Music: Richard Rodgers
Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim
Book: Arthur Laurents
At: Theatre at the Center
1040 Ridge Road, Munster, Ind.
Tickets:$30, $35
Contact: ( 800 ) 511-1552
www.theatreatthecenter.org
Runs: Through Aug. 14
When it opened in 1965, Do I Hear a Waltz defied every rule. Forty years later and running in a rich, provocative revival at the Theatre at the Center, the musical by Stephen Sondheim ( lyrics ) , Richard Rodgers ( music ) and Arthur Laurents ( book ) remains gloriously rebellious and a gust of fresh air in its genre.
To begin with, there are three—count 'em three!—choice roles for women over 40. These aren't 'character parts' either, but roles defined by sexuality and intelligence. Then there's the plot: It centers on adultery. What's even more revolutionary, it's adultery committed primarily by people who are generally considered geriatric in the Oz-like land of musical theater, a place where ingenues rule.
Equally striking in Do I Hear a Waltz is the Venice-set story's candid exposure of the hypocritical Puritanical facade of morality that's hovered like a rank mist over the United States from Cotton Mather to Strom Thurmond to right now.
'You Americans—it's OK to do it, as long as you feel bad about it,' explodes one character in a switchblade-sharp assessment of American attitudes toward sex.
No wonder this musical is so rarely revived: What suburban dinner theater would dare risk alienating its subscriber base with a character-driven story about a mature woman committing adultery?
Heck, nobody west of Harlem Avenue will even consider Sweeney Todd, and that show's just violent.
All of which is why Theatre at the Center is to be commended. Beyond the fact that the show is a dazzling showpiece for some of Chicago's best musical theater talent, it shows genuine moxie on the part of artistic director William Pullinsi.
Pullinsi directs a dream of a cast that includes Hollis Resnik, Paula Scrofano and Carol Kuykendall, all working at the height of their formidable powers. Resnik is the centerpiece of the story, as Leona Samish, a lonely yet vibrant secretary on vacation in Venice.
After close to a quarter century as a leading lady, Resnik has such a defined presence that it's often impossible to see her on stage and not be constantly thinking, 'Gosh, there's Hollis Resnik!' Here, however, she absolutely disappears into Leona, a woman who is yearning to 'hear a waltz,' something she believes will resound in her ears if ever she falls in love.
Scrofano turns in a luscious performance as a pensione proprietor with decidedly pragmatic notions of sexual right and wrong.
'You have such impractical morality,' she sniffs at her American guests. 'In Italy, there is no divorce. There is only discretion.'
Kuykendall brings an elegance and a porcelain-delicate beauty to her role as another American abroad.
As Leona's love interest Renato, Larry Adams makes a compelling, complex paramour.
Everyone—including a live, eight-piece band—sounds terrific, thanks in part to Marc Elliott's deft musical direction.
Yes it's in Munster, on the surface an intimidating haul. But I made it there in 40 minutes from the city—less time than it takes some nights to get from the Loop to Evanston.