Opera North’s revival of Love Life, with music by Kurt Weill and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, treated the audience to a reflection on American history and music whilst giving us insight into the development of musicals.
Described as the first concept musical, this show provides the link between earlier narrative-driven Rogers and Hammerstein musicals and later conceptual vignette-based musicals such as Cabaret. The show was described by Weill and Lerner as a Vaudeville in two acts, drawing upon a variety of theatrical and musical forms.
Staged at Leeds Grand Theatre with support from the Kurt Weill Foundation, this was the first time that Love Life has been recorded. The original Broadway production in 1948 took place during a prolonged industrial action by the American Federation of Musicians, so no recording exists. It has rarely been revived, a significant previous revival having been that by Opera North in 1996.
Love Life looks at a marriage across the backdrop of American history from the 1790s to the 1950s. A timeless family is shown trying to maintain relationships whilst tested by material conditions, economic developments and social expectations. Musical forms vary with the historical age, starting with polkas then moving to swing, although the second act also has a madrigal.
Given the complexity of history and music, this might have been a complicated production. Instead, director Matthew Eberhardt has taken a stripped-back approach. The cast are dressed in simple black and the orchestra are placed on a podium in full view.
This staging puts Weill’s music at the heart of the show, allowing the audience to fully appreciate the musicians, conducted by James Holmes.
Quirijn de Lang (Sam Cooper) and Stephanie Corley (Susan Cooper) put in strong performances as the central couple. Their delivery covered a wealth of emotions, from affection through frustration to bitterness. Gender politics are reflected in song. Particularly striking is de Lang’s nonchalant rendition of My Kind of Night which then switches to Corley and the female cast singing Women’s Club Blues as they organise to fight for the right to vote and work.
Stephanie Corley as Susan Cooper with the Ladies of the Chorus of Opera North
Whilst the main cast are dressed in black, there are vaudevillian interludes where more colourful characters enter the stage. American vaudeville is much wider than the minstrel shows that are most commonly remembered. The art form fell out of favour by the 1920s, so Love Life was historical in many ways. Vaudeville included skits, song, dance and illusion. Themba Mvula has a recurrent presence as magician and interlocutor. The vaudevillian songs give context to the changes in history and relationship as demonstrated by Progress and Economics in the first act.
Themba Mvula as Magician
Zahra Mansouri’s costumes and. Howard Hudson’s lighting add theatrical impact to these scenes. Minstrels do appear but Weill and Lerner intentionally avoided black and white make up. The use of gold gloves and hats are used to add impact to the Progress song and dance routine in this production.
There is an impressive cast of young actors. The couple’s children, Johnny and Elizabeth, are played by Louie Stow and Tilly Baker. They form a foundation for the family and are missed by their father when the couple divorce. The ‘tots’, played by Felicity Moore, Amber Midgley and Lottie Gray, gave us a humorous and energetic performance in Mother’s Getting Nervous. The three girls, all local to Leeds, received – understandably – the loudest applause of the night.
The second act took on a more ensemble feel. The act opened with an instrumental, luxuriating in Weill’s score. Musicals are a great way for the chorus of Opera North to come to the fore and their skills were shown to great effect after the break, including an a capella madrigal, Ho, Billy O! Dance was also showcased with stunning performances by Holly Sawshown and Max Westwell.
The show’s finale is all about illusionism: horoscopes, Hollywood idols and the protective armour of cynicism are all interrogated and found to be wanting. Whether it is the economics of society or love that is an illusion is intentionally unclear. We are left to ponder what the future holds as the two lovers are about to step onto a tightrope and try to find their way back to each other.
Love Life will be broadcast on Radio 3 at 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. on 8 February, as part of the Opera on 3 season.
Photography by James Glossop. Main image: Lottie Gray, Felicity Moore and Amber Midgley as the Three Tots with Joshua da Costa.
