You're STILL Arguing About The Sanctity of Marriage?

For centuries, marriage was considered a business transaction in which a woman was treated as chattel. Over time, the fantasy that "Some Day My Prince Will Come" has lost a great deal of its cultural weight. Watching 1934's cartoon entitled "Pastry Town Wedding" reveals (long before the Bridezilla phenomenon was born) just how delusional some wedding dreams turned out to be.


In 1947, when Annie Get Your Gun premiered on Broadway, audiences had a good laugh when Ethel Merman sang "You Can't Get A Man With A Gun." But in 1966, when the Music Theatre of Lincoln Center revived the beloved musical for a special summer engagement, Irving Berlin wrote a new duet for Annie Oakley and Frank Butler. The following clip from 2001 shows Reba McEntire and Brett Barrett singing "An Old Fashioned Wedding."


Directed and co-produced by Rob Reiner, 1987's The Princess Bride featured Peter Cook as "An Impressive Clergyman" with a speech defect who struggles to make it through the wedding ceremony.


In 2013, actor John Barrowman explained to fans at Dragon Con some of the extremely pragmatic reasons why it was critical for him to be able to marry his husband, Scott Gill.


One might think that, following the Supreme Court's 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges (which affirmed same-sex marriage in the United States), most people would have come to terms with the legality of a new reality. The sad truth, however, is that old habits and traditional values die hard.


After the Hallmark Channel aired an ad for Zola, the proverbial shit hit the fan. Obviously triggered and unwilling to accept the fact that there are all kinds of families, the conservative group One Million Moms called for a boycott (the Hallmark Channel subsequently pulled the ad).


Say what you want about traditional family values, reports such as "TV Reporter Catches Her Boyfriend Cheating On Her Thanks To His Own Fitbit" and "Preying on Teens: More Than 100 Southern Baptist Youth Pastors Convicted or Charged in Sex Crimes" don't justify the kind of blatant hypocrisy that paints heterosexual marriage as the end-all and be-all of romantic relationships.

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As part of its December 7 mini-festival (A Day of Silents), the San Francisco Silent Film Festival offered a screening of Ernst Lubitsch’s 1924 silent film entitled The Marriage Circle. Based on Lothar Schmidt’s play (Only A Dream) with a screenplay written by Paul Bern, the action takes place in Vienna where roaming eyes, lusting loins, and cheatin’ hearts lead to a string of infidelities among supposedly devoted husbands and wives. As in many romantic comedies, The Marriage Circle focuses on strained relationships in which at least one spouse's attention is fixated on someone outside their marriage.

• Professor Josef Stock (Adolph Menjou) has grown increasingly frustrated with the petulant behavior of his wife, Mizzie (Marie Prevost), and has reached the point where he yearns to be rid of her.
• Mizzie, however, has her eyes set on Dr. Franz Braun (Monte Blue), who recently married Mizzie’s friend, Charlotte (Florence Vidor). After Professor Stock hires a detective (Harry Myers) to follow Mizzie, he gets news that could pave a path to freedom from an unhappy marriage.

Adolph Menjou (Professor Shock) and Marie Prevost as his
wife, Marie, in a scene from 1924's The Marriage Circle

• The problem is that, having suspected that her husband is being unfaithful, Charlotte has simultaneously been encouraging Mizzie to pursue the object of her desire without realizing that Mizzie is "the other woman” threatening Charlotte’s marriage.
• Meanwhile, Braun is flattered and utterly confused by Mizzie’s attention while his business partner, Dr. Gustav Mueller (Creighton Hale), has been pining for Charlotte.

