CDs: Lover, Come Back to Me
Notably absent from the recent Broadway: The American Musical television documentary miniseries was any mention of the importance in musical theater history of Victor Herbert, Rudolf Friml, or Sigmund Romberg, master composers of American operetta. It's not surprising, of course, as their works have fallen out of favor in recent decades.
But their shows are of considerable importance in the development of the Broadway musical. It's unlikely that Oscar Hammerstein II could have written Show Boat or Oklahoma! had he not previously tackled serious themes and integrated musical numbers in the operettas Rose Marie Friml and The Desert Song Romberg. In fact, Hammerstein worked simultaneously on the libretti for Show Boat and The New Moon, with both shows trying out concurrently in Philadelphia in 1927.
The New Moon expired there, but, extensively revised, became a Broadway hit in 1928, lasting 509 performances, a fine run for the era. With book and lyrics by Hammerstein, Frank Mandel, and Laurence Schwab, Sigmund Romberg's score for The New Moon is arguably the most hit-filled of all Broadway operettas.
And its script is well-constructed, suspenseful melodrama. Set in 1792 in New Orleans, The New Moon's hero is Robert Mission, a French nobleman turned revolutionary who was involved in the murder of the king's cousin. To escape detection, Robert has become a bondsman, in servitude at the home of the Beaunoirs, and in love with Beaunoir's daughter, Marianne. But Robert is pursued by Detective Ribaud, who has been sent to New Orleans to bring Robert back to France for execution. And that's just the first act; the second involves the French Revolution, a ship called the New Moon, and the formation of a colony for free men.
By and large, though, one must seek out Turner Classic Movies' showings of the film versions of the Romberg and Friml operettas, as these works haven't been fully staged in New York since the '80s. The New Moon was filmed twice, in 1930 with opera singers Grace Moore and Lawrence Tibbett, and in 1941 with the operetta team of Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy.
It was inevitable that City Center's Encores! series would get around to investigating some of the Broadway operettas, and it was only fitting that the company began with one of the very best, The New Moon, which it mounted in the spring of 2003. Unlike most of the shows performed by Encores!, The New Moon requires operatic voices, and it got them, led by baritone Rodney Gilfry, who has created leading roles in such contemporary operas as A Streetcar Named Desire and Sophie's Choice.
Directed by Gary Griffin, The New Moon turned out to be one of Encores! best-ever productions, striking a perfect balance between tongue-in-cheek and affectionate salute to a bygone era. A proposed DRG recording of the production fell through, but in the summer of 2004, Encores! New Moon finally got preserved, as one of the first recordings on Ghostlight Records, a new division of Sh-K-Boom Records devoted to preserving musical theater.
The New Moon has had an erratic history on disc. AEI has issued a compilation of vintage recordings, including the fine tracks made by the original 1929 London cast. Otherwise, there are only partial recordings, including a Decca Broadway CD that combines heavily abridged versions of The New Moon and The Desert Song. Because the Encores! production featured the full score, the new Ghostlight CD ranks as the first comprehensive cast recording of The New Moon, and it includes such rarely heard numbers as "The Trial Ladies of the Jury," "Funny Little Sailor Men," and "Never for You."
Gilfry, heard at the beginning of 2004 starring in the premiere recording of Kurt Weill's The Firebrand of Florence, possesses a virile, handsome, robust baritone that's ideal for Robert's "Stouthearted Men" and "Marianne." Although she can also belt out pop opera, Christiane Noll's silvery, full-bodied soprano is just right for Marianne's "One Kiss," "The Girl on the Prow," and the celebrated duets with Robert, "Wanting You" and "Lover, Come Back to Me."
Tenor Brandon Jovanovich does justice to the haunting "Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise." The comic supporting roles are in the able hands of Peter Benson Wonderful Town, Lauren Ward, and Alix Korey. Burke Moses makes an impression in his sole opportunity, another rarely heard item, the "Interrupted Love Song" duet with Noll.
With Rob Fisher leading a thirty-six-piece orchestra in the original 1928 orchestrations, The New Moon becomes the first Encores! concert since Tenderloin 2000 to get a recording. That's not counting Wonderful Town, which only got recorded because it moved to Broadway. The booklet, which sports on its cover the original 1928 logo, includes essays by Encores!' Ted Chapin and Jack Viertel, along with Viertel's plot synopsis. Encores' New Moon richly deserved preservation, and the result ranks as one of the year's most valuable theater recordings.