Alan Jay Lerner - Coco (1970 Original Broadway Cast)

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Free Music Notes for Coco (1970 Original Broadway Cast)

Free Music Review: A Broadway Musical Come Back To Life!
Hit: 5 Stars

Starring the legendary Katharine Hepburn (perfectly cast as the witty, fiercely independent "Coco" Chanel), and a supporting cast including Rene Auberjonois, David Holliday, Gale Dixon, and George Rose, this seven-time-Tony-nominated show (two-time winner) is a mix of glossy, bouncy, moving, and fun songs from start to finish.

Circa 1953. The revered fashion designer Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, having been in retirement for fifteen years, is ready to stage the comeback of a lifetime, feeling that the current fashion "world belongs to the young". She stages the comeback with the aid of a model, Noelle (Dixon), her attorney (Rose), and the nuisance of a seething fashion "expert" (Auberjonois). Although the comeback is badly received in Paris, the new collection becomes a smash in America. Chanel has conquered the fashion world all over again.

The songs are wonderful: Hepburn's indignant refusal to be trounced on by other designers ("The World Belongs to the Young") is most amusing. Her memories of being a courtesan ("Mademoiselle Cliche de Paris On The Corner Of The Rue Cambon") is a pungent smirk of a song. The score's best (and most hilarious) number, "The Money Rings Out Like Freedom" has Chanel reviewing her past innovations: costume jewelery, pants for women, and the little black dress. ("Alex gone... what a shame... what a hit that dress became!") Hepburn is very moving as Chanel remembers her childhood, the father who left her to fend for herself, which struck a spark in her to always be independent. But Hepburn probably has her greatest emotional arc in "Always Mademoiselle", beginning the song bemoaning the fact that her career has denied her the happiness of marriage and motherhood, but finally, with an unwarranted burst of triumph, she declares, "Right or wrong, I'm glad to be- GABRIELLE- CHANEL!"

Other players are not slighted: Dixon has a charming wisp of a song: "A Brand New Dress", and Auberjonois shines with his delicious "Fiasco". Holliday has one good number, the quiet "Let's Go Home", and one not-quite-describable number, "A Woman Is How She Loves", which just seems to go all over the place. Hepburn and a cast of four American salesman have a lot of fun with the cleverly funny "Orbach's, Bloomingdale's, Best & Saks". The music of Andre Previn in this show is absolutely beautiful, and is very charming ear candy. The lyrics of Alan Jay Lerner are a tad sophisticated on first listening, but are more appreciated on second listening.

Maybe it was ahead of its time, or maybe it's Hepburn's incantory singing that turns some people off, but make no mistake about it: Broadway afficionados, Hepburn fans, and curiosity listeners will all delight to the sparkling wit, charismatic charm and magic of "Coco", one of Broadway's great forgotten treasure chests.

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