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| Renee Elise Goldsberry of "Hamilton" (photo: Boston Pops) |
The
focus of the Boston Pops schedule says it all: a season-long homage,
Leonard Bernstein Centennial Tribute, celebrating
not only the centennial of the birth of the prolific composer but
also the 133rd
season of the Boston Pops in Symphony Hall. As noted earlier this
season, the program faced an embarrassment of riches. Any
retrospective of the composer's life work would have to include some
of the more obvious choices, such as the overture to Candide,
his early evolution into On
the Town, and the hugely
successful groundbreaking West Side Story. In
some respects, choosing from the depth and breadth of his works is
easy; in some other respects, it's well nigh impossible, since he
made his mark on the symphonic stage, opera, Broadway, art songs and
one film score.
After
a new Pops favorite, the selection To Lenny! To Lenny! by
John Williams, and the Candide overture,
the program segued to the more fully developed musical that was to be
On the Town. With
lyrics by Comden and Green (created by a trio who were all in their
mid-twenties), the program included the stirring New York,
New York and West
Side Story, introduced by
Conductor Keith Lockhart with his oft-told story about the latter
work's creation. Arguably his most beloved work, West Side
Story, it was correctly noted,
was to have been East Side Story, about
Jewish and Irish gangs; fortunately the composer went with West
Side Story and its Latino
conflicts that could entail jazz and other musical influences, as
demonstrated by “Mambo”. The program continued with a selection
from Bernstein's sole film score from On the Waterfront
(the love scene and finale) and
an explanation from Lockhart as to why the composer never wrote again
for the silver screen. Bernstein felt that music should always be
paramount, rather than relegated to the background and the necessary
restrictions inherent in scoring for the movies. One couldn't help
but think of frequent Pops conductor John Williams to appreciate
fully the demands of such focus on a composer. The first half of the
program also included the “Simple Song” from Bernstein's Mass,
which isn't heard as often as
one might wish.
After
intermission, Lockhart introduced (though, as they say, needing no
introduction) Renee Elise Goldsberry, an accomplished Broadway
luminary known best for her Tony-winning role as Angelica Schuyler in
the smash hit Hamilton, an American Musical. Greeted
with truly thunderous applause, she gave rousing performances of
songs from On A Clear Day You Can See Forever (the
title number), Carmen Jones
(the translated Habanera), The Lion King
(her Broadway debut), and Hamilton itself.
Goldsberry then introduced her stage sister (as Eliza Hamilton from
Hamilton), Phillipa
Soo, also to a huge audience response, who sang numbers from Into
the Woods (“Children Will
Listen”) and more of Hamilton. The
two singers joined together for yet more from Hamilton.
Goldsberry ended the evening
with a medley of songs from Rent (in
which she played Mimi in its final run on Broadway) and a heartfelt
rendition of “You'll Never Walk Alone” from Carousel.
The audience truly loved them
both.
Anyone hoping for another dose or three of Bernstein
need not fear. The Pops schedule will complete its homage to “Lenny”
with a concert version of his West Side Story at the end of
this week, concluding its current season. But wait, there's more.
The BSO calendar for Tanglewood will include a semi-staged production
of his On the Town, his opera Trouble in Tahiti, his
Chichester Psalms, the entire score to his West Side Story
(accompanied by a showing of the film version), a Bernstein Songfest,
his A Quiet Place (a sequel to his opera Trouble in
Tahiti), and fully-staged presentations of his Fancy Free and
Candide. To which one can only respond: Lenny! Lenny!
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