05:56:52 am 
'Coward at Christmas' - Reimagined Tunes...A Great Gift
Categories: UncategorizedSir Noel Coward was born just days before Christmas in 1899, and it's for this reason that he was named Noel by his mother. He may never have penned a Christmas tune during his prolific career at songwriter (not to mention his other work as playwright, director and actor), but his tunes are turning into a wonderful Christmas gift for New York theatergoers thanks to Simon Green Sings Coward at Christmas, currently playing at 59E59 Theaters. During the course of this delightful one-hour songfest, Green, along with his pianist, musical director and arranger David Shrubsole, serves up some of Noel Coward’s most memorable songs, a number of them intelligently recreated for twenty-first century listeners.
Greene, who in dark jacket and thin tie actually looks as though he might have walked out of the 1960s movie To Sir With Love, deftly delivers some 20 Coward pieces with impeccable phrasing and an astute blend of sparkling wit and heartfelt emotion (Coward was after all a great believer in genuine sentiment). At moments during the show, Green's interpretations do bring to mind "the master," notably during the hysterical "Three Theatrical Dames," a tune about what the great ladies of the English stage did before achieving success. Greene seems to channel all of Coward's wickedness and naughtiness in this one, which incidentally was written for a benefit concert in the 1950s, and originally performed by John Mills, Kenneth More and Peter Ustinov. "Dames" is just one of the rarities unearthed by Green and Shrubsole. Another is the "Couldn't We Keep on Dancing" which the pair discovered after combing through the British Archive.
At other times during "Sings," Green's enormously affecting and effective, no more so than during his recitation of Coward's poem, "On Leaving England for the First Time." This sequence leads into a beautifully arranged medley of "London Pride," "I Travel Alone," and "Sail Away." In this triptych of songs, some theatergoers might find themselves thinking that they are hearing these songs for the first time, as Shrubsole's arrangements are so unique. During the second song, for instance, it almost sounds as if Coward, Green and Shrubsole were channeling Kurt Weill and this composer's "Lonely House" in particular. In "Pride," Shrubsole's arrangement loses some of the "oldness" and almost homespun quality that is usually visited upon the tune. Purists may bristle, but even they may have to soften once they hear Big Ben seemingly chime in the distance (it's a feat accomplished on the piano alone).
Shrubsole's arrangements also reference (or at least seem to) composers as far ranging as Burt Bachrach and Stephen Sondheim, which brings them terrifically into the present, but can at times mean that theatergoers strain to hear the melodies (at least as they remember them). Throughout Green is a delight, often consulting a set of Coward's diaries to pull out pithy quotes and anecdotes, and his light baritone is beautifully suited to Coward's songs, which seem to be crafted anew, which may make this show one of the grandest holiday presents on stage right now.
---- Andy Propst
Simon Green Sings Coward at Christmas plays through January 4 at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street). Performances are Tuesday through Friday at 8:30pm; Saturday at 5:30 and 9:30pm and Sunday at 3:30 and 7:30pm. Tickets are $25.00 and can be purchased by calling 212-279-4200 or by visiting www.TicketCentral.com. Further information is available online at www.59e59.org
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