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| Joe Masiell, Lynn Gerb, Yolande Bavan, Scott Jarvis. |
LEAVES OF GRASS
[Musical Revue/Literary Anthology] AD/M: Stan Harte, Jr.; SC: Walt Whitman’s
poems, Leaves of Grass; D: Stan
Harte, Jr, Bert Michaels; DS: David Chapman; P: New Era Productions; T: Theatre
Four (OB); 9/12/71-10/24/71 (49)
An intimate little show that offered a mildly entertaining
concoction of songs based on 21 Walt Whitman poems set to a wide variety of pop
musical styles, excluding rock. Much like the popular review Jacques Brel is Alive and Well . . . in manner, it didn’t offend anyone, nor did
it excite anyone either. It was “short, modest and quietly likeable,” wrote
Richard Watts; “a more or less pleasant evening,” decided Martin Gottfried; but
a show that “never takes fire,” in Clive Barnes’s opinion.
Whitman’s poetry was the major problem, as it (as transmuted
into lyrics) lacked diversity and qualitative consistency.