Random Notes on This and That: 7/26/04

Stephen Sondheim and Burt Shevelove's 1974 musical version of Aristophanes' The Frogs was obviously meant as a lark. After all, it was written to be performed in and around the Yale University swimming pool, and was given only a week of performances there. There have been subsequent productions of various levels of professionalism, but, until now, no major New York mounting.

The new adaptation of The Frogs fashioned by and starring Nathan Lane expands things by thirty to forty minutes. The original Frogs was not, as has been widely reported, an hour or less; I didn't see it at Yale, but both productions I did see ran over ninety minutes. As a lyric in the opening number tells us, The Frogs doesn't contain an awful lot of plot in its depiction of Dionysos' descent into Hades to bring back a playwright whose wisdom might be able to save the world. Expanding this scenario to two acts is not advantageous, and tends to remove the feeling of a carefree spree that the original possessed.

Then too, Lane has seen fit to add dialogue specifically critical of the current U.S. political regime. True, Aristophanes' original contained its share of social criticism, with the title creatures representing deadly complacency and resistance to change. But Shevelove's version downplayed the politics. In the new Frogs, these political references draw easy applause but feel tacked on, as if to provide substance to a slight work.

Some of the gags to be heard at the Vivian Beaumont are funny, but there are also a fair amount of groaners in this anything-for-a-laugh evening. There's probably no way of avoiding the final "agon" or contest between Shaw and Shakespeare, but it comes off as dramatically static, and slows the second half down to a standstill. One wishes that a way might have been found to musicalize at least some of it. The notion that Shaw might be able to save mankind is never made very plausible. And in spite of the introduction of the character of Dionysos' late wife, Ariadne, the piece lacks emotional content.

With the help of Kenneth Posner's lighting, the lack of a swimming pool is no problem at all. But this is not one of Susan Stroman's more confident stagings, with production numbers for the frogs, the Dionysians, and some Shavians that don't build as one would hope. There's bungee jumping even involving Lane, along with some Cirque du Soleil-style aerial ballets. But the Vivian Beaumont space hasn't been used in particularly captivating fashion.

The old Frogs contained well under a half-hour of music, with all but two of the pieces given to the chorus. Of the new songs written by Sondheim for this Broadway premiere, the first, "I Love to Travel," is the most enjoyable. "Ariadne," Dionysos' song about his wife, is attractive, although Lane doesn't do it full justice. Charon's "All Aboard" is a fragment, and "Dress Big," "Hades," and "Shaw" feel more functional than inspired. There never seems to be a great need for these additional musical numbers; they seem to exist mostly to make the piece into a full-fledged musical.

There are more than a few traces of previous and subsequent Sondheim scores a piece of the "Hymn to Dionysos" directly anticipates Merrily We Roll Along. But with Bounce not coming to town, this ranks as Sondheim's first new half score for Broadway since Passion 1994. So one hopes that Nonesuch's Frogs recording with Lane in the brief '74 score doesn't preclude a recording of this new version.

As Dionysos, Lane remains a highly skilled clown, even if one has the feeling that one is witnessing the star's usual bag of tricks. Having seen a preview with Chris Kattan playing Dionysos' slave, Xanthias "Greek for second banana", I can attest that Roger Bart, who replaced Kattan just five days before press performances, is a significant improvement. Kattan wasn't incompetent, but he didn't seem to be having a particularly good time, and he wasn't a strong enough partner for Lane. With timing to rival Lane's, the inventive Bart snares every possible laugh, and he and Lane make a natural team.

Burke Moses is a suitably buff, droll Herakles, and Daniel Davis is splendid as Shaw. In the role of Shakespeare, Michael Siberry's rendition of "Fear No More" disappoints. Peter Bartlett makes an endearingly whimsical Pluto, and veteran John Byner has some scene-stealing moments as boatman Charon.

The production offers the unusual case of a musical with a second act considerably longer seventy-five minutes than its first fifty-two minutes. If the first half is a mixed bag, the second becomes downright dull, the thread of narrative simply too wispy to sustain one's interest. As a summer fling, The Frogs may just about do. But it doesn't manage to convince one that the piece cried out for expansion or a major New York mounting.

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For a well-researched, clear-eyed account of a colorful theatrical figure, I recommend Lucille Lortel: Queen of Off Broadway Limelight Editions by Alexis Greene, who was my critical colleague at Theatre Week and In Theater magazines.

Greene begins her story with Lortel's less-than-triumphant beginnings as an actress in the 1920s and her marriage to wealthy Lou Schweitzer. In the late '40s, Lortel, aided by her husband's funding, builds the White Barn Theatre in Westport, Connecticut, hosting staged presentations of new plays. In 1955, Schweitzer buys for his wife the Theatre de Lys in Greenwich Village, just as it is about to house the seven-year run of The Threepenny Opera.

In 1956, Lortel created the ANTA Matinee series, which, for the next twenty years, introduced new works at the de Lys. Lortel co-produces important new plays on and off Broadway, including The Balcony, The Blood Knot, As Is, and A Walk in the Woods. In 1980, she established the Lucille Lortel Foundation to support a wide range of theatrical talents.

Solidifying her position as off-Broadway's prima donna, she renames the de Lys the Lucille Lortel Theatre in 1981, and five years later establishes the Lucille Lortel Awards for off-Broadway. She endows the New York Public Library's Theatre on Film and Tape collection and, at the age of 97, establishes a Playwrights Sidewalk in front of her namesake theatre.

Lortel possessed determination, charm, energy, and a gift for self-promotion. While she didn't produce that long-running Threepenny Opera, she would often take credit for doing so, and all shows that played her theatre were obliged to include her name in the producing credits.

But Lortel was also insecure about her status in the theatrical community. While her husband's wealth allowed her to support projects she believed in, it also left her open to charges of dilettantism. In an effort to be taken seriously, she actively sought honors and publicity.

Once committed to a project, though, Lortel would remain loyal, even in the face of an almost total lack of business. Lortel was willing to take risks on serious plays, and she provided opportunities to countless theatre artists. Greene's new book offers not only a comprehensive picture of a woman whose theatres were her children, but also a vivid portrait of a vital period in American theatre.

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