'Luck Be a Lady': Asolo Rep celebrates Frank Loesser

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Though they have individually spent years working in musical theater, a cast of veteran performers gathered at Asolo Repertory Theatre are discovering the songs of Frank Loesser for the first time.
And that’s just fine with director Gordon Greenberg, who conceived the new musical “Luck Be a Lady: The Iconic Music of Frank Loesser,” which has its world premiere Friday.

From left, Louise Pitre, W. Joseph Matteson, Mary Michael Patterson, Erik Altemus, Stephanie Umoh and James David Larson star in "Luck Be a Lady: The Iconic Music of Frank Loesser" at Asolo Repertory Theatre. John Revisky Photo/Provided by Asolo Rep

From left, Louise Pitre, W. Joseph Matteson, Mary Michael Patterson, Erik Altemus, Stephanie Umoh and James David Larson star in "Luck Be a Lady: The Iconic Music of Frank Loesser" at Asolo Repertory Theatre. John Revisky Photo/Provided by Asolo Rep

Even though most of the songs will be familiar to many audience members, he wants patrons to hear them as if for the first time.

The musical features a couple reflecting on the ups and downs in their relationship as they visit one of their old haunts, a now-abandoned ballroom where they reconnect with their younger selves and move forward into the future.

It’s all done through about 30 songs Loesser wrote for Broadway, Hollywood or to raise a sense of patriotism during World II. Loesser wrote five major Broadway musicals — “Where’s Charley?” “Guys And Dolls,” “The Most Happy Fella,” “Greenwald” and “How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying” — and hundreds of songs for films and the pop charts.

Greenberg said he and his creative team kept revising the song lists to create the right story line for the performers involved.

Erik Altemus, who was featured as Lewis in the Broadway revival of "Pippin," is part of a six-member cast of "Luck be a Lady: The Iconic Music of Frank Loesser" at Asolo Rep. John Revisky Photo/Provided by Asolo Rep

Erik Altemus, who was featured as Lewis in the Broadway revival of "Pippin," is part of a six-member cast of "Luck be a Lady: The Iconic Music of Frank Loesser" at Asolo Rep. John Revisky Photo/Provided by Asolo Rep

While audiences won’t hear the iconic “Adelaide’s Lament,” the show is expected to feature such hits as “Heart and Soul,” “Jingle Jangle,” “Sit Down You’re Rockin’ the Boat,” “I Don’t Want to Walk Without You,” “My Heart is So Full of You,” “On A Slow Boat to China,” “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” “If I Were a Bell” and “Never Will I Marry.”

Greenberg said he got the idea for the show while working on a British revival of “Guys and Dolls,” considered one of the best examples of musical comedy.

“It occurred to me that Frank Loesser’s material was so powerful and so rich in character. It gave us so much raw material to craft something that is greater than a revue,” he said. “Through his songs, we hoped we could tell a story with a sense of place and time and the arc of a story that audiences could invest in.”

He had originally planned to create a similar kind of show for Asolo Rep using the songs of Jerry Herman “but a lot of the material that we were excited about became complicated rights wise and we couldn’t move forward with it.”

In “Luck Be a Lady,” real life husband and wife W. Joseph Matheson and Louise Pitre (a Tony nominee for creating the role of Donna Sheridan in “Mamma Mia”) play the older couple, with Mary Michael Patterson (a recent Christine in “The Phantom of the Opera” on Broadway) and Erik Altemus (who starred as Lewis in the Tony-winning revival of “Pippin”) as their younger selves. Stephanie Urmoh and James David Larson play characters who may be considered ghosts who haunt the ballroom.
They sing, dance, and occasionally play instruments, and musical director and pianist Sinai Tabak also provides sound effects when needed.

Most of the cast members were familiar with Loesser’s music, but never had a chance to perform in one of his musicals, so they’re making discoveries with each new song they learn.

Songs by famed composer and lyricist Frank Loesser are used to tell a new romantic story in "Luck Be a Lady" at Asolo Rep

Songs by famed composer and lyricist Frank Loesser are used to tell a new romantic story in "Luck Be a Lady" at Asolo Rep

“It’s more complex musically than I ever thought it was, not in a bad way. It’s so easy to listen to and a good story,” Patterson said.

Pitre describes the songs as “very smart, musically, incredibly astute. They veer toward jazz, more than a lot of other Broadway composers.”

And Altemus said he is impressed with Loesser’s lyrical gifts. “The lyrics make so much sense. When you’re listening to them as an actor, he was so gifted with the words he used and the way he expressed the simplest human emotions. He says things so concisely.”

During the first few weeks of rehearsals, songs were being introduced or cut, or shifting from one singer to another, sometimes to the disappointment of the performers.

Greenberg, choreographer Denis Jones and arranger and orchestra Neil Douglas Reilly were watching the cast members to see how they connected and to better follow emotions from serious or romantic moments to more humorous numbers.

“It’s challenging, but exciting to realize the creative energy that still’s going forward,” Matheson said. “They are actually creating the show on the fly.”

