Deborah Zecher and Joshua Zecher-Ross
Family Matters: A Celebration of All Things Rodgers, Rodgers & Guettel
Don’t Tell Mama, NYC, October 27, 2024
Reviewed by Jacqueline Parker
In her introduction to the show, Deborah Zecher referred to the family being celebrated as “The First Family of American Musical Theater.” I agree, but I tend to think of Richard Rodgers, his heirs, and those who became like family, as the “Rodgers Dynasty.” In addition to Mary Rodgers and her son, Adam Guettel, no portrait of this family would be complete without the mention of Lorenz Hart, Oscar Hammerstein, Marshall Barer, and Stephen Sondheim. All of them were celebrated in this performance. These gifted creators gave this country and the world songs that have inspired us, have helped us define complex emotions, and have led us to an understanding of our higher and better selves.
The show began by following Hammerstein’s entreaty to “start at the very beginning” as many in the audience swayed silently to the familiar “Do-Re-Mi.” That was not actually the beginning of the Richard Rodgers’ cannon, strictly speaking, so we went back a bit to the songs Rodgers wrote with his first partner Lorenz Hart. So discouraged was Rodgers before he and Hart had a hit that he considered becoming a salesman of children’s underwear! Tidbits like this were peppered throughout the show, and they helped illuminate the people being celebrated. We have Garrick Gaieties to thank for showcasing their first big tune “Manhattan.” Legend has it that early audiences were so enthralled by the number that it received multiple encores.
Rodgers had two daughters, and Mary was the one who inherited her father’s gift for music. Her autobiography Shy tells of her struggles to differentiate herself from her father. She succeeded. Her most well-known work, Once Upon a Mattress (lyrics by Marshall Barer), is frequently performed in schools and is currently enjoying a revival on Broadway. With Sheldon Harnick, she wrote “William’s Doll” for Free to Be…You and Me. She also wrote books, mostly notably Freaky Friday.
Mary met Sondheim at Hammerstein’s home in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, and they remained best friends. They wrote the music for the 1966 Off-Broadway revue The Mad Show, which included lyrics by Sondheim, Barer, and Steven Vinaver. She encouraged her father to collaborate with Sondheim, a partnership that produced Do I Hear a Waltz? Although Zecher is the mother of an adult son, she exuded all the wonder and excitement of young love in her rendition of the title song from that Rodgers/Sondheim collaboration.
Mary’s greatest gift to the world has been her son, Tony-winning composer-lyricist Adam Guettel, who once said he never wanted to go into the family business. Perhaps like his grandfather, Adam ultimately accepted his own talent. A highlight of the afternoon was Zecher singing Adam’s “Baby Moon,” which tells of a mother speaking to her unborn child, and the soon-to-be-heard “How Glory Goes” from Floyd Collins, which is scheduled for its Broadway debut at Lincoln Center next year. (It played Off-Broadway years ago.)
This show was a rare opportunity to learn about the evolution of the talent of Richard Rodgers. His music, coupled with the optimistic and ofttimes heartening lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein, brought soldiers to tears in the St. James Theater when they saw Oklahoma! Mary didn’t compete with her father but chiseled out a style all her own that still delights audiences. Adam has gone beyond them both, fearlessly leading us to emotional depths that can only be described musically.
It would have been unkind not to let the audience chime in on this hour of beloved music, and we had a chance to do so when song sheets were handed out and we joined in to sing songs from The Sound of Music. How could anyone not feel better after that? It reminded us that the music this family/dynasty has given us not only makes us feel better, but that it has the power to make us better and more compassionate and understanding human beings.
Zecher and her son Joshua Zecher-Ross shared the singing duties in an expertly curated menu of songs, and Joshua handled piano duties as well. They chose to present most of the songs in several brief medleys, which served the material—and the program—very well. Lennie Watts is to be congratulated for directing this show so skillfully.
This was a joyful event that displayed the comfort of familiar tunes coupled with some of those not so well known, and all of them were delivered with a reverence for the creators and their work. This delightful pair will return to Don’t Tell Mama on November 26 just in time to remind us of another reason to be grateful this Thanksgiving, at least musically speaking. How appropriate it is that this show that dripped with familial reference was done by a mother and son in a cabaret venue with a maternal name!
