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ON THE RECORD: Mazzie and Danieley's "Opposite You" and Virtue in Danger
By Steven Suskin
13 Nov 2005
VIRTUE IN DANGER [Must Close Saturday MCSR 3027]
London's out-of-the-way Mermaid Theatre opened in 1959 with Laurie Johnson and Lionel Bart's rollicking Lock up Your Daughters (from Henry Fielding's 1730 comedy Rape for Rape). The show proved a huge success, transferring to the West End for a long and happy run. Why not try another Restoration musical the Mermaid seems to have asked? Virtue in Danger, based on Sir John Vanbrugh's 1696 comedy The Relapse, was the result. The show opened at the Mermaid in 1963, although its West End transfer proved a dud and was quickly forgotten.
Must Close Saturday, the British label that has favored us with a number of forgotten-but-important cast albums, has now brought us Virtue in Danger. I suppose I'd like to like it more than I do. It has several things to recommend it, starting with Patricia Routledge. The score has something of the same feel as similarly-set musicals like Lock up Your Daughters, All in Love and Man with a Load of Mischief, but it lacks the boisterousness of the first, the bounce of the second or the strong ballads of the third.
The score comes from lyricist Paul Dehn, at the time a London film critic, and composer James Bernard, best known for a series of soundtracks for horror films. From Bernard's liner-note bio: "His composition Virtue in Danger was interrupted but (he hopes) not influenced by an urgent demand from Hammer Horror Films to provide a score for their 'Kiss of the Vampire.'"
The work is fun, although the lyricist seems way too eager to use "racy" words of olden days. The song titles "Fortune, Thou Art a Bitch!" and "Stand Back Old Sodom!" will give you an idea; the exclamation marks are from the authors, not me. And some of the tunes grow highly repetitious. Still in all, Virtue in Danger is interesting and listenable, with Ms. Routledge glimmering (as usual) in her four tracks. So you might want to give it a try.
—Steven Suskin, author of the forthcoming "Second Act Trouble" [Applause Books], "A Must See! Brilliant Broadway Artwork," the "Broadway Yearbook" series, "Show Tunes," and the "Opening Night on Broadway" books. He can be reached by e-mail at Ssuskin@aol.com.
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