REVIEW: MasterVoices Strikes Up the Band
Above photo by Toby Tenenbaum.
October 29, 2024
Someday this inflamed election season will be something to reflect upon, and one of my fondest memories of the period will be the soothing balm applied by MasterVoices’ effervescent concert presentation of Strike Up the Band, the satirical operetta from 1927 with a score by George and Ira Gershwin and an antiwar Marx Brothers-style book by George S. Kaufman.
MasterVoices' conductor Ted Sperling directed and conducted this champagne cocktail of an evening, and along with Laurence Masdon, adapted the book, whipping up a hybrid of the original 1927 version that played and closed in Philadelphia, and the more comedic, more romantic 1930 Broadway revision with a book by Morrie Ryskind. This reworking will certainly become the template for future productions, restoring the pointed political satire of the first version, but retaining a few great songs from the later one.
The crackerjack orchestra hit the Overture out of the park, with star turns for the percussion (and slide whistle) virtuoso Erik Charlston and jazzy clarinet soloist Andrew Sterman. The upbeat music announced that this would be an evening to make us forget our troubles. But the plot’s hilarity ensues from a cast of caricatures and absurd situations that are, alas, as pertinent today as a century ago.
Photo by Toby Tenenbaum.
Horace J. Fletcher, CEO of Fletcher’s American Cheese Company (John Ellison Conlee), sings of being a “Typical Self-Made American:”
When he died he left me all the stock.
I was there when opportunity came to knock.
Switzerland objects to, yes, tariffs, that will benefit Fletcher’s Cheese — this means war! As in Gilbert & Sullivan, the jokes come at every side’s expense, and the archetypes on display remain as relevant — and funny — in the current zeitgeist.
Along the way, there’s romantic song and dance (choreography by Alison Solomon) — a bopping “Hangin’ Around with You” and “I’ve Got a Crush On You,” tap danced with flare by Phillip Attmore and Lissa deGuzman as Fletcher's employees; and the yearning “The Man I Love,” a beautifully sung duet by Shereen Ahmed as Fletcher’s daughter and Bryce Pinkham as Jim Townsend, local journalist turned hero. Pinkham’s assured command of the genre and silky tenor was an invaluable highlight of the evening (especially in the second act’s less familiar duet “Hoping That Someday You'd Care”), as were the broad comedic shenanigans of Christopher Fitzgerald.
Photo by Toby Tenenbaum.
The most deliciously pointed portrayals came from seasoned character actor David Pittu as Colonel Holmes, a Very Important Person in Washington, DC, who introduces himself as the “Unofficial Spokesman” for the man in the oval office, and the superb Victoria Clark, hamming it up as Mrs. Draper, a philanthropist. They charmed in their first act duet, “If I Became the President:”
Imagine how delightful life will be when we're on top!
Just think, no matter where we'd go, they’d make the traffic stop!
Although there’s more narrative to follow than in, say, No, No, Nanette, this isn’t Show Boat, either. The first and second act Finalettos cram most of the plot into a quick series of miniature vignettes speedily driving to a final chorus, here the catchy anthem “Strike Up the Band.”
Flawless sound design (by Marc Salzberg), supportive lighting (Shelby Loera), and evocative costumes by Tracy Christensen and Somie Pak distracted from the music stands and scripts — and projected supertitles ensured that Ira Gershwin’s syncopated lyrics sparkled.
Photo by Toby Tenenbaum.
