Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Elizabeth Swados’s intoxicating THE BEAUTIFUL LADY makes its long-awaited New York debut, courtesy of La MaMa

• By drediman
• May 11, 2023
• No Comments

This week at the Ellen Stewart Theatre, composer/lyricist Elizabeth Swados’s The Beautiful Lady made its long-awaited New York debut courtesy of La MaMa (the 1984 work was previously seen in Washington, DC and California). Featuring a book by Paul Schmidt and Swados — which has been adapted by Jocelyn Clarke and heavily features poetry by Anna Akhmatova, Alexander Blok, and Marina Tsvetaeva — the work charts the glory days and subsequent demise of a group of Russian poets, a trajectory that aligns with Stalin’s rise to power. In short, The Beautiful Lady is vintage Swados, and it’s really quite surprising that we haven’t seen it performed in New York until now.

To be sure, Swados was a singular talent (she is perhaps best known for Runaways, her sole foray into Broadway). By willing to break often trite musical theater conventions, her songs have a tendency to follow their own bespoke, meandering paths. As such, her compositions typically register on a deeply personal level in their pursuit of an authentic connection to the human experience. Held together instinctually by Clarke’s adapted book, The Beautiful Lady’s gorgeous score — a pungent blend of cabaret and art song ethoses (richly orchestrated by Kris Kukul) — blazes with a vitality that’s distinctly Swados’s, giving audiences the unique rush of witnessing a brilliant mind reaching for the perfect musical expression. I have no doubt that subsequent freewheeling works like Dave Malloy’s The Great Comet have drawn inspiration from Swados’s brand of music theater.

Director Anne Bogart (founder of the influential but now defunct SITI Company) has given The Beautiful Lady an intoxicating fever dream of a production, which is driven by her signature ensemble approach to theater-making, complete with distinctively emotive gestures and poetic stage pictures. For the show’s Off-Broadway La MaMa premiere, Bogart has assembled a sensational and diverse cast, including the likes of Tom Nelis (Indecent), Henry Stram (Titanic), Ashley Pérez Flanagan (Freestyle Love Supreme), Andrew Polec (Bat Out of Hell), Kate Fulgei (Spring Awakening), and George Abud (The Band’s Visit). As the fourth wall-breaking emcee of the evening, Starr Busby is the irrepressible engine that drives the evening forward. Collectively, their passionately wrought performances — both sensual and restless — conjure an invigorating experience that any fan of serious music theater should not miss.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

THE BEAUTIFUL LADY
Off-Broadway, Musical
La MaMa at the Ellen Stewart Theatre
1 hour, 35 minutes (without an intermission)
Through May 28