Wednesday, October 23, 2013

My Allegro Debrief (Finally)

Allegro.  It’s not a very common word.  It doesn’t sound interesting.  It’s obviously something to do with music, but the boring parts of music.  That’s what the word meant to me until I finished reading Carousel in a collection of Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals only to turn the page and discover something really intriguing.  Allegro was Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “flop” of a follow-up to their megahits, Oklahoma and Carousel.   The big question is, why did it flop?  The simple answer is that it didn’t.  Not really.  As I said, Oklahoma and Carousel were monster hits, and Allegro paled in comparison.  The reviews were mixed, and it didn’t have the staying power of the others, but I don’t think anyone lost any money on Allegro.  People just didn’t know what to expect.  Some got it, others didn’t.  It was a revolutionary idea, a completely different style compared to its lush predecessors and was helmed by first-time director, Agnes de
Mille.  (This was also revolutionary at the time since, not only was she a woman, but it was one of the first times any one person served as both director and choreographer.)  Stung by the perceived failure, Rodgers and Hammerstein were ready to move on to the next big thing, 1947’s South Pacific, which fared much better.  Allegro was left in the dust.  No one does it, there wasn’t a full recording made for over 50 years after its debut, and it is largely forgotten.  Now, when I hear the word "allegro," it makes me think of one of the most interesting and challenging shows I have ever directed.
As I’ve talked about before, script selection is a long and involved process. There are many things I look for in a potential show.  Logistically, I have to ask things like: Can I cast it?  Can we make this set?  Will it appeal to the sensibilities of our intended audience?  Things like that.  But as a director, I need to connect with a script.  I need to read it and find my hook.  This is easier to do with straight plays.  I’ve directed a few musicals in the past, and I enjoyed them, but truth be told it is difficult for me to get excited about the prospect of directing a musical.  Allegro, however, was an exception to this rule.
Allegro is a deep and very complex show.  There are such intricate relationships and motivations to be sorted out, and because it is a musical, you have less time to do it - the music steals half of your stage time.  This means that the director has to work closely with the actors and help them find ways to communicate a lot with very little dialogue.  The main character Joe’s relationship with his family is integral to the show.  In fact, I might even call that the core emotion of the show.  This relationship has to be conveyed to the audience so that they understand its depth and even champion Joe’s eventual (and non-traditional) return home.  That seems like an easy enough thing to do until you realize that Joe has just one brief scene of dialogue with his father and absolutely no dialogue with his mother.  We know that Joe draws strength from Grandma, and yet they never share a scene together.  It’s a testament to the writing that I didn’t realize all that until I’d read the show several times.
We also have a theme of romance throughout the play.  Marjory and Joe Sr. have a very close, playful relationship.  This is very different from how we are used to seeing the parents of a primary character.  We expect and loving but distant Ma & Pa kind of thing.  Instead, we have this warm “fellow and a girl” kind of relationship, as Joe Jr. describes it.  The two are essentially the romantic leads of Allegro, which is so atypical yet somehow works perfectly.   Next we have Joe and Jennie.  Joe idealizes Jennie, and this helps him to overlook their fundamental differences.  Jennie has a lot of ambition, and while I believe she does love Joe, she thinks she can change him into the kind of man that fits into the life she has always dreamed of.  Unfortunately, that doesn’t work for Joe, and the result is an unbalanced and ultimately unhappy marriage.  I found this to be so interesting.  Here we have a guy marrying his childhood sweetheart.  Now that should really tug at our heart strings, but Oscar Hammerstein cleverly reveals little hints of what’s to come, and we feel a sense on impending doom.  We see Jennie try to have the best of both worlds, and we see Joe try to convince himself that he’s happy leaving his father’s practice to head to Chicago like Jennie wants.  It doesn’t work for either of them.  These are particularly satisfying themes and limitations to work in, because it puts a lot of responsibility not only in my hands as director but in the actors themselves.  They have to rely on each other to set things up just right so that their subtle responses evoke the kind of power needed to sell our story.  Joe and Jennie seem happy, but they let us know that something isn’t as it should be.  Enter Emily.       
I find the character of Emily to be fascinating.  When you read the script, or see it live, the addition of Emily brings a jarring new kind of energy into the mix.  As things progress, we see Joe and Jennie drift farther apart… though that’s not even true.  We don’t actually see it, we just understand that it is happening.  That’s another point for Oscar Hammerstein.  He gives you enough so that you can easily extrapolate what is happening with the characters, and, though it’s not tidily laid out in front of you, you don’t feel cheated for having missed it.  Emily and Joe have a casual rapport that Joe and Jennie don’t have even in their prime.  Instead, it makes us subconsciously remember the easygoing chemistry of Joe Sr. and Marjory.  I think it is brilliant that nothing ever happens between Joe and Emily, but somehow you just know that when Joe and Jennie finally go their separate ways Joe and Emily will eventually find each other and have the kind of happily ever after that Joe Sr. and Marjory made us long for.  As a director, this kind of subtly poses a real challenge.  I had the task of nudging my actors in directions that would paint a more complete picture of the story than the words alone would allow.  Instead of two pages of dialogue to cement a strong emotion, we had a few words, meaningful glances, and body language.



The life of Joe Taylor is further fleshed out with friends and associates.  Allegro highlights the supporting cast better than just about any show I know.  We have characters that are only seen once or twice having vital scenes and, in the case of Beulah, even the most recognizable song from the show (“So Far”)!  In some ways, the large cast and bevy of supporting roles makes it an ideal show for community theaters.  On the flip-side, though, the challenges involved in this show might make potential producers think twice.  Luckily, I live in area that is ripe with talented, theatrical people.  I was confident that we’d find the talent that the show required. And boy, did we.  The cast and crew consisted of a variety of people with different ages, talents, theatrical backgrounds and experience.  I can think of few instances when a group came together so seamlessly and formed such an excellent working relationship so quickly.  Everyone seemed to take to their roles and find great pride in essentially interpreting them from scratch.  When it comes to big musicals, that is somewhat of a rarity.  You can’t do Sound of Music without thinking of Julie Andrews or Mary Martin.  You can’t do Bye Bye Birdie without conjuring up an image of the great Dick Van Dyke.  But with Allegro, it felt like it was hot off the presses and we were the first to tackle it. I think I can speak for the group when I say that was both daunting and invigorating.  We had our work cut out for us.  I had a lot of decisions to make.  I think one of the temptations in doing a show like this is to over-produce.  It’s meant to be simple.  The dialogue and characters carry it, not an elaborate set and effects.  Trying to fill it out with more spectacle would only take away from its charms.  We preserved that stripped-down feel, as written.
I hope that it’s rediscovered.  I hope that some brilliant Broadway producers decide to update the book and have a grand revival to commemorate its 60th anniversary.  I really think that if it landed today it would be a hit.  If the reactions from the audiences members who saw our Short Tract production are any indication, people are ready for a show like this now.  I had a great time directing Allegro.  It was challenging, exciting and fun.  In fact, the only downside to directing this was that it meant I couldn’t be in it.  If someone else decided to do it, give me a call, and I’ll be the first to audition.

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