While stage musical styles range from comedy to tragedy, many casual fans will be more familiar with the former style. For those souls, the air of tragedy that runs through
Bernarda Alba will be suffocating: this is a dark musical that begins and ends tragically. Based on The House of Bernarda Alba by Federico García Lorca, the play has been converted to musical status by
Michael John LaChiusa.
LaChiusa is known for works such as First Lady Suite and
Marie Christine, musicals that concentrate on women's lives. In this sense,
Bernarda Alba follows suit. After the death of her cheating husband, Alba is determined to protect her five daughters from other unscrupulous men; indeed, from all men. Add to this volatile mix a senile mother and a suitor who is attached to one daughter but also loved by the other four, and you have a situation ripe for emotive songs. The able cast is headed by
Phylicia Rashad as Alba and filled out by Sandra Santiago, Judith Blazer, Sally Murphy,
Daphne Rubin-Vega, and Nikki M. James as the sisters. The music exploits the Spanish setting, though becomes, thanks to the overall dark mood, overpowering by the tragic close. Fans of the musical will certainly want a copy of the soundtrack. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr.