Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Enriching legitimate theater with classical music: FARINELLI AND THE KING and MARY SHELLEY’S FRANKENSTEIN

• By drediman
• January 2, 2018
• No Comments

As a fan of live performance across genres (theater, dance, opera/classical music, cabaret, etc.), I’ve often wondered whey there hasn’t been more meaningful cross-pollination between these types of performances, apart from the gentrified format of musical theater. After all, they all convey a story or at least elicit emotional responses in one way or another. This may be changing. Currently, there are a pair of interesting hybrid productions in New York that incorporate “real” classical music – and in one case, dance – into legitimate theater.

Iestyn Davies and Sam Crane in Claire van Kampen’s “Farinelli and the King” at the Belasco Theatre.

Shakespeare’s Globe’s candle-lit staging of Farinelli and the King (RECOMMENDED) is now enjoying a run at Broadway’s Belasco Theatre after successful runs at the Globe and in the West End. The production, led by the incomparable Tony- and Oscar-winning Mark Rylance, tells the story of a Philippe V of Spain (Mr. Rylance), who finds temporary reprieve from his impending madness through the voice and companionship of castrato Farinelli, one of the most sought-after opera singers of his day. The play, written in a quirky period-cum-modern vernacular by Claire van Kampen (who is Mr. Rylance’s wife in real life) and similarly directed by John Dove, requires that the role of Farinelli be sung and instrumentally accompanied live. To accomplish this, the angelically-voiced countertenor Iestyn Davies and very fine actor Sam Crane share the role of Farinelli. The duality, as only theater can allow, maximizes our visceral response to the fascinating relationship between Farinelli and King Philippe. Even if the play ultimately registers as less than a masterpiece (Ms. van Kampen’s merely serviceable script is not particularly enlightening), its use of world-class musicians elevates the piece. We, the audience, actually hear what all the fuss is about; we are privy to the sacred communion between these two characters.

Robbie Fairchild and Rocco Sisto in Ensemble for the Romantic Century’s “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein” at the Pershing Signature Center.

Off-Broadway at the Pershing Square Signature Center, you’ll find Ensemble for the Romantic Century’s production of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (SOMEWHAT RECOMMENDED). Like Farinelli and the King, this Frankenstein is not perfect. In fact, as directed by Donald T. Sanders, the staging feels somewhat disjointed and overstuffed with ideas. Not only does it incorporate Liszt, Schubert and Bach – as played by set of young, very talented musicians – the production also vacillates between the parallel universes of the author and the novel. Despite these flaws, I applaud its serious attempt at incorporating concert-worthy classical music playing into the soundscape of the piece, especially as this music is likely to have been the historically accurate soundtrack of Shelley’s life and times. The production also incorporates a big dose of serious-minded dance into the fabric of its storytelling. As portrayed by Robbie Fairchild in one his first outings post-City Ballet (Mr. Fairchild also provided the choreography), the Creature and his arc are compellingly expressed mainly through angular, tense movements and gestures. No words can compare.

FARINELLI AND THE KING
Broadway, Play
Belasco Theatre
2 hours, 15 minutes (with one intermission)
Through March 25

MARY SHELLEY’S FRANKENSTEIN
Off-Broadway, Play/Classical Music/Dance
Ensemble for the Romantic Century at the Pershing Square Signature Center
1 hour, 40 minutes (with one intermission)
Through January 7