By Steven Suskin
22 Aug 1999

THE NIGHTINGALE (Jay CDJAY 1327)
Let us suppose for a moment that Stephen Sondheim undertook a musicalization of the Hans Christian Andersen tale "The Emperor and the Nightingale." Yes, this mid-nineteenth century tale is set in ancient China; but in the right hands, it could be ever so relevant to modern day audiences. Okay, now suppose that the music was not written by Mr. Sondheim but by Mr. Charles Strouse, after an earnest and intensive study of Pacific Overtures and Sweeney Todd (mixed with a modicum of Menotti). And let us suppose that Mr. Strouse, who has no experience as a Broadway lyricist, decided to write the lyrics too, just like Mr. Sondheim does. And the libretto as well. If this sounds like your cup of oolong, then you might want to get a copy of The Nightingale, with book, music, and lyrics by Charles Strouse.

There was a time, after Annie became the smash hit of the Seventies, that composer Strouse could get just about anything produced. That time has passed; his post-Annie record includes eight quick failures, including five -- A Broadway Musical, Dance a Little Closer, Rags, Annie 2, and Nick & Nora -- that played Broadway for a total of nineteen performances combined. (Frightening, eh?) The Nightingale was initially presented Off-Off-Broadway by a children's theatre company in April 1982; it received a full professional mounting that December at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith. The cast recording of this British production has now been issued on CD, for who knows what reason. (Perhaps the presence in the cast of a 23-year-old newcomer named Sarah Brightman?)

The piece is not as bad as it might sound, actually; it is simply unnecessary and undistinguished. There are some jingly tunes, like "Who Are These People?" and portions of the Emperor's first act death scene, which were recycled, respectively, into Rags and Annie 2. There is also an amusing concerted number called "Please Don't Make Me Hear That Song Again," which does not refer to Annie's "Tomorrow" but certainly could. And there's a creative set of orchestrations, which are unfortunately uncredited. But in The Nightingale, Strouse attempts to write in the Sondheim/Menotti/Lloyd Webber vein, which is not, as they say, his strength. And while Strouse's lyrics are not bad, exactly, the show would surely have benefited from the layers of humor that someone like Lee Adams could have brought to it.

Jay Records has apparently been formed to issue items from the catalogue of England's That's Entertainment Records, most of which were heretofore available stateside at import prices. (They are the same people who, happily, have just brought back Baby.) Included in their holdings are Strouse's Dance a Little Closer and I and Albert. The former was a particularly dire one-night flop which, paradoxically, contains some of Strouse's finest writing. The latter, which has never been issued in America, was written by Adams & Strouse back between It's Superman and Applause. (After David Merrick dropped his option on the piece, it eventually surfaced in the West End in 1972.) It is to be hoped that Jay gets around to issuing these two Strouse scores, as they are both far more interesting and entertaining than this inconsequentially forlorn Nightingale.

-- Steven Suskin, author of "More Opening Nights on Broadway" (Schirmer) and "Show Tunes 1904-1998" (Oxford). You can E-mail him at Ssuskin@aol.com.