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| Michael Curtain and Anna Dowsley. |
Performed by Anna Dowsley and Michael Curtain – Written and
Directed by Constantine Costi
Dramaturgy by Hilary Bell – Movement Direction by Shannon
Burns – Lighting Design by Matthew Marshall.
Canberra Theatre Centre Playhouse, March 1st.
Reviewed by BILL STEPHENS
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| Michael Curtain and Anna Dowsley performing "Long Lost Loves (and Grey Suede Gloves) |
A prolific composer and concert pianist, the recipient of a
Pulitzer Prize for music, a Grammy Award and many other accolades, it is for
his cabaret songs, written to the lyrics of Arnold Weinstein, specifically for
performance by his wife, Joan Morris and himself, that the now 85 year old William Bolcom is perhaps best known.
Music Viva Artistic Director and Bolcom aficionado, Paul
Kildea and Ian Dickson AM, hit upon the intriguing idea of co-opting Director,
Constantine Costi to collaborate with playwright, Hilary Bell and lighting
designer Matthew Marshall, to script and direct a collection of Bolcom’s cabaret
songs into a theatrical presentation as a showcase for the artistry of mezzo-soprano,
Anna Dowsley. Michael Curtin, with whom Dowsley had worked previously, would be
the accompanist and Shannon Burns would provide movement direction.
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| Anna Dowsley performing "Long Lost Loves (and Grey Suede Gloves) |
An Opera Australia favourite, Anna Dowsley currently divides her time between opera companies and orchestras in Australia and Europe, most recently performing the role Cherubino in “The Marriage of Figaro” with her home company, Opera Frankfurt. Michael Curtain is currently the Assistant Chorus Master and Children’s Chorus Master at Opera Australia, a post he has held for the last seven years.
“Long Lost Loves (and Grey Suede Gloves)” contains twenty
Bolcom songs. The longest, “Oh Close the Curtain”, runs about five minutes, while there are
several, including “Surprise!”, “Lady
Luck” and “Satisfaction” (sorry Mick, Bolcom got there first!) take only around
one minute each to perform.
Of the twenty songs, perhaps the two most popular, “Song of
Black Max”, and the exquisite “Waitin” are offered as encores, while the rest,
including “Toothbrush Time”, “At the Last Lousy Moments of Love”, and “Amor”
are shoe-horned into a concocted narrative around a group of friends attending
the wake for a character named George, then expressing their recollections of
George through Bolcom’s songs.
In his program notes, Paul Kildea quotes lyricist, Arnold
Weinstein as saying “We wrote these songs as a cabaret in themselves, no
production “values” to worry about. The scene is the piano, the cast the
singer”.
However, on stage in addition to the piano, were a tripod
with a wreath bearing the words “In Loving Memory” and an arrangement
representing a bar, complete with a selection of beverages and drinking glasses.
After welcoming the audience to the wake of her friend
George, Dowsley proceeded to portray each of the guests as they arrived, as
well as the attentive hostess. Changes in lighting states presumably were meant
to indicate when she was being a guest or the hostess. Additional dialogue
allowed her to comment on the guests and impart information about them which was
not obvious from the songs.
Dowsley is a superb singer with a warm fluid mezzo perfectly
suited to Bolcom’s songs. She is also an excellent actress. As Kildea noted in
his program notes, Bolcom and Weinstein wrote each song as an individual and
complete story.
Therefore, by imposing an additional storyline on them, then requiring Dowsley to constantly
interrupt her interpretation with additional comment and characterisation, it soon
became confusing and exhausting trying to maintain an interest in the conceit
of the imaginary George through the songs while coping with so many superfluous characters, contradictions
and mood changes.
Even allowing for the imaginary George’s many idiosyncrasies;
it quickly became obvious that these songs were not written about the same
person.
So, despite Dowsley’s best efforts, and they were
considerable and admirable, for an audience attracted by the opportunity to
hear Dowsley sing, and perhaps extend their knowledge of the Bolcom repertoire,
the most successful and satisfying songs in the program were the two offered as
encores, where she and Michael Curtin simply performed the songs as they were
meant to be sung.
Images by Charlie Hardy
This review first published in the digital edition of CITY NEWS on 02.03.24