Harmony at HCT

HCT is the first theatre company to get the rights to produce Harmony after its run on Broadway so I was really looking forward to seeing this new musical last night. It features music by Barry Manilow and lyrics by Bruce Sussman and tells the true story of a vocal ensemble who found great success in Germany during the 1920s but were forced to disband after the rise of the Nazis. It is one of the best productions I've seen at Hale and I loved it! Josef "Rabbi" Cycowiski (Ric Starnes) reminisces about when his younger self (Landon Horton), Bobby Biberti (Brandon LaMar Buckner), Erich Collins (Anson Bagley), Erwin "Chopin" Bootz (Jonathan Avila), and Ari "Lesh" Leshnikoff (Ben Hahn) answer an advertisement placed by Harry Frommerman (Tanner Sumens), form a six-part harmony group, practice in the empty subway, get their first gig singing back-up for Marlene Dietrich from behind a curtain, get their big break singing at a club (a mishap forces them to go on stage dressed as waiters and this gives them their name the Comedian Harmonists), and achieve international success. At the same time, Rabbi, who is Jewish, falls in love with a Christian seamstress named Mary (Megan Yates), Chopin, who is Christian, falls in love with a fiery Jewish revolutionary named Ruth (Tearza Leigh Avila), and the two couples marry despite the challenges. While the group is on a world tour, the Nazi Party and Adolf Hitler come to power in Germany and they briefly consider staying in New York but Bobby convinces them to return home. Eventually, the group must take drastic steps to protect the three Jewish members in the group and the older Rabbi laments their decision to return to Germany in hindsight because he is the only one left who remembers the Comedian Harmonists. The story is moving and surprisingly funny but, more than anything, it is a powerful reminder of what happens when good men allow evil to happen. I enjoyed the music, especially "Where You Go" when Mary and Ruth tell their husbands that they will follow them everywhere they go (one literally and one figuratively), and the performances are incredible, particularly the tight vocal harmonies in "Harmony," "Lost in Shadows," "How Can I Serve You, Madame?," "Hungarian Rhapsody 20," and "Stars in the Night." The staging is absolutely riveting and I loved the use of multilevel metal platforms, which are configured and reconfigured throughout the show, in "This is Our Time" as Ruth and her revolutionaries protest with signs and red flags while the group simultaneously celebrates an audition above them, the use of projections in "The Wedding" when a rock is thrown through the synagogue window (this is very dramatic), and the use of archival footage in "Tour of the World" as the Nazi Party comes to power while the group performs (this gave me goosebumps). The choreography is also very compelling and I was particularly struck by the use of silks when the group performs as marionettes in "Come to the Fatherland!" The period costumes, especially the Nazi uniforms and evening gowns cut on the bias, are incredibly striking as are all of the Art Deco elements used in the set design. I was so impressed by every aspect of this production and I cannot recommend it enough! Tickets may be purchased here for performances that run on the Sorenson Legacy Jewel Box Theatre through August 1.

Note:  Don't forget about HCT's loverly production of My Fair Lady on the Young Living Centre Stage through July 11 (go here for tickets).