By Venus Zarris
“Where is the place for the uncreated in this modern world? Where do we put the happiness that has not been forged? Where do we store the love that has not been sculpted? Where is the room for keeping all of the nothings?” … THE HUNCHBACK VARIATIONS OPERA
Creating the seemingly unattainable has been a goal of artists and the subject of their work since humankind had a couple of extra minutes to focus on something other than survival. Capturing the perfect representation of a feeling, an image, a moment or an idea has inspired and tortured us throughout time. Even in its most successful attempts, there are those who would argue that the artist missed the mark and most often, the ones presenting the strongest arguments that the work has failed are the lamenting artists themselves.
Such is the case in THE HUNCHBACK VARIATIONS OPERA, where the unlikely creative team of Ludwig van Beethoven and Quasimodo recap their struggles to find a sound that was detailed in an obscure piece of stage direction written in the script of playwright Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard. They present this recap in a series of panel discussions on “the pressures associated with the making of an impossible thing” where, because of Beethoven and Quasimodo’s mutual deafness, no questions are taken from the audience.
This sounds ridiculous because it is. This utterly preposterous narrative proposition looks as absurd as it sounds, and yet playwright Mickle Maher so fully realizes this outlandish notion that it is miraculously far less contrived than many stories grounded in the commonplace and the everyday. Let’s be clear on the madness; Beethoven (German composer – 1770-1872) and Quasimodo (fictional character from Victor Hugo’s novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame set in 1482) set out to make a noise described as a sound effect in a play by Anton Chekhov (Russian writer 1860-1904).
How does a situation so locality and reality challenged come across as even remotely perceivable? Because Mickle Maher’s writing is not constrained by either, that’s how. He applies the loftiest cerebral and academic complexities to the playful toy box approach of a child. A child will pull out an action figure, a stuffed animal and a matchbox car, give them each a personality and story and then set them off on an adventure together; never worrying for a minute that it is impossible. Maher does this with historical and literary figures as his toys and the result is hysterically funny and emotionally profound.
This was the case with his original play The Hunchback Variations. As if this play was not impossible enough, Maher has collaborated with composer Mark Messing to make it an opera. Much like Beethoven and Quasimodo, Maher and Messing set off to create that impossible sound and in detailing a failed fantastical project they have realized an unmitigated, surprisingly endearing and impossibly successful masterpiece.
Messing’s composition is as unlikely as Maher’s characters and story. He employs musical frameworks, formulas and genres that range from classical to chamber to avant-guarde to Sondheim and Bernstein with an occasional hint of Andrew Lloyd Webber (yes, even the least beloved toys in the toy box get to play a part in this musical adventure). His splendidly eclectic compositional fluctuations perfectly underscore Maher’s wild notions and poignant pontifications. Messing has composed a score for two voices, a piano and a cello that takes on more scope and achieves more musical depth than many works created for a full orchestra and chorus. It is as much a haunting requiem to failure as it is a whimsical romp of absurdities as it is a breathtakingly intimate opera of impossibilities.
Two geniuses have joined together to realize impossibility and it takes as much genius to bring it to life on stage. George Andrew Wolff is perfectly darling as Beethoven, holding the audience transfixed in his very cleverly subtle camp. Wolff is a performer that has beautifully painted characters with the necessary broad strokes required in conventional musical theater but here he condenses the grand theatrics down to fabulously calculated nuance. A simple rise of an eyebrow or slight smile speaks comic or tragic volumes in Wolff’s subtly over-the-top performance.
Larry Adams is also a gold standard on the musical theater stage that has realized something more by employing even less. His silence is powerful. His wordless physical minutia is enchantingly awkward. Adams is impossibly marvelous with his austere Quasimodo. Contrasting Wolff’s genial self-aggrandizing Beethoven, Adams is a morose malformation. He is the voice of reason: sad, mournful, disappointed reason. He is somber, intense, frustrated and very funny. Together with Wolff, Adams makes this impossible combination completely captivating. Their voices are wonderful and their performances are incredible.
Tim Lenihan’s piano accompaniment is excellent and Paul Ghica interprets Messings unconventional cello compositions with evocative intuition. The score is a beautifully peculiar combination of whimsical complexities and these outstanding musicians render the experimental oddities and tender loveliness of this atmospheric opera to perfection.
Theater Oobleck’s world premiere is a production the likes of which you cannot imagine. Mark Messing and Mickle Maher’s THE HUNCHBACK VARIATIONS OPERA is a staggering contemplation on the profundity of the unattainable. In peering into the void, they create a seemingly pointless exercise of thought that yields a transformation from the impossible to the sublime. Do not miss this singular masterpiece.
4 STARS
(“THE HUNCHBACK VARIATIONS OPERA” runs through February 19 at Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago. Box Office: 773-871-3000 Tickets: Victory Gardens)
