La Vie en Rose

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As I mentioned earlier, I figured out that there is theatre in Berlin which is not state subsidized and still worth seeing. A lot of it is much more populist than what is done at the “national” stages, but that’s fine with me. Tonight I had the pleasure of watching a very intelligent production of the French musical Irma la Douce, by Alexandre Breffort and Marguerite Monnot. Irma, which believe it or not run on Broadway for more than a year back in in 1960-61, is a delightful little musical which I never expected to see anywhere outside France.

Since I don’t expect many people to know Irma, I believe a summary is in order: Irma is a prostitute (pardon my French!) who supports her unemployed lovers with her earnings. Her new, nobler, more jealous boyfriend, however, is not satisfied with the arrangement. (In musicals nobility and jealousy are mutually enhancing). He therefore pretends to be a wealthy, older john, generous enough to monopolize Irma’s services, without even expecting sex from her! Exhausted by this game, however, he eventually decides to kill his alter ego, but is arrested and convicted for the murder. He escapes, sails around the world (I am not sure why, I never got that part, in German or in French), and returns to Irma who is about to give birth to their child.

I hope I have captured the general tone of hilarity and whimsy. There’s a good dose of low humor, as well, mostly in some fairly explicit choreography. All of the above is well executed by the small male chorus, who supports Katharine Mehrling in the title role. Mehrling definitely has it: she’s sexy and charismatic but also appropriate vulnerable. In the title song and in the festive “Dee-Doy”, an extravaganza of onomatopoeia, she truly shines.

But it is the young and energetic chorus which steals the show. They reminded of some excellent Greek productions of Aristophanes I had the fortune of seeing, where the director really exploited the energy, frivolity, and irreverence of the chorus. There is certainly something Aristophanic about Irma, even in the mechanically contrived resolution and the ceremonial “wedding” and renewal of fertile forces. And all of it set to irresistably catchy music! Who could ask for anything more?

Irma la Douce is playing at the Tribuene theatre, which, if I understood the curtain speech at all, might not be around much longer. It’s a comfortable space for maybe about 300 people – I found the amplification rather unnecessary, I wish that at least in small spaces like this musicals could be done acoustically. In any case, it seems that while the state-subsidized theatres are complaining about budget cuts, the private theatres aren’t really doing any better either. The actors requested audience members to sign a petition to the mayor while leaving the theatre. I wish them the best of luck in their attempt to save the space.

That neighborhood really doesn’t need another parking lot / highrise / condo building….

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Filed under Berlin, musical, theatre