Under the direction of Rupert Goold and with a book by Conor McPherson, the work that evolved is a popular music star's latest excursion into the world of show tunes, and one that rightly deserves the adjective ” distinctive”. For “Cold War” is a fascinating hybrid, built not only from new Costello melodies, but also from existing Costello songs, as well as from the traditional Polish folk music that figures in the plot.
“I think it's important to remember that music is in balance,” Costello said in an interview. “It’s a play supported by music, and the music is part of the story. But it's not a musical. So music is no more important than any other element – overall as essential, I suppose, as lighting or costumes.
Despite Costello's insistence, “Cold War” – currently playing at London's Almeida Theatre, stars Anya Chalotra and Luke Thallon as the singularly talented Polish country girl and the choir director who falls in love with her – is a musical comedy. It’s just not a musical that’s done in a traditional way. Which is part of a theatrical form concerned with conventions, but also always in search of remaking itself.
“So it's a mix of Polish music from the film, Polish music not from the film, including new music rediscovered and remade by a modern Polish rock-folk band,” Goold said, sitting in the offices of Almeida in Islington. “Then there are the songs that Elvis wrote in response to the film. And then there's a little bit of Elvis' catalog, and then a little bit of what he wrote for the show.
Given the eclectic inspirations of the 69-year-old musician's career, “Cold War” sounds like exactly the kind of musical Costello would be a part of. Whether it will enter the entertainment mainstream remains to be seen. The London critics were admiring, if measured: in the London edition of Time Out, Andrzej Lukowski, who gave it 4 stars out of 5, wrote that it was funnier and longer than the film, “with a quality magnificently tired night replacing the dazzling black.” and white cinematography.
Recording artists' interest in repurposing their music for theater continues on both sides of the Atlantic. Alicia Keys recently debuted her autobiographical musical “Hell's Kitchen” at the Public Theater on Broadway, with a Broadway transfer confirmed for the spring. And at Washington's Arena Stage, the Avett Brothers bolstered their theatrical fortunes with a well-received montage of “Swept Away,” featuring John Gallagher Jr. and Stark Sands, with music from the group's rich songbook.
None of them strictly conform to the genre of jukebox music, which most often attaches flimsy showbiz stories to the catalogs of rock and folk bands and singers. The added depth of a “Cold War” adaptation seemed predestined with the signing of Goold, a celebrated British director who directs the Almeida, and McPherson, a playwright who adapted Bob Dylan's music for the hit musical from Broadway's “Girl From the North.” Country.”
“This whole series is partly due to the spark of Elvis, who connected with the film and contacted the filmmakers to talk about it,” McPherson said. “And you know, you realize that Elvis, over the last couple of decades, wrote songs that fit into the very traditional, old-fashioned tradition of songwriting, I think going back to the Gershwins and Cole Porter, that few pop stars do.”
Once McPherson understood this, he realized how meaningful the story's melodic threads could be. “I was like, ‘Oh, I see. Okay, so we can have Polish folk music, and then as they move into the Jazz Age and move to Paris, Elvis songs can definitely flourish.
With Pawlikowski's blessing, the stage adaptation closely follows the plot of the film, which was nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Director and Best Foreign Language Film. It traces the meeting of Zula de Chalotra and Wiktor de Thallon in post-World War II Poland, while auditioning singers for a choir founded to highlight indigenous Polish music and the propaganda of the socialist government . The story, which follows the couple to the West, is a microcosm of the tragedy of a Poland plunged into poverty and paranoia.
For Costello, being a cog in a theater production has been invigorating. “It’s a great experience,” he said, and quite different from the kind of performances he’s staged so far. “I recently did a 10-night stand in New York, and I did a different set every night, because I wanted each night to have a different vibe. So I don't have a lot of theater experience, but because I'm performing that night, it's kind of a drama.
And discovering that something he wrote years ago could illuminate the drama in a new way – especially in such a collaborative project – is exciting in itself.
“It doesn’t worry me at all, even if a song disappears from a scene,” he said. “Because, as I say, the important thing is the whole and the cohesion of the story. »
Cold War, music by Elvis Costello, book by Conor McPherson, based on the film by Pawel Pawlikowski. Directed by Rupert Goold. Until January 27 at the Almeida Theater in London. almeida.fr.