Recent Listening: The Apple Tree
I remember seeing a high school performance of The Apple Tree while I was in high school. At that impressionable age when I was discovering the wonders of Broadway. It left practically no impression on me. Well, I saw it starring Brian Haliski, not Alan Alda, so perhaps that’s understandable. Wikipedia explains: This musical is popular for high school productions because of its ease of presentation.
And also because it’s mild and inoffensive. My junior year (1972) the Drama teacher tried to stage Cabaret. It was the bowdlerized Broadway version, not the Liza Minnelli film … but that’s another story.
Listening to the songs, I keep asking myself: why these three stories? Is there supposed to be some common thread? Bless Wikipedia’s heart: I never would’ve guessed: someone who believes that they want something, but once they get what they wanted they realize that it wasn't what they wanted. This is evident in “Passionella,” (Jules Feiffer) the third story. The other two are Mark Twain’s “Diary of Adam and Eve” and “The Lady or the Tiger?”
From the songs, the show seems a bit pedestrian. The Bock and Harnick songs were written by two of the best in the business. The only memorable tune that struck me from high school was “Beautiful, Beautiful World.” Most of the songs are listenable if not memorable. In “Lady of the Tiger” the narrator gets a bit old, explaining character motivations for those of us who might not get the plot. Several songs are very good; in two cases, aligning with the act’s dramatic highlight.
It's a Fish - the main comic piece from the Adam and Eve story. They have a baby; since Adam and Eve are the first humans in the world, Adam tries to puzzle out what this creature is.
Which Door? - I’d call this an operetta-style song for the way it tells the story: three characters wonder which door to pick. The woman sees terror or jealousy; the man imagines sudden death or guilt; and it builds the tension.
You Are Not Real - again, this song highlights the punch line: Passionella has gotten her wish of being a glamorous movie star, only to find that movie stars are out of vogue, and what she used to be is now considered gorgeous. The song is a country-western parody - you could even say it’s sung in the study of Tom Jones doing “What’s New Pussycat?”