Married couple Louise Pitre and W. Joseph Mattheson play a couple looking back on the ups and downs of their relationship in "Luck Be a Lady: The Iconic Music of Frank Loesser" at Asolo Rep. John Revisky photo/Provided by Asolo Rep

Married couple Louise Pitre and W. Joseph Mattheson play a couple looking back on the ups and downs of their relationship in "Luck Be a Lady: The Iconic Music of Frank Loesser" at Asolo Rep. John Revisky photo/Provided by Asolo Rep

A song may stay in place, but the performers come to the next rehearsal only to find it in a new key, a new arrangement or a new tempo.

Pitre said when the cast arrived in Sarasota “they had all these pieces of paper with song titles and then one day we came back, and they totally changed the order. All the pieces of paper on the floor were moved around. It’s such a puzzle.”

The last-minute changes have meant a lot of busy nights for Reilly and Tabak to create new arrangements, and it has meant that Jones, who most recently choreographed the Broadway musical “Honeymoon in Vegas,” is constantly revising what he’s staging, or requesting new sounds to fit a certain moment in the show.

“We arrived with Plan A. We arrived with what we thought was the first pass at this, but we allowed it to reveal itself and then we readjusted,” Jones said.

Reilly, who has worked as an orchestrator and arranger, but never at the same time, said he feels “lucky on this project. I get to be in the room. Usually in New York as an orchestrator, I have to guess what they want. Here, nothing feels like a guess. I feel almost like I’ve finished it before I started.”

He is handling two distinct jobs. He describes orchestrating as “assigning notes to instruments. Will a trombone play that or the flute? Arranging is changing the structure of the music. In this show, we’re all arranging it. Orchestrating is usually a very lonely job. Now, I sit for hours in the corner in the rehearsal room listening and working.”

Patterson said it has been fascinating to watch it all come together. “We don’t have Frank Loesser to write a new song for a specific moment, so it’s interesting to hear them say, ‘We want to change this, but we don’t want to destroy the intention. We want to honor what we have. This song isn’t working in this moment, but maybe this one will. It’s challenging and thrilling to look at this body of work that this one person created.”

Gordon Greenberg directs and conceived the original Frank Loesser revue "Luck be a Lady" at Asolo Repertory Theatre. Staff Photo/Nick Adams

Gordon Greenberg directs and conceived the original Frank Loesser revue "Luck be a Lady" at Asolo Repertory Theatre. Staff Photo/Nick Adams

“Luck Be a Lady” is Greenberg’s fourth production at Asolo Rep, where he previously brought new life to the musicals “Barnum” and “Working” and staged the play “Yentl” with an original score by Jill Sobule.

Unlike some other musicals the theater has presented (“Hero,” “Noah Racey’s Pulse,” “Bonnie & Clyde”) this one is produced solely by Asolo Rep without outside commercial investment support.

There are no plans beyond the Sarasota run, but Greenberg see potential for future productions.

“It’s a highly producible show because it contains so many well-known titles. I believe there are many possibilities on its future,” he said. “But we’re just focusing on it being done and being here. It’s a great gift the Asolo is giving us. The theater has these incredible resources and everyone is here to support your vision. At night we don’t go home to our significant others and homes and apartments, we go home to continue thinking about the show.”

Greenberg expects Loesser’s widow Jo Sullivan Loesser (the original Rosabella in “The Most Happy Fella”) and their daughter, Emily, to attend opening night.

“Jo has been such a resource. She’s very vital and very energetic and has a real love of the theater,” Greenberg said.

A model of Wilson Chin's set for "Luck be a Lady: The Iconic Music of Frank Loesser" at Asolo Rep. Staff Photo/Nick Adams

A model of Wilson Chin's set for "Luck be a Lady: The Iconic Music of Frank Loesser" at Asolo Rep. Staff Photo/Nick Adams

It won’t be her first visit to Sarasota. She was actively involved in a 1997 revival of “Greenwillow” at the Golden Apple Dinner Theatre that featured Loesser’s original songs and a new book by Douglas Holmes and Walter Willison.

It was the first professional production of “Greenwillow” in 37 years and the creative team hoped the new version would lead to more productions. But despite a quirky and haunting score, it is still the least frequently produced of Loesser’s major stage shows.

THEATER PREVIEW
LUCK BE A LADY: THE ICONIC MUSIC OF FRANK LOESSER Opens at 8 p.m. Friday after previews Wednesday and Thursday at Asolo Repertory Theatre, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Performances continue through May 24. For ticket information: 351-8000; asolorep.org

Cast members perform several songs from "Luck Be a Lady" during a media preview:

THEATER PREVIEW
LUCK BE A LADY: THE ICONIC MUSIC OF FRANK LOESSER Opens at 8 p.m. Friday after previews Wednesday and Thursday at Asolo Repertory Theatre, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Performances continue through May 24. For ticket information: 351-8000; asolorep.org
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Jay Handelman

Jay Handelman is the theater and television critic for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, where he has worked since 1984. He also is President of the Foundation of the American Theatre Critics Association and a two-time past chairman of the association's executive committee. He can be reached by email or call (941) 361-4931. Follow him at @jayhandelman on Twitter. Make sure to "Like" Arts Sarasota on Facebook for news and reviews of the arts.
Last modified: April 25, 2015
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