A Minister's Wife, book by Austin Pendleton, music by Joshua Schmidt, lyrics by Jan Levy Tranen, adapted from George Bernard Shaw's Candida, is a charming operetta - a moving play about love and its illusions. The story concerns a dynamic minister (Mark Kudisch, a powerful Theatrical figure in a dynamic performance - it's a pleasure to hear him sing), his irresistible wife (the beautiful Kate Fry whose compassion and understanding will move you), and the young poet who is madly in love with her (Bobby Steggert, who is cute as hell, has a lovely voice, and, frankly, comes across as such a little boy, with no cojones, he wouldn't stand a chance. (I remembered that Marchbanks was Marlon Brando's first Broadway role, opposite Katherine Cornell: cojones personified.).
The piece is an interesting musical experiment, full of sprichtstimmer, with a question asked and the answer given in song. And all five cast members can really sing, including Liz Baltes and Drew Gehling as the sub-plot; and the music, with its fascinating contemporary counterpoints, captured me.
Shaw's strong story shines through in this well-directed (by Michael Halberstam), designed (by Allen Moyer), lighted (by Keith Parham) and costumed (by David Zinn) in this unusual, very rewarding theatrical experience.
