Of Darkness And Light
Playwright: conceived and directed by Fred Anzevino
At: Theo Ubique at the No Exit Café,
6970 N. Glenwood Ave.
Phone: (773) 743-3355; $12
Runs through: April 25
Kurt Weill is best known to theatre scholars for his collaborations with Bertolt Brecht, the latter's didactic lyrics combining with the former's harshly dissonant scale to mock audiences who would indulge themselves in pretty lullabies while ignoring the playwright's intellectual mission. But this same composer is also responsible for the shamelessly sentimental 'September Song' (lyrics by Maxwell Anderson), the jitterbug-tempo 'Moon Faced, Starry Eyed' (lyrics by Langston Hughes) and several other commercially viable warbles created in partnership with such diverse co-authors as Ogden Nash and Alan Jay Lerner. The good news is that you'll find some of both kinds in Fred Anzevino's revue for Theo Ubique.
The first half of the evening's program is devoted to the Brechtian canon—'Mack The Knife,' 'Army Song,' and the 'Alabama Song' (without the Doors' lockstep beat), along with ditties rarely covered out-of-context, like the 'Solomon Song,' delivered by Danielle Brothers with Beatrice Lillie-styled impishness. The second features Weill's more conventional compositions, drawn from productions nowadays nearly forgotten—the 1946 Lady In The Dark, 1943 One Touch Of Venus, and 1945 Knickerbocker Holiday.
Joslyn Jones delivers a sizzling rendition of the potentially insipid 'Barbara Song' from The Threepenny Opera. Reverie Mott Berger's classical technique mires her down on the weepy 'Surabaya Johnny'—missing its ironic context—but is perfectly suited to the sweetly ingenuous 'My Ship' (lyrics by Ira Gershwin). Rebecca Finnegan contributes a spine-chilling 'Pirate Jenny,' along with a 'Lonely House' to make the torches burn brightly and, with David Heimann, a steamy 'Fancy Man' Tango. (In defiance of the traditional singing-heads approach to this genre, this and several other numbers—including a full-cast arrangement of the 'Ballad Of Jenny'—are danced on the No Exit's tiny stage as well as sung, thanks to choreographer Steven Lee Weintraub's custom-fitted hoofery.)
Unlike the more ambitious 1972 From Berlin To Broadway, hitherto the definitive Kurt Weill musical retrospective, Songs of Darkness And Light clocks in at a brisk two hours (with intermission), its intimate quarters allowing for cabaret-cozy interaction between spectators and an ensemble that fairly oozes flirtatious (but never threatening) charm.