Goin' back to the UNMADE BED

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 6/2/05 at 3:51pm

Revisited SONGS FROM AN UNMADE BED last night.

You know how fervent the PIAZZA fans are here? I feel similarly passionate towards this heartfelt and haunting show, featuring the luscious voice and presence of Michael Winther. It seemed even stronger the second time, though I think "Dinner Party" and "He Plays the Cello" could be cut with little harm. To my ears they didn't have the honesty, yearning and wry humor of the better BED songs, which often left me in tears - "The Night You Decided to Stay" (music by Steve Marzullo) is one of the most beautiful (and funny) new love songs I've heard all season, and I can't get "The Other Other Woman" out of my head.

Like PIAZZA, there has been some criticism that Mark Campbell's lyrics are too "clever by half" - I don't quite know what this means. Are clever, literate lyrics now supposed to be avoided? Like Peter Mills' delicious word-play in PERSEPHONE, Campbells lyrics are finely crafted and witty (describing a sex club as "an underground scene that is far from posh...an anonymous affair...staged by Hieronymus Bosch") and though his songs are often about sex, they are never smutty. And though the show is about the life and love experiences of a gay man, many of the songs could very easily be sung by a woman (Campbell told me that several female singers have approached him about singing "An Admission", about the initial disappointment upon seeing a lover nude for the first time).

At the too brief talk-back (attended by Rebecca Luker) - they had to clear the stage for "Score" - Michael Winther described his time in MAMMA MIA! and was praised by an audience member for avoiding "A.I." vocal pyrotechnics, while composers Peter Foley, Gihieh Lee (and two others..sorry not to have gotten their names) talked about writing the music to fit Campbell's lyrics and that nobody knew what the other contributors songs sounded like. Campbell told me that they hoped to get the show recorded but that nothing was certain yet.

Like THE PURSUIT OF PERSEPHONE, it would be a sin if SONGS FROM AN UNMADE BED would go unpreserved.

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 6/2/05 at 4:06pm

Go buy tickets, everyone!

https://www.broadwayworld.com/showinfo.cfm?showid=710