(l to r) Eugene Marchbanks (Tim Homsley)The Reverend James Mavor Morell (Christopher Vettel) his wife, Candida (Sharon Rietkerk), Miss Proserpine “Prossy” Garnett (Liz Baltes) and Reverend Alexander “Lexy” Mill (Jarrod Zimmerman)
A Minister’s Wife: Musical Theater. Adapted by Austin Pendleton from G.B. Shaw’s “Candida.” Music by Joshua Schmidt. Lyrics by Jan Levy Tranen. Conceived and directed by Michael Halberstam. San Jose Repertory, 101 Paseo de San Antonio, San Jose. (408) 367-7255. www.sjrep.com.
June 27 – July 14, 2013.
A MINISTER’S WIFE is a charming musical interlude at San Jose Rep
After seeing a perfect production of George Bernard Shaw’s (GBS) Candida by California Shakespeare Company in 2011, there was a bit of trepidation when we took the trip to the musical version receiving its West Coast premiere at San Jose Rep. There should not have been any qualms about going if one has faith in Terry Teachout’s July 2009 Wall Street Journal review. A clipping received from a friend and writer of reviews for opera (RVS) advised to be on the lookout for it. That review ends with: “A Minister’s Wife is that rarity of rarities, an adaptation of a major play that improves decisively on its source material.”
According to SJ Rep’s Artistic Director Rick Lombardo since its world premiere at the Writers’ Theatre in Glencoe, Illinois the artistic creators have continued to refine it even after its successful Lincoln Center staging in 2011. He has brought along Michael Halberstam, a member of that artistic group, to direct the play. As an added plum Liz Bates returns to the role of Miss Proserpine “Prossy” Garnett that she originated in its world premiere and had won a Jeff Award (Chicago’s version of the Tony Award) for Best Supporting Actress.
Candida by GBS’s standards is a relatively short play and A Minister’s Wife runs a scant 95 minutes without intermission. It is not a musical comedy in the mode of My Fair Lady but rather is a chamber music opera affair with much of the dialog sung in recitative with a backup by a partially hidden on-stage quartet consisting of piano/Conductor (Dolores Duran-Cefalu), violin (Petr Masek), cello (Robin Snyder) and bass clarinet (Michael Touchi).
A Minister’s Wife is a charming musical interlude that is well worth seeing but Mr. Teachout’s profuse adulation is misplaced for the present production. The overall essence maintains Shaw’s philosophical/political/social leanings but this musical adaption centers on the “love triangle.”
Although the main character is the well liked Reverend James Morell (Christopher Vettel) a Socialist clergy it is Candida (Sharon Rietkerk) whom is Shaw’s protagonist.
Morrell is admired by his curate Lexy (Jarrod Zimmerman) and Secretary Miss Proserpine “Prossy” (Liz Baltes) and his parishioners but spends most of his time writing sermons and giving political lectures. He regards his wife Candida as the “perfect woman.” All those around Candida truly love her for being a pillar of strength, a devoted mother/wife with a strong social conscious. That social conscious has led to her taking in a destitute idealistic young poet Marchbanks (Tim Homsley) who has fallen in love with her and is determined to take her away from the unappreciative Morrell. Thus the love triangle evolves without Candida’s knowledge.
The verbal and physical battle between Morrell and Marchbanks take up most of the action while the interplay between Lexy and Prossy adds the much needed humor. The lyrics maintain Shaw’s words and the dialog is very often delicious. When Morrel suggests that Marchbank’s love is “calf love”, Marchbank retorts that Morrel’s gift-of-gab is just rhetoric and metaphors and the fight is on. This eventually leads to asking Candida to choose between them. That was not a good idea and Candida’s response is a high light of the evening.
Christopher Vettel and Tim Homsley have fine tenor voices and handle the intricate lyrics adroitly but director Halberstam may have erred with Homsley who seem much too harsh thus detracting from what should be a clear dichotomy between the combatants.
Jarrod Zimmerman and Liz Baltes are a joy to observe with their playful banter to match their excellent singing voices. It is the beautiful charming dulcet voice of Sharon Rietkerk who steals the show as she makes her entrances in magnificent Victorian dress (Costumes by Brandin Baron). Added to all this is a magnificent set (Collette Pollard) and lighting (David Lee Cuthbert) that adds luster to SJ Rep’s consistent production values.
With only five characters and the need only for a musical quartet, this show will surely be produced in a plethora of smaller venues around the U.S. You should really see it in this present extravagant production thus to be able to compare when the smaller venues mount the show, and they will.
Kedar K. Adour, MD
Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com
