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“Nine” is a 10….Seldom Done Musical Is Lyrical, Romantic Masterpiece

Directed Lovingly by Nancy Ridgeway

By John Dwyer

When does poetry appear onstage in a musical?  And what is my definition of that?  Poetry surpasses ordinary storytelling and by an inexplicable chemistry of elements, a magic occurs in the piece overall.    I saw it occur on Broadway in “Illinoise” and in “A Little Night Music” and “Hadestown.”   There was a lyricism to those shows overall that occurred in the production that had a romantic fatalism that was not just coming from the page but somehow was felt in the air when you saw the production.  A beauty in the music and the performances that wash over you like a wave and washes you out to  a sea of life’s wonder.

Recently, I saw that kind of poetry in “Ride the Cyclone” at Music Mountain and years earlier in their “Carousel.”  That gorgeous flow of elements is also present in the superb mounting of  “Nine,” currently playing at Town and Country Players.

This show has a large cast, wonderful costumes and this show “about a director” demands a great director to bring it off.  It originally was directed by Tommy Tune, who went on to work with the composer Maury Yeston on other projects.  The Broadway casts were well over 30 actors.  Both the original 1982 with Raul Julia and Karen Akers and the 2003 revival with Antonio Banderas and Mary Stuart Masterson.

The Town & Country space, which is arguably the best intimate space theater (290 seats) in the Bucks County/Hunterdon area has 20 actors.  Eighteen of them women.  Their voices, whether singularly or collectively, are magic.

The show is based on Frederico Fellini’s 1962 film “8 ½, ”   It was called 8 ½ as Fellini prior to this film had directed 8 films and co-directed one…so it was his 8 ½ film.  When Yeston created a musical based on the film, it made this project the ninth Fellini project, as this adaptation was a collaboration (1/2) as well.  (Note: Nine is also a significant age in the musical, as young Guido is 9 yrs of age.  Young Guido appears in a flashback of him remembering his mother and his first visit to a prostitute, Sarraghina).

The film, as well as the musical, examines a 40 yr old man who, in spite of being a successful internationally known filmmaker, is at a mid-life crisis.  He feels his creativity has dried up. He loves women.  He does not seem to have any male friends to whom he is close.  He has a wife, to whom he is unfaithful, both with other women and, in the sense that his job of storytelling seems to her to be more important to him than their marriage.  He has a mother that he was devoted to.  He has a mistress, Carla, that he leads on.  He has an actress that he uses for the majority of his film, Claudia that he tells her that he loves her and that she is “his muse.”  It seems he uses women to “find himself,” which he never totally does.  And he does it, without caring about their needs and their feelings.  Many critics see the film and the musical as a comment about modernizsation. 

In an earlier era, the family defined a man, along with his job.   In the evolving modern world, the family and relationships  did not seem to moor a man to his sense of self,  In the sixties and the movie world, divorce and infidelity seemed not just common but growingly acceptable, despite what the Italian Catholic Church would say. The women each want their own connection to Guido and a commitment.  Guido wants too much and ends up with too little.

In both the musical and the film, the story is beautifully executed.  It is unique as the film/show is about the process of putting on a film/show.

This story was one that fascinated Yeston, the composer, since he first saw the film at 14.  He  ironically described it as just as he was going thru his adolescence, Guido was going thru his “second: adolescence”

Blair Johnson is a superb Guido.  He never acts the role, he lives it.  I was not prepared for how good Johnson was.  I knew he was a fine singer, having heard him as the King in “Head Over Heels” at Music Mountain.  But Guido in “Nine” takes a special actor to bring the audience along for a ride with a complex man.    The humanity and honesty that he brings to the role makes everyone empathize with him, while realizing how truly flawed Guido is.

Alyssa Moore as Luisa can do it all.  She was so enjoyable as a stepsister in”Cinderella” last season.  This is a 180 on that comic turn.  Her pain and frustration comes thru as Guido’s wife.  Her songs sung in a minor key break your heart.  “My Husband Makes Movies” and “Be on Your Own” are disturbingly powerful.  Moore is so good in this role. 

Kallie Cooper-Damon as Carla is a sexy minx.  Her seductive dance which uses a phone cord in the number “ A Call from the Vatican,” deserves a penance from the confessional of at least 5 Our Fathers and an Act of Contrition. 

Tricia Curley is totally unrecognizable from 5 months ago as Cinderella.  Now as the highly sophisticate Claudia, she looks like an Italian movie star.  In fact, she reminds you of the original Claudia from the movie.   Yes, reminiscent of Claudia Cardinale.  If you do not remember her Ella from “Cinderella,” her singing voice is stellar.  The song lead-in of “A Man Like You” to the relentlessly, devastatingly beautiful “Unusual Way” is one of the highlights of the score.  

Other shout outs to Jennifer Ahr’s touching “Nine” with the superb actor/singer Ryan Polchan, as the  young, precocious  Guido.  Melissa Angelo Schiumo is enticingly sexy as the prostitute that young Guido visits and scores  with “Be Italian.”  Loved the choreo for it, as well.  Nancy Vander Zwan owned the stage as Lilianne Le Fleur, who reveled and flirted as only a French woman can when singing “Follies Bregere.”  Singing patter against that song is the gifted Melissa Mongi Copestake who runs patter with the best of them.  A song with so many words per minute is a difficult feat.  If someone is unfamiliar with a patter song, it is the predecessor to “rap.”   Her dry delivery and non-plussed manner is perfect for the film critic.  The way she looks and acts could not be more “spot on.”

Speaking of looks, the costumes and hair are amazing.  You swear you are in Rome, circa 1962.  Hair piled in beehives.  Simple short dresses with decolletage.  A sense of sophistication from the era of European sexy epitomized by Cardinale, Lollabrigida, Bardot, Loren, Capucine.  Hats off (pun intended) to Anne Shepherd-Hauck, the costumier.

It goes without saying that this “Nine” is a 10 out of 10.