ON THE RECORD: LPs not on CD, Part
Three—Off-Broadway Shows
By Steven Suskin
September 28, 2009
We finish our survey of cast albums that we would
like to see transferred to CD with a stop Off-Broadway. Riverwind,
anybody?
Let's examine two especially strong scores for long-forgotten musicals. Both
were written by first-time composer-lyricists, who came to town with these
highly impressive showings. Both musicals had decent runs for the time, after
which the two songwriters in question all but disappeared.
When I went to store away my LP collection for the final time, I
noticed Man with a Load of Mischief [Kapp KRL 4508] still
unsealed (with a $1.99 remainder sticker). A six-character 1966 musical set in
the early 1800s based on a negligible two-week failure of a 1925 play,
Mischief had all the markings of an excessively dreary listen; and the
"antique" cover artwork was so unpromising that I simply never bothered to split
the seam and put it on. Back in 2003, the York Theatre presented a concert
version of the show for a benefit, leading one to wonder — Why? When I went to
review the resulting recording, though, I was surprised to find an infinitely
worthy score. I decided it was worth my while to track down the original LP, and
was rewarded: Man with a Load of Mischief quickly made it onto my most
favored list of '60s musicals. Nobody seems to do the show, nobody seems to know
it (except highly discerning collectors). Put this one on CD, I say.
The story tells of six people in a country inn: a Lady, fleeing
from her lover (the Prince, who is spoken of but not present); a traveling Lord,
who stops to help and tries to seduce her; their servants, one each; and a
married pair of innkeepers. What makes this all not only palatable but
exhilarating is the work of one John Clifton, who wrote the music and is
credited as co-lyricist with librettist Ben Tarver. Where Clifton came from, and
where he went, I don't know; but he provided a wonderfully inventive and, in
places, wonderfully romantic score. (Actually, a jaunt around the Internet tells
us that Clifton came from Pittsburgh; played an early summer stock tour of
The Fantasticks that featured Liza Minnelli and Elliott Gould; and wrote
Mischief while serving as rehearsal pianist for Man of La Mancha.
Subsequent theatre work included composing new songs for Phyllis Newman's My
Mother was a Fortune Teller and writing the music for the 1981 Off-Broadway
failure El Bravo.) Leading the way are two soaring beauties, "Come to the
Masquerade" and "Make Way for My Lady." The surprise of the LP, along with the
excellence of the score, is the identity of the tenor who sings them so
persuasively in the role of the servant who gets the Lady: Reid Shelton, of all
people. We know him from his chorus days ("Wouldn't It Be Loverly," in which his
doctor recommends a quiet summer by the sea) and from his Tony-nominated turn as
Daddy Warbucks in Annie. But as a romantic lover? Here, Mr. Shelton is
very convincing.
Singing opposite Shelton in what is probably the leading role of
this ensemble piece is Virginia Vestoff, best-known to theatre fans for her
Abigail Adams in 1776. She is very good here — actually, it seems like
she was always very good — and helps make this such a special piece of
Mischief. Alice Cannon, as the Lady's maid, scores with "Once You've Had a
Little Taste," while Mr. Clifton gives some of his most charming numbers to the
old folks ("Any Other Way," "What Style"). Playing Mr. Shelton's master, and not
exactly standing out, is Raymond Thorne, who later joined Reid in Annie
as FDR. There is also the touching "Lover Lost," the lovely "A Wonder," an
atmospheric "Hulla-baloo-balay," and a grand sextet called "Romance!"
Man with a Load of Mischief opened
on Nov. 6, 1966 — between The Apple Tree and Cabaret — at the Jan
Hus on the Upper East Side and ran for seven months, which was not bad for
Off-Broadway at the time. The original cast album, on Kapp Records (which also
recorded Man of La Mancha) is, indeed, quite wonderful. The recent studio
cast recording [Original Cast OCR 6100] has expanded material and composer
Clifton singing the role of the tavern keeper; it is hampered, though, by the
synthetic sounds of a synth. The original 1966 production featured Clifton's
fine orchestrations for piano, flute, clarinet and cello.
How did Mischief manage to slip out of the collective
memory and disappear? Don't know, but here's a score that you'll want to search
out.
(Steven Suskin is author of "The Sound of Broadway Music: A Book of Orchestrators and Orchestrations" as well as "Second Act Trouble," "Show Tunes" and the "Opening Night on Broadway" books. He can be reached at Ssuskin@aol.com.)
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