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True, Paint Your Wagon was never a barnstorming hit. Written by Alan Jay Lerner (book and lyrics) and Frederick Loewe (music), it opened in 1951, less than five years after the team's lush Brigadoon, and ran a mere 289 performances. Still, the 1969 film adaptation, which used a radically different plot and starred the blindingly miscast Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood, tamped down what flames the material might have been able to kindle, even coming as it did at the tail end of the era of movie musicals. What's revealed in Marc Bruni's Encores! production, however, is a quietly gripping story and one of the most gorgeous scores for any show outside the major canon. Marc Acito's lean but solid concert adaptation narrows the focus onto three characters navigating the 1840s California gold rush: Ben Rumson (Keith Carradine), an older man who's spent countless years in pursuit of his one big hit, which he captures upon accidentally discovering gold; his 16-year-old daughter, Jennifer (Alexandra Socha), who's unfortunately blossoming into womanhood just as the all-male population of Ben's mining town is reaching its peak; and Julio (Justin Guarini), the itinerant Mexican prospector who falls in love with Jennifer.
Ben struggling to balance the deepest yearnings of his soul with his responsibilities as father and protector to Jennifer are central, of course. But no less vital is Julio's fighting the prejudices he faces, and his hunger to earn the money necessary to buy the respect his skin color has never allowed him, or Jennifer's being torn between love for the father who needs her and the man she needs. And the ecstasy of the other men in the camp, as well as their chilling turnabout when the gold suddenly seems a lot less endless than once it did, joyously but hauntingly but accurately characterizes a country and time in which only the flexible survive. Loewe's music (superbly orchestrated by Ted Royal and played by the Encores! Orchestra under Rob Berman's baton) blends the personal impact of the terrifying, infinite possibilities of existence and the vast, empty expanse of the American West in the mid 1800s, all while intricately revealing character. This is perhaps most openly evident in "Another Autumn," which ties the fortune of men to the fortune of the land, and "I Call the Wind Maria" (achingly and beautifully sung by Nathaniel Hackmann, in a tiny role.) But Ben's "Wand'rin' Star" effortlessly pinpoints the heart of the man who must always search for, but never find, the life that matters most, while that attitude is given broader, more antically infectious scope in the male ensemble's "I'm On My Way" and "The Strike." Julio and Jennifer's duets are more conventional, but they teem with excited feeling given pre-dusk-like warmth and a tangy dose of Mexican influence: "I Talk to the Trees," "Carino Mio." And "What's Goin' On Here?", "How Can I Wait?", and "All for Him" succinctly outline Jennifer's evolving opinions of men in general and Julio specifically. Even the largely throwaway "Trio," which seemingly exists only to round out a creaky subplot about a Mormon man (William Youmans) and his two wives (Jenni Barber and Melissa van der Schyff) who factor into Ben's own romantic ideas, is stirring, bringing a clear, unadorned religious sentiment to the otherwise parched landscape. Not your speed? The uptempos (the celebratory "Whoop-Ti-Ay," "Hand Me Down That Can O' Beans") are lively without spoiling the mood, and Trude Rittman's dance arrangements (for which Denis Jones has provided attractive, if mostly unremarkable, choreography) are first-rate. So, too, are the engaging makeshift-frontier sets (Anna Louizos) and costumes (Alejo Vietti), and performances straight across the board. Carradine embodies the wry Ben with an ingratiating, beguiling manner, and singing his songs with a gently avuncular likability that rests at the perfect halfway point between grizzled and graceful. Guarini unleashes plenty of appeal, and a richly affectionate singing voice, as Julio, though the character doesn't do much more than proclaim his love lyrically. If Socha occasionally pushes through the songs with too much anxious energy, she has no trouble convincing us of Jennifer's youthful innocence and emotional drive. The other actors, who also include Robert Creighton as the token Irishman and Adam Monley as the fresh-pressed Englishman around whom false hopes frequently swirl, make strong impressions despite minimum stage time. Given that making the most with the least is often what Encores! is about, they're right at home here. So, for that matter, is the whole musical, which summons a captivating, wistful Americana that at once recalls things as they were and as we've always wanted them to be. Not, not everyone will find the riches or the happiness they seek. But this show is an invigorating reminder of just how much is often to be found beneath our feet if we're willing to challenge our own perspective. There can, in fact, be gold there. And there certainly is in Paint Your Wagon.
Paint Your Wagon
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