers and orchestra were heavenly and I felt this was the greatest Encores! I had ever seen.

I was at yesterday's matinee and attended the talkback during which Moross's daughter and Latouche's biographer spoke. I hope to catch the show one more time before, like Brigadoon, it disappears for another 100 years. IMHO, this is a great show.

I don't think you need much familiarity with Homer or Greek mythology to enjoy it. You may miss an "in" joke or maybe better understand a character's motivation. If you are coming into the show cold, you may have problems with the dense, albeit often clever lyrics. All the lines are sung and rhymed. Despite all the microphones in use, the sound at City Center isn't perfect. For the last week, I've been playing the PS Classics recording on my daily commute to work, so I had no problem following what was going on on stage.

Maybe because of lack of time or resources, the second act -- particularly "The Spree" during which characters from the first act return as characters from the Odyssey -- was not as well staged as the first. (Maybe what we imagine while listening to a recording is always more interesting.) I agree that the Hector was weak (but not terrible), certainly no Jack Whiting from the original (or John Cullum, who did the under-rehearsed Bard concert version a few years ago.) The final scene, back in Angel's Roost, though, for me was tremendously moving.

Updated On: 5/14/17 at 08:09 AM

No one asked about a recording or Broadway transfer. An Emory prof went on about how he always wanted to see this show. Another person asked what it was like for cast member to play characters from Greek myths. (I kid you not.) Only Barton Cowperthwaite responded, the only time he spoke all afternoon. (He plays (or, rather, dances) the part of Paris.)

I bet the failure of this show really satisfied you in 1954, A8.

Hot damn, I would have loved to see John Cullum as Hector!

After Eight said: "...Oh, fiddle-dee-dee.

As for The Golden Apple, I'll take Oklahoma! any day of the week.



"

You do understand we don't have to choose between them, yes?

"You do understand we don't have to choose between them, yes?"



i understand perfectly well that we don't have to.

I choose to.