Life Upon the Wicked Stage: The Actors of Once in a Million Moons

As we prepare for Once in a Million Moons: A Jerome Kern Salon, I thought it would be interesting to find out who has the most previous experience with Kern.  Below, you'll find our cast and which Kern shows they have been in, and which is their favorite Kern Song.

	Rebecca Luker* (Special Guest Star) Rebecca is considered one of the great interpreters of Kern's music.  And no wonder: in her career she has performed in productions of Leave It to Jane, Music in the Air, Sunny, and of course her Tony-nominated role in the 1994 Broadway Revival of Show Boat, as well as on a number of Kern recordings(Jerome Kern Treasury, Jerome Kern in London and Hollywood, Broadway Showstoppers, and Early Kern). What's Rebecca's favorite Kern Song? Well, here's our version from the West Coast Premiere of Very Warm for May.
	Pierce Peter Brandt* (Performer) Though Pierce has worked on Broadway (Les Misérables and Martin Guerre), National Tours and right here at 42nd Street Moon (Fanny, Redhead, Kiss the Boys Goodbye), Once in a Million Moons represents Pierce's first "Kern Show". What's Pierce's favorite Kern song?  Hmm, find out below!
	Debbie de Coudreaux* (Performer) and Rebecca are old buddies, both having performed in the 1994 revival of Show Boat on Broadway.  Debbie also performed an evening of Kern with the East Bay Symphony last year. Irene Dunne sings Debbie's favorite Kern tune from the movie version of Roberta.
	Bill Fahrner* (Performer) is no stranger to Kern.  For Moon, Bill has performed in Sweet Adeline, The Cat & the Fiddle (twice), Roberta (twice), Very Warm for May (three times!), and the American Premiere concert version of Three Sisters.  Bill also appears on the 42nd Street Moon recording, The First Rose of Summer. Like Rebecca, Bill has a fondness for "All the Things You Are," in fact that's him singing with Sarah Kathleen Farrell, and the cast of Very Warm for May.
	Alexandra Kaprielian* (Performer) if you work for Moon for any length of time, you're going to be in a Kern show, it's just how it is.  Alexandra has appeared in the American Premiere of   The Cabaret Girl, as well as Very Warm for May, and with Rebecca Luker in 42nd Street Moon's Jerome Kern Gala.  She is also featured on our 42nd Street Moon recording of early Kern, The First Rose of Summer. "You Are Love" is all the rage with Alexandra. Listen to Bob Merrill sing his heart out.
	Greg MacKellan* (Host/Director) Greg has a fondness for Kern having produced, directed, and performed in a number of Jerome Kern’s works.   Kern’s daughter, Betty, advised him when he produced two Kern CDs: Early Kern and Jerome Kern in London in Hollywood.  His Kern directing credits include Sitting Pretty, The Cat & the Fiddle, and Roberta, and he’ll be restoring and directing Kern and Hammerstein’s Three Sisters for Moon next season. Greg has also been seen in Oh Lady, Lady! and Very Warm for May. Greg and Pierce share a common love for a Kern melody... care to guess which it is?
	Michael Scott Wells (Performer) is not only making his 42nd Street Moon debut with Once in a Million Moons, but his Kern debut as well! The men of this company really love "Some Girl on Your Mind," in addition to both Greg and Pierce, this is Michael's favorite Kern gem as well.

42nd Street Moon presents Once in a Million Moons: A Jerome Kern Salon. At the Alcazar Theatre, 650 Geary St (@ Levenworth). One night only, October 28, 2010.  For tickets call (415) 255-8207 or click here.

Offical and Un-official National Anthems

Happy 4th of July all. 

Check out Alexandra Kaprielian singing our National Anthem (minus a few seconds due to technical difficulties). 

And a note from the Rodgers and Hammerstein facebook page.

"Don't forget to sing Irving Berlin's 'God Bless America' this weekend! Did you know that the original lyrics to "God Bless America" as written for YIP YIP YAPHANK were:

'God Bless America, land that I love

Stand beside her

And guide her

To the right with a light from above

Make her victorious on land and foam

God Bless America, my home sweet home'

Very Warm for May: A Musical Analysis

Robbie Cowan is a performer, musician, coach, director, and liturgist. He has worked with Moon many times in the past and is a recent graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where hereceived his Masters in Music with honors in voice and musical theatre in May of 2009.  Robbie asked to write a guest blog in which analyzes the music of Very Warm for May, the second half of the post does get a bit technical (you musicians and singers out there are gonna love it!), but I still found it fascinating.  Please enjoy!

“All The Things You Are” is nearly universally recognized as the greatest song in the musical theatre canon. Stephen Sondheim, who first saw Very Warm for May at age 9, cites it as his inspiration to begin a career as composer. Jazz legend has it that auditioners for the Miles Davis band were asked to play the song (from memory, of course) in non-standard keys picked randomly on the spot by Davis, himself. It is also frequently mentioned by composers as the one song that they wish they could have written.

One song does not a musical make, though, and this great praise for one number often overshadows an otherwise completely remarkable score. For instance, “In the Heart of the Dark” is another particularly striking song.

Both are moving ballads; both are similar in tempo and style, but these two pieces have interesting dissimilarities as well.

Lyrically, “Things” is an effervescent declaration of love, “the dearest things I know are what you are.”

“Dark” is a short narrative about fleeting romance, “the sun's on its way to steal my dreams. I know that you will fade in the light, and all I can do is wait for the night.” One song is a broad statement, the other a quiet contemplation.

Melodically, too, the songs are markedly dissimilar. “Things” is characterized by a leaping line, covering a vocally demanding 12 note range. It never moves in scalar motion [moving from one note to another in consecutive 1/4 or 1/2 steps] for more than a few notes, preferring instead an energetic rise and fall. Dark dwells on single notes for entire phrases and moves in half-step motion for most of the refrain.

Perhaps most interesting is the differences in harmonic structure.

In “Things,” the verse begins with a progression reminiscent of the high romanticism of Tchaikovsky or Chopin. Once we begin the main theme, though, we are taken through whirlwind modulations which never allow us to settle into a firm tonal center until the very last cadence.

This harmonic progression is not haphazard; it is very well plotted along the circle of fifths, landing briefly on certain chords only to quickly recontextualize them within the harmonic structure. This avoidance of a tonal center perhaps plays on the lyrical intent; the song represents a dizzy, leaping, adoring sort of love.

“Heart of the Dark's” frequent utilization of pedal tones in the verse seems to imply a very different message. The lyrics in this verse speak to waiting, and the pedal serves to reinforce that feeling. In the chorus we find ourselves firmly entrenched in a tonal center, and the harmonic structure favors stepwise motion to the circle of fifths.

This type of motion seems to suggest a static sort of yearning, as the lyrics indicate, a waiting for the dark.

At one point my character [Raymond Sibley - the young composer] mentions that he is looking forward to hearing the song performed, and I can say that I share this sentiment in real life, too. For all of the merits of “All The Things You Are," there is something about the simplistic melancholy of “Dark” that I find heartbreakingly beautiful. Sung by Alex Kaprielian [Miss Wasserman], whose beauty is only matched by her golden voice, this song near the end of the show is really a remarkable musical moment.

Pay close attention to the entrance of the chorus in rich eight part harmony and the extended final cadence.

Having long been familiar with "All the Things," I was amazed to find another remarkable song in this score, and thanks to Moon for making those discoveries possible!

-  Robbie Cowan