The Hunchback
Variations Opera
Music by Mark Messing
Libretto by Mickle Maher
VG Biograph Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln (map)
thru Feb 19 | tickets: $0-$20 | more info
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Theater Oobleck melds music and the absurd for a memorable piece
Theater Oobleck presents
The Hunchback Variations Opera
Review by J.H. Palmer
Mickle Maher’s 2001 play The Hunchback Variations has been transformed by Maher and composer Mark Messing to create a new iteration; The Hunchback Variations Opera. The premise of the piece, like many Theater Oobleck productions, is absurd — Ludwig van Beethoven and Quasimodo are engaged in a panel discussion of Anton Chekhov’s play The Cherry Orchard; specifically, a discussion of their attempt to create a sound called for in the stage directions of The Cherry Orchard: “Coming as if out of the sky, like the sound of a string snapping, slowly and sadly dying away.” The layers of absurdity pile up on each other: Beethoven and Quasimodo are both deaf, making a discussion of sound impossible; Beethoven was an actual historical figure, and Quasimodo was a creation of Victor Hugo’s mind; neither of them lived to see a production of The Cherry Orchard; and as it turns out, Beethoven never even bothered to finish reading the play.
Quasimodo (Larry Adams) is pessimistic and dark where Beethoven (George Andrew Wolff) is filled with a sense of accomplishment and self-importance, and throughout the piece the two go back and forth on whose fault it was that they failed to create the sound called for in Anton Chekov’s stage directions… in song. In scene 1, Quasimodo opens with a discussion on failure, noting that there are two kinds, the first kind being filled with the sounds of booing and hissing from an audience, and the second kind of failure being silence, “the sound of our wicket planet turning in space.” The scene wraps up when Beethoven sings “as we are both deaf there will be no questions taken from the audience, thank you,” and then the stage goes dark.
In scene 2 Quasimodo sings “I believe everything would have gone a lot better if we hadn’t rehearsed at my house,” as Quasimodo’s home is a vile hut in the swamp, and Beethoven has nicely appointed rooms filled with light and nice furniture. Beethoven insists that the walk to Quasimodo’s hut is integral to his creative process, but then complains about the “bell table” that is the sole piece of furniture in the hut; made from a bell, it is difficult to place anything on it – a sandwich, say, slides right off when set down on it.
Throughout the piece Quasimodo uses various objects and instruments in an attempt to create the sound called for in Chekov’s stage direction: a bell, a toy piano, a mandolin, a thumb piano, an infant’s toy; after each attempt Beethoven sings “no, that is not the sound.” It becomes an absurd meme that the audience begins to anticipate, and adds to the absurdity of the situation.
Each of the 11 scenes varies in tone from conversational interludes between the two panel members, to preambles directed at the audience – scene 6 begins with Beethoven asking the audience redundant questions like: “Is everyone here? Did you find the building? Did you get a program? Is the program legible?” Then Quasimodo explains to the audience that Beethoven believes ruffling the pages of Emily Dickinson’s collected poems creates the intended sound called for in the stage direction, despite the fact that Emily Dickinson wasn’t born until 1825, making it ridiculous that Beethoven is attempting to create the sound by turning “the pages of a not born lonely recluse.” He ends the scene by singing “good night, I curse you.” Quasimodo gets increasingly irritated with his fellow panel member as the opera progresses, with lines like “I thought my life as described by Victor Hugo was terrible, but to rehearse with you, Ludwig van Beethoven, was true horror.”
The actual stage direction in question is sung several times, and by the end of the piece becomes a thing of beauty to the ear, in place of the actual sound called for. This absurd opera is a pleasure to experience, as much for its musical loveliness as for its interpretation by Wolff and Adams, who do an amazing job bringing the preposterous situation to life. The only issue I took with the piece was that while Adams had a fantastic mask (created by Richard Henzel) to bring his Quasimodo-ness to life, Wolff had no standard Beethoven-esque affectations. To have Quasimodo appear recognizably Quasimodo-ish without doing the same to Beethoven is a missed opportunity, one that left me longing for the sight of a powdered wig and significant eyebrows. I can live with this loss, however, as the entirety of this opera is bizarrely enjoyable and musically satisfying.
Rating: ★★★½
The Hunchback Variations Opera continues through February 19th at Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln (map), with performances Wednesdays-Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 4pm. Tickets are a suggested $20 donation ($10 if that’s what you’ve got; free if you’re broke), and are available by phone (773-871-3000) or online here. More info at TheaterOobleck.com. (Running time: 75 minutes without intermission)
All photos by Jim Newberry
