Sousatzka. Craig Lucas (author), David Shire (music), Richard Maltby Jr. (lyrics), Adrian Noble (director). At the Elgin Theatre. Through April 9.
As a classical music critic, I rarely attend (and review) musical theatre. When it was announced that a new musical, Sousatzka, was having its world premiere in Toronto, I was very intrigued because of its classical music theme. Based on a 1962 novel by Booker Prize winning Bernice Rubens about a gifted if eccentric Russian emigre piano teacher living in London and Manek, her South Asian piano protégé, it was made into an enchanting 1988 movie Madame Sousatzka with the redoubtable Shirley MacLaine in the title role, directed by John Schlesinger.
What the American actress lacked in authenticity as a Polish expat piano teacher in her fabulously cluttered apartment in central London, she had flamboyance in spades. The cameo appearance of the real-life famous British pianist Barry Douglas as her former pupil sealed the deal for me as one of the most enjoyable classical music films I’ve seen at the time. Could Sousatzka the musical repeat that magic? I was curious.
This musical is the brainchild of Canadian impresario, Livent’s Garth Drabinsky and it marks his comeback after the ill-fated Black Creek Summer Music Festival in 2011. The original story has been substantially modified by writer Craig Lucas and his team. The ethnicity of Manek, the young child protégé is now Themba, a South African boy. His mother is now no longer Susila but Xholiswa, and his father is Jabulani, an imprisoned political activist. A whole new backdrop of Anti-Apartheid Freedom Fighters theme has been added. Sousatzka herself is a Polish Jew instead of Russian, which also adds another layer of backstory about the Nazi Holocaust.
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The result? Plot-wise very colourful, very dramatic, entertaining for sure, but also very diffused. There are too many thematic threads. Scenes of Sousatzka teaching the boy in her living room is juxtaposed with big production numbers of native South Africans singing and dancing. A lot of story is crammed into a two-hour 15-minute show, in such a way that it lacks a central focus. There are just too many extraneous bits and pieces, such as a young Sousatzka being raped. In the last minutes of the show, a man knocks on her door, and it turns out to be her long-lost son, born from that sexual assault. Perhaps the temptation to tell as much story as possible led to this script with enough material for several plays, and to impose music and dancing and singing on top of such a serious story is overkill.
That said, the performances, seen on opening night, were first-rate. I liked Broadway star Victoria Clark in the title role, flamboyant but not over-the-top. As the mother of Themba, Montego Glover had less opportunity to shine but good just the same. Two different actors, both excellent, play Themba as a young boy (Kaden Stephen) and later as a young man (Jordan Barrow). Sara Jean Ford captured the character, Jenny, beautifully, the role originally played by Twiggy in the movie. The show was fast-paced and high energy, a must for a Broadway musical of this level. A quibble from a classical music lover – I hated the electronic piano sounds! Madame Sousatzka would never have approved. Despite its longueurs, this show has the ingredients for success, perhaps with some judicious pruning and tinkering.
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