What A Wonderful Closing Song
After this past weekend’s opening of The Norman Conquests, for some reason I feel the need to mention that as of this writing, Louis Armstrong’s What A Wonderful World has been featured as the closing music for not one, not two, but five different distinct productions so far in the 2007-2008 Milwaukee theatre season. There’s no question that one of the personal favorite songs of one of the greatest musicians in history is one of the most popular songs in the history of recorded sound, but . . . five shows in one season? It’s a bit much. Here’s the run-down:
October 3rd: the Marcus Center opens a production of Pat Hazell’s The Wonder Bread Years featuring John McGivern. The show closes with the 1967 (or was it 1970?) Louis Armstrong recording of What A Wonderful World. The song is a fitting closing for the feel-good boomer-centric stand-up routine.
October 4th: the Tenth Street Theatre—In Tandem opens its first show in brand new venue featuring HA!--a series of clever one-acts by Rich Orloff. The last short is a sharp comedy theorizing the possibility that the universe was created as a class project for a university student. The show closes with the 1967 (or was it 1970?) Louis Armstrong recording of What A Wonderful World. Closing the show with the song here is reminiscent of the final episode of a certain sci-fi BBC radio comedy written by Douglas Adams that originally aired in 1978. It’s a good song, but a bit eerie this night at In Tandem considering a show across town is closing with the exact same recording of the same song at roughly the same time in the evening.
December 2nd: the Quadracci Powerhouse Theatre--The Milwaukee Rep opens its latest production of Alan Ayckbourn’s Norman Conquests. Not only does the 1967 (or was it 1970?) Louis Armstrong recording of What A Wonderful World close all three shows in the trilogy, it’s also used (presumably by Sound Desiger Michael Keck) as the central theme for the trilogy’s musical score. The show’s star Gerard Neugent is even seen putting it on a phonograph player and lip-synching to it in character in Living Together. It works, but it feels a bit inconsistent here. Why this particular Louis Armstrong song for The Norman Conquests? I know it’s splitting hairs, but Armstrong’s A Kiss To Build A Dream On would seem more appropriate for the trilogy . . . it’s a much more wistful song that seems to suit the end of each show much better.
I shudder to think of the song ending even one more show this season. I admit it’s a minor concern—petty, even. I’m not even sure why I bring it up. Don’t get me wrong--I love the song. I’m okay with the it ending a show. (Putting it at the end of The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy in 1978 was brilliant) but five times in one season is a bit excessive. That’s all I’m saying . . .
Posted by rfindley on 12/11 at 12:13 PM