Revisiting the pervy ‘Lolita’ musical that never hit Broadway

You may have solely till Sunday to see certainly one of the strangest musicals ever conceived for the stage: “Lolita, My Love,” a 1971 flop based mostly on Vladimir Nabokov’s sensational novel a few faculty professor and his obsession along with his 12-year-old stepdaughter. The revival’s operating in the York Theatre’s Musicals in Mufti collection, which does a useful job of dusting off outdated exhibits that, whereas flawed, have moments of brilliance. “Lolita, My Love” is a superb instance. Begin with the music, by lyricist Alan Jay Lerner (“My Truthful Woman”) and movie composer John Barry (“Goldfinger”). It’s studded with gems, together with an old school showstopper, sung by Dorothy Loudon in the unique manufacturing, known as “Sur les Quais.” (You possibly can hear it on YouTube.) Lerner was obsessive about the challenge. Together with the lyrics, he wrote a number of variations of the script — the York cobbled its e-book collectively from his varied drafts — however never solved a basic downside: How do you deal with the scene through which Humbert Humbert takes Lolita to mattress? That’s powerful for audiences to take in the present day, not to mention in 1971. Dan Siretta, who choreographed the present, remembers the artistic group agonizing over the scene. “One in all the most attention-grabbing moments of my profession as a choreographer was going to Alan’s residence — it had its personal elevator — and sitting with Alan, John Barry and his younger spouse, Truman Capote [Lerner’s close friend] and John Neville [who played Humbert] and speaking hours into the night time about staging the bed room scene,” he says. “How might you cease the viewers from turning away?” Barry needed to skip it altogether. Lerner and Capote believed it needed to be handled. In the finish, Lerner staged it in a seedy motel room, the place Humbert serenades Lolita with a beautiful tune. Then he climbs into mattress together with her, however “individuals simply couldn’t settle for it,” Siretta says. Audiences did reply to Loudon, who gave a superb efficiency as Lolita’s mom, Charlotte Haze. “Dorothy was very, very humorous in the present,” says Siretta, “however she was sad. She was continually negotiating her function with Alan as a result of she thought she ought to have extra to do.” However solely in the first act: Nabokov kills off Charlotte halfway via the e-book. In the musical, she dies at the finish of Act I, leaving an enormous gap in Act II. Loudon’s unhappiness performed itself out at night time, when she drank. Siretta and a few of the firm joined her in her resort room one night time for drinks throughout the present’s tryout in Philadelphia. “It was enjoyable, after which she went from white to black,” he says. “She began screaming about the present after which she threw us out of her room.” The critics slaughtered “Lolita, My Love” in Philadelphia. Lerner and Barry holed up at Lerner’s Lengthy Island property to rewrite the present. Every time Lerner needed Siretta to affix them, he’d ship his chauffeur in a Rolls-Royce convertible to choose him up. The reworked present opened in Boston, the place audiences responded extra favorably — till the bed room scene. Then the present stopped useless in its tracks. The critics panned the new model, and Lerner, who’d sunk a whole lot of his personal cash into the manufacturing, closed it out of city. However he stored rewriting, taking one final go at the bed room scene. On this model, as Humbert leans in to kiss Lolita, her mattress ascends to the prime of the stage. I received’t inform you how the York handles the scene, however it’s value trying out. You received’t be seeing this musical-theater oddity any time quickly on Broadway. A rumor, however on fairly good authority: Disney Theatrical will launch a nationwide tour of Elton John and Tim Rice’s “Aida” in 2021. Schele Williams, who carried out in the unique Broadway manufacturing, will direct. “Aida” opened in 2000, received 4 Tony Awards and ran almost 5 years. It never escaped the shadow of “The Lion King,” however the rating has worn effectively. I performed the CD yesterday and loved the highly effective “Straightforward as Life,” the snappy “My Strongest Swimsuit” and the beautiful duet “Written in the Stars.” If it does effectively on tour, there could possibly be a cease on Broadway. You possibly can hear Michael Riedel weekdays on “Len Berman and Michael Riedel in the Morning” on WOR radio 710. Share this: https://nypost.com/2019/02/28/revisiting-the-pervy-lolita-musical-that-never-hit-broadway/ The post Revisiting the pervy ‘Lolita’ musical that never hit Broadway appeared first on My style by Kartia.