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ON THE RECORD: A Class Act and a Class Tiffany's
By Steven Suskin
25 Mar 2001
A CLASS ACT RCAVictor 09026-63757
After hearing the Ed Kleban character in A Class Act sing "Paris Through the Window," his first submission to the BMI Workshop, one of his classmates says "It's. . . interesting." That's pretty much how I feel about the CD of A Class Act. (This recording reflects the version of the show presented last November at the Manhattan Theatre Club. The recently opened Broadway production has a slightly different song list, with half of the MTC cast.)
A CLASS ACT RCAVictor 09026-63757
After hearing the Ed Kleban character in A Class Act sing "Paris Through the Window," his first submission to the BMI Workshop, one of his classmates says "It's. . . interesting." That's pretty much how I feel about the CD of A Class Act. (This recording reflects the version of the show presented last November at the Manhattan Theatre Club. The recently opened Broadway production has a slightly different song list, with half of the MTC cast.) Kleban wrote the lyrics to A Chorus Line, which according to A Class Act was his great achievement and his great downfall. (To quote the opening number, "After Chorus Line something happened 'cause after Chorus Line nothing happened.") Like Stephen Sondheim before him, he saw himself as a composer and chafed at lyric writing assignments. (Sheldon Harnick also started out writing his own music, although he was soon persuaded to stick with lyrics.) Despite the success of Chorus Line, Kleban was unable to get any of his projects off the ground (he died in 1987). Now we hear nineteen of the songs Kleban considered his treasures, and — well, they're interesting. There are some nice things here; Kleban was clearly competent as a composer. But Sondheim he wasn't, although in several songs he tries to be. (This was a common failing of many of aspiring composers of the seventies and eighties.) In other places Kleban seems to try to be Billy Finn, whose March of the Falsettos burst upon the scene in 1981. Composer/lyricist Maury Yeston, too, came along with Nine in 1982. Compare Kleban's work to Sondheim, Finn, or Yeston; A Class Act is clearly not in their class. None of the songs really grabs me, at least after a half-dozen-or-so listenings; there's always something that pulls me back. "Paris Through the Window," "Under Separate Cover," "Next Best Thing to Love" have already found enthusiastic fans; while I find elements to admire in them, they fail to reach me emotionally. I find them more effective on the stage of the Ambassador than on the CD. (The disc sounds good, though. Most of the singing falls to Lonny Price, Randy Graff, and Carolee Carmello, who are supported by a proficient cast and good work from music director Todd Ellison and orchestrator Larry Hochman.) "Better" works best, I suppose. For all the talk in the show about Kleban's supposedly brilliant lyrics, I find some of his word images stilted. And some of the songs simply seem shoehorned in. "Gauguin's Shoes," for example, is jaunty enough; but what, pray tell, does Gauguin have to do with Kleban and his love life and BMI and the Broadway musical? Van Gogh, yes; Kleban was similarly bedeviled and institutionalized. ("Fountain in the Garden" specifically brings to mind Vincent's painting of the fountain in the courtyard of the mental hospital in Arles. Kleban, like Vincent, had himself admitted.) But Gauguin, the banker, in Tahiti? (Kleban sneaks in an allusion to Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti, which will no doubt fly right over the heads of most listeners.) Must a new musical have a brilliant score to be effective? Of course not. But the book of A Class Act keeps claiming, very loudly, that Ed Kleban was a great composer. I'm not convinced. I enjoyed the show itself, now at the Ambassador Theatre, but you kind of get the feeling that the creators demand that you love Kleban's music as well. Not me, sorry. But "interesting" — yes, A Class Act is certainly very interesting, in a way that many recent musicals are decidedly not. [I feel compelled to add that I've come across more than a few devoted theatrefolk who love this show, especially the Broadway version. I did enjoy it, though not so much as others have, so please don't let me dissuade you from giving it a chance, either on CD or at the Ambassador.] Continued...
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