New York, New York, It's A Helluva Town
On what would have been Leonard Bernstein's 100th birthday, and following on from the concert performance of West Side Story 2 weeks ago, John Wilson is back at the Proms for second helping; this time conducting the LSO in Bernstein's On The Town, the 1944 show following 3 sailors on shore leave in New York City.
Unlike West Side Story, the production was filmed for BBC4 as well as broadcast on Radio 3, but similar to WSS however is that this wasn't the semi-staged type like Oklahoma last year, giving a focus to the score in what would have been a very heavy dance show; and having worked a VERY busy week at work to say the least, listening to the score of On The Town played seemed the perfect thing to recover. I should also say before I go further that I have played the score of On The Town on an orchestra residential when I was 17 - so it also brought back memories of our conductor making us watch the film version on the 14 hour coach ride to Germany...!
The cast included Nathaniel Hackmann (Curly in last year's Oklahoma, and in fine voice as ever), Nadim Naaman and the gorgeous Fra Fee (The Wind in the Willows) as the 3 sailors: Gabey, Ozzie and Chip, as well as Celinde Schoenmaker as the over-the-top Claire, Sienna Kelly as "Miss Turnstiles" Ivy and Louise Dearman (John Wilson's Gershwin concert tour) as the confident and sassy Hildy - a part I would now LOVE to play 💁♀️
As I said before, they arrive in New York on shore leave with only 24 hours to see the sights and pick up a date; that's it; that's the plot. As you would therefore expect, it's as thin as tissue, pretty predictable and incredibly silly - it's essentially a farce like Crazy For You and Anything Goes.
That doesn't necessarily mean it's bad though - and if you want a laugh and to go for something that's a little bit absurd and bonkers, then that's great. Though if you want something with more substance, West Side Story is perhaps the better option.
I'm determined not to finish on a bad note though due to me preferring shows with more backbone, especially as it certainly was not a bad concert - it's a bit of fun, nothing more or less.
The cast included Nathaniel Hackmann (Curly in last year's Oklahoma, and in fine voice as ever), Nadim Naaman and the gorgeous Fra Fee (The Wind in the Willows) as the 3 sailors: Gabey, Ozzie and Chip, as well as Celinde Schoenmaker as the over-the-top Claire, Sienna Kelly as "Miss Turnstiles" Ivy and Louise Dearman (John Wilson's Gershwin concert tour) as the confident and sassy Hildy - a part I would now LOVE to play 💁♀️
As I said before, they arrive in New York on shore leave with only 24 hours to see the sights and pick up a date; that's it; that's the plot. As you would therefore expect, it's as thin as tissue, pretty predictable and incredibly silly - it's essentially a farce like Crazy For You and Anything Goes.
That doesn't necessarily mean it's bad though - and if you want a laugh and to go for something that's a little bit absurd and bonkers, then that's great. Though if you want something with more substance, West Side Story is perhaps the better option.
I'm determined not to finish on a bad note though due to me preferring shows with more backbone, especially as it certainly was not a bad concert - it's a bit of fun, nothing more or less.
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