Peter Martin, Joseph Barry, and Laurence Pierron present White Christmas at the Triad: A celebration of the life and music of Irving Berlin
Adrienne Haan, chanteuse; Bart Shatto, vocalist
Richard Danley, Music Director/Piano; Melanie LaPatin, Choreographer; Laurence Pierron, Original Idea
Triad Theater, New York, NY
December 5, 2019
I have reviewed Adrienne Haan several times in these pages- always with great pleasure. She is known as a performer with a flair for decadent Weimar-era cabaret and the like (Brecht/Weill), as well as many other eclectic international programs. On this occasion, she featured an entertaining and educational primer through a tiny fraction of the songs of a fellow adopted American: Irving Berlin. It takes a truly secure performer to share her stage with a partner, in this case the excellent Broadway and television star Bart Shatto.
Thirty-three songs and a built-in encore made for a generous evening, one that I feared would prove too long, however, the patter was engaging and concise, and some of the songs were given a mere “taste” and joined attacca to the following song(s), which allowed the pace to move forward.
The ultimate immigrant success story, Berlin wrote over 1500 songs, 20 musicals, and 15 movie scores. He was also his own lyricist. He never learned to read music, and had a transposing piano to move his songs from the black keys to which he confined himself. A startling coincidence was made in juxtaposing Ms. Haan, a native of Luxembourg, with Berlin’s long-time home on Manhattan’s luxurious Beekman Place, which once belonged to Navy and Defense secretary James V. Forrestal, and today serves as the consulate of . . . Luxembourg.
The evening was divided into groups corresponding to Berlin’s iconic work: immigration themes, military songs (both world wars), musicals, Hollywood, love songs, and holiday songs. Only one transition I found rather jarring: after Ms. Haan and Mr. Shatto explained that the Berlins’ only son, Irving Jr., died at age three weeks on Christmas Day 1928, they segued right into Happy Holidays performed with absolutely no irony whatsoever. All this says, I suppose, is what the entire show tells us, that Berlin’s music is truly optimistic at all times. There is no cynicism in it. He was genuinely patriotic, even to the point of writing “propaganda” songs for the Federal government about income tax and the armed forces.
Ms. Haan and Mr. Shatto showed charming chemistry with each other, and distributed quite evenly through the duos were solos for each of them. Ms. Haan’s skills are well-known to New Yorkers by now, and she shimmied her way through standards and lesser-known material with consummate ease. To a great extent, Mr. Shatto showed a certain American “corn-fed” quality even better than she did.
Standouts from this crowded song list were: Ofyn Pripetchik (the only number not by Berlin), tenderly sung by Ms. Haan; Oh How I Hate To Get Up In The Morning, I Paid My Income Tax Today, The Hostess With The Mostes’ On The Ball, You’re Just In Love, Mr. Shatto’s brilliant voice in How Deep Is The Ocean, and Haan’s comedic Falling Out Of Love Can Be Fun.
An all-Berlin evening could have easily become one-dimensional, but these talented folks ensured that that didn’t happen. We could use another Berlin today, indeed “God Bless America.”
