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Richard Rodgers: "South Pacific"

 "South Pacific" has returned; a reunion concert just occurred. The novelist Lorrie Moore has confessed that she sometimes watches and rewatches "This Nearly Was Mine" (when she should be working). This is the gold-standard example of a "rearview mirror" song. It's everything you wish you could say to your ex--but you can't, because your ex is receding in the distance (you see her via rearview mirror).  People say that a breakup is especially hard because you're mourning both (a) the loss of routines and (b) the loss of dreams, things you didn't actually have but could enjoy  anticipating . It's (b) that inspires the bridge of Richard Rodgers's song. So clear and deep are my fancies Of things I wish were true; I'll keep remembering evenings I wish I'd spent with you. I'll keep remembering kisses From lips I'll never own-- And all the lovely adventures  That we have never known. In the wake of loss, there is only rumi...

My Trip to Broadway

  The last three major Richard Rodgers musicals have one plot: A fish spills out of the water and tries to make it on land. Racist Nellie attempts to understand Emile's cosmopolitan lifestyle. Anna argues (and dances) with the King. Maria struggles with the codes and rituals of Captain von Trapp. Rodgers and Hammerstein gave themselves godlike power; no one seemed to wring hands about cultural appropriation. An islander could chirp: "Happy talk! Keep talking! Happy talk! Talk about things you like to do! Talk about the birds...." Sure thing! The spouse of the King of Siam could offer a wide-eyed apologia for being a battered wife: "Now and then he'll do....something wonderful!" It's in this context that we can see (and admire) "The Book of Mormon." White missionaries travel to Uganda to spread the word of Joseph Smith. The Ugandan villagers have very little time for religion; they cheerfully sing, "Fuck you, God!" One man believes tha...

Broadway Bulletin

A musical I hate: "The Sound of Music." Whoa, whoa, whoa. Let's back up. "Hate" is such a strong word! But I'm hoping to provoke--here. "A lark who is learning to pray"--? WTF? And there's really very little character development among the nuns. And the songs Richard Rodgers added to the movie version--"Something Good" and "I Have Confidence"--are one big lumpy, watery mess. I also feel like the deck is stacked unfairly and tediously against the Baroness. You make someone a Nazi sympathizer, and you more or less hand your audience an engraved tablet saying: "SIDE WITH MARIA! SIDE WITH MARIA!" How much more interesting--and more daring--the show would be, if Rodgers and Hammerstein had given the Captain an *actual* struggle in the Second Act. A musical that is overrated: "The Last Five Years." Yes, I would listen on repeat, but I would listen for Norbert Leo Butz's performance, and not for th...