Happy End, A Melodrama with Songs

Original German play by Dorothy Lane

Music & Lyrics by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill

Book & Lyrics adapted by Michael Feingold

Brown Couch Theatre Company          

http://www.browncouchtheatre.org/

 

 

The structure of Brown Couch Theatre’s new production, Happy End, A Melodrama with Songs, is hard to pigeon-hole.  At times the play is a mad-cap comedy.  At time it’s a sort-of musical.  Often it’s a zany romance, and at times it’s an audience-directed narrative.  These types of unpredictable Sybil-esque variations can, when well thought out, greatly enhance a play - especially if this is the structure the play sought out from the beginning.  Unfortunately, Happy End did not strive from the outset to be a variation-on-a-theme, and in turn we are stuck with a variation in-search of a theme. 

 

The adaptation has an intriguing history.  Following the success of The Three Penny Opera, Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill musically-adapted the play Happy Ends, written by German playwright Dorothy Lane.  Set in 1919, Happy Ends tells the story of two far-flung groups: a rag-tag Chicago mob, managed by Billy Cracker (ala Al Capone) and commandeered by the mysterious “Fly” (ala Alice Capone?).  Fly, oft-dressed in long furs, appears in the shadows with instructions for the gang’s next bank heist or required murder assignment.  Opposite the gang is a Chicago Salvation Army mission, enthusiastically represented by Lillian Holiday, who is fervently driven to rehabilitate Billy Cracker’s gang, predicting that if she can show them the error of their ways, they can be swayed to fill their souls with the salvation of the Lord.  Early on, sparks begin to fly between Lillian the missionary and Billy the gangster.  This taboo romance sets up the rest of the story, with some delightful plot twists in the final scene.  Poorly received by German critics, this play-with-music has since been adapted numerous times; the present production adapted by New York essayist and playwright Michael Feingold in 1995.  (Just as I, you might have immediately seen a plot similarity with the very popular American musical Guys and Dolls.  Interestingly, they are not drawn from the same material: Happy Ends is based on a play written in 1920, and Guys and Dolls based on a short story written three decades later by Damon Runyon). 

 

The performers are energetic and well-cast.  Damian Vanore plays gangster Bill Cracker with the perfect Oreo-nuanced combination of a rough exterior combined with a soft center.  Andrea Prestinario’s portrayal of missionary Lillian Holiday finely exposes a resolute woman of disciplined faith with a wild side yearning to be set free.  The rest of the missionary team, comprised of Kevin Bishop, Susan Veronika Adler, Annika Johannson, Kate Leydig and Mark Banik, do a fine job, especially Ms. Adler’s very believable Major Stone.  This talented missionary team is easily matched by the team of gangsters, including Ryan Guhde, JohnBlick, Ryan Patrick Dolan, Jeffrey Bouthiette, Dehlia Miller and Heather Townsend.  The one disappointment is Carmen Aiello, playing the Asian character of Dr. Nakamura.  His accent is in bad need of a dialect coach.  The blame, though, can also be bestowed on his badly-written dialogue.  Finally, Erik Koelle convincingly plays the adaptation’s average-Joe cop.

 

People either love or hate the music of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht.  With atonal intervals, spastic rhythms and odd lyrics, the music can often be inaccessible if not abrasive.  At the same time, it can be unpredictably clever, intriguing, and just plain fun.  Much of Happy End’s music borders on the inaccessible, though there are some gems, including “Surabay Johnny”, splendidly sung by the two leads; a rousing rendition of “The Bilbao Song”, performed by the gangsters, and the funny “The Mandalay Song”, sung by the dress-wearing (yet hairy-chested) gangster Sam (Ryan Gudhe).  The voices range from average to top-notch, with best prize given to soprano Andrea Prestinario and baritone Jeffrey Bouthiette, playing the dopey gangster Baby Face.   Special kudos must be made to the music director Micky York and pianist Andra Velis Simon. 

 

The production team has done an exemplary job encasing this play.  Most noteworthy is the craftsmanship of the scenic designer, Aimee Whitmore, one of Brown Couch’s associates.  On first glance, Happy End’s set is straight-forward: L-shaped walls that surround Bill Cracker’s bar, composed of, among other things, a mangy out-of-tune piano, bar counters, tables and chairs, as well as a staircase wrapping behind the back, leading to a second floor (that is not used to its full potential). This space then doubles as the Salvation Army’s chapel.  Beyond this basic structure, though, there are some nice nuances, most notably Ms. Whitmore’s implantation of curved wood beams in the back wall that suggest church windows.  Humorous projections, in the font and look of silent films, are shown on the wall space to the left of these curved beams.

 

Though this show has a lot of good things going for it, in the end I was left with a total package of jumbled styles and mis-directions.  Happy End is definitely at its best when it takes on the personification of a madcap comedy.  Too bad that it did not keep this theme throughout - this show would be much better received if it fully embodied the silliness inherent in the plot, satisfyingly connecting all of the disparate themes of Happy End into one creative package.

 

Rating: Okay (2 stars)