12:27pm Wednesday 24th March 2004
By Christine van Emst
The Carl Rosa Company is touring with a vibrant, new production of Franz Lehr's operetta The Merry Widow.
Keen to breathe new life into the sometimes stuffy and snobbish idea of opera, the Carl Rosa Company is dedicated to making opera universal and appealing to everyone. Carl Rosa Company's artistic director Peter Mulloy believes that audiences can often be put off by the word opera' and says this production is "more like Cabaret meets My Fair Lady".
By uniting the two separate worlds of opera and musical theatre he hopes that barriers can be broken down and the audience can simply sit back and enjoy the theatrical experience. Lehr's operetta has been translated by Jeremy Sams into English from German for even better understanding.
With this ground-breaking direction, it is therefore appropriate that the company chose to present a work by composer Franz Lehr who was also keen to be innovative and was certainly ahead of his time.
The plot of Merry Widow is as relevant today as it was when it was written 100 years ago. When Lehr first wrote The Merry Widow, it was thought to be so controversial that he was offered 5,000 crowns to burn it! Thankfully he declined.
The Merry Widow is set in Paris in 1912 during the hedonistic, champagne-fuelled days of the Moulin Rouge and Maxims. Hannah, a rich and glamorous widow who wishes to play the dating game, is at the centre of this tale of love, money and betrayal.
The production stars Victor Spinetti, fresh from completing his run at the London Palladium staring as Baron Bomburst in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang; he's straight into rehearsals for his new role as Baron Zeta. Having cornered the market in barons, he insists however, that he doesn't feel the need for a break.
"When you do a job that you love as much I love mine it's like being on holiday anyway. By playing a character it enables you to take time out from being yourself," he says.
Victor attended a publicity call at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley, for The Merry Widow, and he was soon regaling an enthralled, small audience with his views on life, anecdotes and memories, as well as expressing his faith in this new production.
The Welshman, with an Italian surname he is fiercely proud of, has been in the business for 50 years. His career has been incredibly successful and enjoyable.
As well as numerous stage roles he has also appeared in many film and television productions. However, he confesses that he never actually had a career plan when he set out to become an actor.
Over the years he has worked with a great many famous faces including The Beatles in their films A Hard Day's Night, The Magical Mystery Tour and Help! as well as such screen icons as Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. When talking to Victor he tells many fascinating stories about these stars but never in a way in which you feel he is name-dropping.
"You know John Lennon and George Harrison came over to me on the set of A Hard Day's Night and said Vic we want you to be in all our films, is that okay?' That was a fabulous time for me. The 60s was a fantastic era, full of new ideas," he recalls.
Talking about fellow Welshman Richard Burton he says: "He was such a lovely man, so generous, funny and he told some great stories. Whenever I saw him he would always ask how I was and say Are you alright for money?' as he knew how hard it was for an actor to get work sometimes. He and Elizabeth (Taylor) were so perfect for each other, it's sad how it all ended for them.
"Richard told me it was hard to make it as a Welsh actor, in his beautiful, rich, cultured voice. People always need to see you playing Hamlet before they can take you seriously,' he told me."
At the start of Victor's career he was advised by certain prospective agents to change his Italian surname to get more work. But Victor would never consider this. "
"My grandfather walked all the way across Europe from Italy to the pits of Wales to find work and he carried that name with him so I would never change it," he says emotionally. So maybe it's not by chance that he sports an authentic, antique miner's scarf.
When offered the chance to star in The Merry Widow, Victor was instantly attracted to the role.
"You know, I can remember when I was little, my mother, who is now 92 bless her, singing Vilia, oh Vilia!' from the show while she made the beds upstairs."
Victor is clearly incredibly excited about being Baron Zeta.
"I can't sleep at night; I've got the music running through my head. It's so much better than anything of Andrew Lloyd Webber's, he's only got one song!" he laughs.
He then went off at a tangent to express his surprise at how snobbish the English theatre still is.
"I worked with the RSC for two years and I don't have one funny story to tell. And when I left they said, Oh, you're not going to do panto are you?' That's absolutely true," he adds.
In 1968, Hal Wallace, who was famous for producing many of Bette Davies' films, offered Victor $1million to go to Hollywood. However, Victor was already committed to starring in Oh! What a Lovely War on Broadway and so he turned the opportunity down, a decision he says he never regretted making.
"I find LA boring, everyone eats nothing but lettuce and worries about how big their swimming pools are," he jokes.
But he had the last laugh. His loyalty and commitment to the show was rewarded when he won a Tony award for his performance.
A true professional, as opposed to someone who is just in the industry for the fame, Victor insists that he was never interested in being rich; he's never even owned a wristwatch or driven a car.
"I've just always spent my money on making my life comfortable. I spend money on books, good food and music," he says.
His ethos for life is to give of yourself'.
"If you give out love, and give of your talent, then you get great returns. I started out in life wanting to be a teacher you know, but I think my ideas were too radical at the time," he says on a more serious note.
In this age of Z-list celebrities who are famous for being famous, it's so refreshing to meet a real star.
The Merry Widow is at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley, from March 27 to April 3, (to book call 0870 060 6620) and at the New Wimbledon Theatre from April 27 to May 1. To book call 0870 060 6646.
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