By Marilyn Lester***In the autumn of 1982, an engaging new musical, Charlotte Sweet, opened at the Westside Arts Center, especially championed by artist Al Hirschfeld and musician Leonard Cohen, earning three Drama Desk Award nominations for “Outstanding Actress in a Musical,” “Outstanding Music” and “Outstanding Lyrics.” Sung-through, like 
an opera, and all-rhymed, the music was by (the late) Gerald Jay Markoe and the exceedingly clever book/lyrics by Michael Colby.
Fast-forward to the present day, and Charlotte Sweet has lived again as the perfect confection for a benefit concert (over two nights) for for Amas Musical Theatre’s educational and theater initiatives. Under music supervisor Michael Lavine, with music direction by Asher Denburg and direction by Jeff Calhoun, the “Circus of Voices” rang out once more with perfection in casting: Dwayne Clark (Harry Host), Ann Harada (Cecily), Nicholas King (Ludlow Ladd), Marc Kudisch (Barnaby), Michael McCoy (Bob), Mamie Harris (Skitzy), Jennie Harney-Fleming (Katinka Bugaboo) and Megan Styrna as Charlotte Sweet. Along with Denburg at the keys, three supremely talented musicians: MacKenzie Conroy
and Mike Webb, playing a variety of reeds, and percussionist Bruce Doctor, whose arsenal included a marvelous marimba, provided the sumptuous orchestra for the production.
The story: it’s Victorian England and Charlotte, a young woman renowned for one of the world’s highest and most beautiful glass-shattering soprano voices, is forced to join Barnaby Bugaboo’s “Circus of Voices” to save her debtor father. The troupe features an array of unusual vocalists, including Skitzy Scofield, who with her dual personalities is both a mezzo and a baritone. Charlotte’s exploitation leads to an addiction to helium balloons to maintain her high notes. After a buffet of chaos and a surprise ending, Charlotte’s sweetheart, Ludlow Ladd, eventually tracks her down and comes to the rescue.
Charlotte Sweet draws from music hall, operetta and melodrama, but is most often compared with the comic operas of Gilbert & Sullivan—and that is no feint praise. Nearly 130 years after their final work, The Grand Duke, premiered on March 7, 1896, G&S works are still performed worldwide. More than that, while Sullivan’s music is classically superb, it’s the incomparable genius of William S. Gilbert’s lyrics that are most remembered.
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Photos by JK Clarke
