MTS’s surrealist offering ‘Nine’ is solid on every level
It’s been years since I watched Federico Fellini’s classic Italian film “8½,” but it all came back to me as I sat through Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit’s theatrical adaptation, “Nine,” at Musical Theatre Southwest.
“8½” is a semiautobiographical film exploring Fellini’s breakdown while trying to film an unscripted movie at a spa in Venice. He had made 8 films up to that point, and so the title “8½.” Yeston added music and called it “Nine,” explaining: “If you add music to ‘8½’ it’s like a half number more.”
Guido Contini, Fellini’s alter ego, is having a breakdown that seems more sexually induced than a crisis in creativity; or perhaps the point is that a person’s libido and creative energy is one and the same thing. Contini’s wife of 20 years, Luisa, is on the verge of leaving him for his philandering, but he clearly needs her stabilizing presence. He also needs the sexual passion he receives from his mistress, Carla, who insists he divorce his wife and marry her. Then there is the leading actress in the movie, Claudia, who wants to be more than just his muse.
Like the original movie, “Nine” is a surrealist dreamscape, where reality, fantasy and dream merge and blend. One of the most affecting scenes flashes back to the night the 9-year-old Guido snuck away from his Catholic boarding school to encounter a prostitute on the beach, a glorious night of sexual initiation which ends in punishment and humiliation.
Tommy Tune, the director and choreographer of the 1982 Broadway premiere — which won the Tony Award for best musical — had the ingenious idea of casting women in all the parts except Cantini. So the film’s exasperated producer and misanthropic entourage are all women while the Catholic Monsignor is also played by a woman. This is a very sexy play, featuring a man practically suffocating in a phantasmagoria of female arms and legs and psyches that envelop him.
Guido is nicely played by MTS regular Jonathan Gallegos, who has a gorgeous singing voice. Courtney Awe, who also has a beautiful voice, is effective as the exasperated wife, especially during her emotional rendition of “Be on Your Own.”
Another highlight is the duet between Claudia and Guido, “A Man like You.” Christine Smith plays Claudia with pained reserve, drawn to the man she knows she cannot have — at least not in the way she wishes — and more devoted to her career than romantic entanglements.
This show is catapulted to the highest level by the outstanding performance of Kir Kipness, in her first role with MTS. The sultry brunette plays Carla, the passionate lover clamoring for Guido’s attention. Besides being a first-rate actor, Kipness has a supple and expressive vocal instrument.
Wendie and Mike Cutcher’s abstract set resembles a giant projector and roll of film with movie screens along the back wall while Shannon Scheffler’s costume, hair and makeup design nicely captures the early 1960s. While no dialect coach is listed in the program, the Italian accents never strain credulity.
“Nine” is playing through Aug. 26 at Musical Theatre Southwest, 6320 Domingo NE Albuquerque. For reservations go to musicaltheatresw.com or call 265-9119.