All tagged Richard Rodgers
On Friday night at Carnegie Hall, The New York Pops orchestra performed a top-notch program celebrating the revolutionary musical partnership of composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II with guest vocalists Max von Essen and Laura Michelle Kelly, and the Essential Voices USA chorus.
Mark Evans shines in Rodgers and Hart’s 1938 hit “I Married an Angel”; this dance infused fantasy story involving an aristocrat who literally marries an angel is a peculiar relic of its time, but a treat for collectors of obscure musicals and fans of the Rodgers and Hart oeuvre. Director/choreographer Joshua Bergasse steps into the shoes once worn by George Balanchine to create an entertaining show featuring the talents of ballerina Sara Mearns (his wife), as the Angel. Feather-light as it is, I suspect we won’t see “I Married an Angel” again for some time.
Director Daniel Fish delivers a glorious and terrifying production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s groundbreaking 1943 musical “Oklahoma!” at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn, completely deconstructing this canonical and totemic masterpiece of American musical theatre by stripping it of its corn and highlighting the darker themes of violence and injustice that have always been simmering underneath. Sexually charged and presented with a striking naturalism, this masterful new production is a revelation.
