The Human Comedy
March 21–30, 2014
Carpenter Performance Hall
Irving Arts Center
Lyric Stage continued its 21st season with Galt MacDermot and William Dumaresq’s musical adaptation of William Saroyan’s novel The Human Comedy.
William Saroyan originally penned this American coming-of-age tale set against the backdrop of World War II as a screenplay for MGM. Before the project became a film, Saroyan rewrote the story as a novel that was published shortly prior to the film’s release. THE HUMAN COMEDY tells the story of the Macauley family and the small town of Ithaca, California and the resiliency of the American spirit.
With a wonderful through-sung pop score, THE HUMAN COMEDY is far more an American folk opera like Porgy and Bess than it is a traditional book musical. Its score includes elements of 1940s swing, gospel, pop, folk music and traditional show tunes.
Ann Nieman directed the company of 25 actors and Scott Eckert music-directed and conducted the Lyric Stage Orchestra. Costumes were by Ryan Matthieu Smith, lighting design was by Julie Simmons and sound design was by Bill Eickenloff.
THE HUMAN COMEDY cast included David Coffee, Christopher Deaton, Christia Mantzke, Sonny Franks, Kristen Bond, Vicki Dean, Brendon Gallagher, Maranda Harrison, Mark Hawkins, Amy Fisher Hughes, Brett Warner Hurt, Delynda Johnson Moravec, Gabriel Lawson, Johnny Lee, Hunter Lewis, Gerard Lucero, Janelle Lutz, Emily McIntyre, Michael Scott McNay, Kyle Montgomery, Samuel Moran, Sarah Powell, David Price, Daniel Scandura, and Molly Welch.
THE HUMAN COMEDY ran March 21, 22, 28, 29 @ 8:00 PM and March 23 & 30 @ 2:30 PM in the Irving Arts Center’s Carpenter Performance Hall.
The Human Comedy: Nancy Churnin review
Lyric Stage’s ‘The Human Comedy’ celebrates wartime generation
IRVING — Ulysses Macauley may not wander through strange lands like the hero for whom he was named, but the child wades through a treacherous world of questions he peppers at his careworn mother in the musical adaptation of William Saroyan’s The Human Comedy: Where is my daddy? Where are my brothers? Where is my sister? And if the man on the train says he’s going home, why doesn’t he stop here, because isn’t this home?
You don’t get many chances to see this Galt MacDermot-William Dumaresq folk opera, which had a brief Broadway run in 1984. Wearing hats, flounces and suspenders designed by Ryan Matthieu Smith to evoke 1942 America, an extraordinary 25-person cast conveys the sacrifices made by working-class families in the fictional city of Ithaca, Calif., as World War II raged.
You’re certainly not likely to see it done with as much shimmer and grit as you will at Lyric Stage at the Irving Arts Center.
We meet Ulysses (Samuel Moran) singing to a man on a train (Gabriel Lawson), with an exuberant, “Hi Ya, Kid.” Soon, Ulysses rushes home to mother Kate (Christia Mantzke), sister Bess (Molly Welch), who attends a local college, and brother Homer (Johnny Lee), who is gearing up to apply for a job at the telegraph office.
The father (Sonny Franks), who has died before the story starts, appears as a comforting presence seen by the audience, but not the living. Ulysses’ brother Marcus (Michael Scott McNay) is a soldier at war, longing to return to his family and fiancée (Brett Warner Hurt).
The strands are interwoven in patterns that illuminate the enormous impact one person’s seemingly small actions can have on another’s life. Because of Homer, we get to know Mr. Spangler (Christopher Deaton), a quiet hero who runs the telegraph office and cranky, caring Mr. Grogan (David Coffee), a fan of day-old coconut cream pies (yes, there’s a song for that), who types the messages for Homer to deliver.
Director Ann Nieman weaves the tapestry well, focusing on connections that crackle among members of the ensemble. In the spirit of the book, it’s an eloquent mash-up of Dante’s The Divine Comedy and Homer’sIliad and Odyssey. In a welcome contrast to our celebrity-mad culture, it’s Olympian fire stolen with Promethean zeal to shine light on the dignity of the people who struggle to make ends meet and who fight our wars.
The Iliad-like tragedy of battle sears with each telegram Homer delivers to someone’s shaking hands, that says: “The Department of War regrets to inform you …” The Odyssean voyage home ripples with a twist related to the interconnectedness of life.
The spiritual journey that recalls The Divine Comedy is suggested when Bess (like Dante’s Beatrice), ushers a lost man, not unlike we, the audience, from the dark to the bright kindness gleaming inside the Macauley home.