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On Victoria Clark

 Joshua Henry contributed a terrific mini-essay to the NYTimes. In that essay, Henry argues that the key to all musical theater is Victoria Clark's "Fable."


This is, of course, correct. Adam Guettel has limitations--but one thing he can do is write an outstanding 11:00 number. He did this with "How Glory Goes," and he did this again with "Fable." (The producers of "Chess" might learn from this. One problem with "Someone Else's Story" is that it doesn't belong at the end of "Chess." There is literally no reason why Florence would sing these words at this moment in the show. By contrast, "Fable" is like an eruption. It has to happen when it happens. Context is everything.)

"Fable" has a simple premise. A woman has been damaged by love; she still has to accept that her unusually vulnerable daughter is going to attempt her *own* love story. Victoria Clark's character is now permanently cynical:

Love's a fake.
Love's a fable.
Just a painting on a ceiling.
Just a children's fairytale.

What shifts in this final interlude is Clark's sudden capacity for recognition. It doesn't *matter* that love is a fable. You still have to search. If you aren't searching, then you aren't alive.

Love. Love.
Love if you can--now--
My Clara.
Love if you can--
And be loved.
May it last forever.

Clark has both the voice and the intellectual depth to "deliver" this song. It's a rare moment in Broadway history. Everyone hits his or her mark. Everything "lands" where it needs to land.

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