Florence Vidor (Charlotte) and Monte Blue as her confused
husband, Dr. Braun, in a scene from The Marriage Circle

In his article entitled “The Masters’ Master: Ernst Lubitsch and The Marriage Circle,” Joseph McBride stressed that:

“The Lubitsch Touch is about laughter, but it is also about character and the endlessly inventive and fresh ways the director found to tell stories. Lubitsch’s method was an intricate blend of unexpected vantage points, character interactions, and surprising uses of the camera and soundtrack. Part of his rare directorial skill was his respect for the audience’s intelligence; he lets us participate in filling in his ellipses. He enables us to follow the complex thought processes and emotional interchanges among his characters, but what happens onscreen is only part of it. The rest is happening in the minds and hearts of the spectators. Montage asks spectators to close the ellipses between shots and complete the pattern in their heads, so it is no coincidence that Lubitsch would use it so eloquently. He managed to celebrate such continental and un-American virtues as the joys of adultery and serial philandering while depicting marriage in a far more realistic and nuanced vein than Hollywood was accustomed to doing in a time when even married couples had to sleep in separate beds onscreen. With infinite variety and the most subtly nuanced gradations of wit and emotion, his films offer a benign but sharply observed code of humanistic behavior that challenges social convention.”

Poster art for 1924's The Marriage Circle

“Lubitsch’s direction, his orchestration of the characters and the significant objects they handle, is an intellectual game with the audience. While subverting traditional moralism, he made morality plays about sexuality and romance, concentrating on ethical issues such as infidelity and commitment and the fostering of equality and mutual respect. Lubitsch is able to convey complex meanings and innuendos with dazzlingly economical strokes of camera work and editing. The Marriage Circle is an intricate roundelay of marital fidelity and infidelity that served as the principal model for the romantic comedy genre. Seldom has a film been so influential (this is the film that, as Renoir put it, ‘invented the modern Hollywood’). Suddenly appearing on American screens was the truth about modern marriage, its messy complications and many compromises, its blend of sincerity and deceitfulness, its seriousness and absurdity, its tacit need to look the other way to survive.”

Marie Prevost as the petulant Mizzie Stock
in a scene from 1924's The Marriage Circle

With accompaniment by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, The Marriage Circle offered a master class in subtlety. Watching Adolph Menjou's facial muscles slowly relax into a grateful smile as he realized that his wife had been caught cheating on him was an exquisite moment to watch onscreen. As Charlotte, Florence Vidor was remarkably cool as she learned that Mizzie had been threatening the happiness of her marriage. Monte Blue delivered a wonderful portrait of a man of integrity who found himself easily manipulated by his colleague's bored wife. The laughs keep coming, but you can experience them yourself in the following video.

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Since their publication in the early 1800s, Jane Austen's novels have been translated into numerous languages and developed a devoted international following. A new musical adaptation of 1813's Pride and Prejudice recently received its world premiere in Palo Alto from TheatreWorks Silicon Valley.


This musical got its start during TWSV's 2018 New Works Festival and, as a highlight of the company's 50th season, marks the 70th world premiere to be produced by TWSV. While Pride and Prejudice also marks the sixth collaboration between composer Paul Gordon and director Robert Kelley, it celebrates a nearly 20-year-long relationship between the company and composer.

• In 2003, TWSV produced the West Coast premiere of Gordon’s Jane Eyre.
• After including Emma in its 2006 New Works Festival, TWSV produced the musical’s world premiere  -- the company’s 50th -- in August of 2007 (Gordon also wrote the music for TWSV’s 2007 production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night). Due to its immense popularity with audiences, Emma was subsequently revived in 2015.
• In a 2010 co-production with the Rubicon Theatre in Ventura, TWSV presented the world premiere of Daddy Long Legs (which was revived in 2016).
• In 2013, TWSV presented the world premiere of Being Earnest (an updated musical adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s 1895 comedy, The Importance of Being Earnest).

In his program note entitled “Austen’s Independent Women,” Cameron Wells stresses that:

“The world of the Bennets around 1810 afforded women only a fraction of the independence they have today. As the Bennet sisters have no significant inheritance, marriage to a wealthy man offers the greatest chance for security. Under gender-discriminatory property laws, Mr. Bennet’s estate is entailed, or willed, to his nearest male relation. The estate produces a healthy income each year but, should the unwed sisters be turned out, they would be hard-pressed to support themselves. Because the Bennets have no son to inherit their property, distant cousin Mr. Collins is next in line. Once he becomes owner of the property, he may turn out the surviving Bennets at his sole discretion.”

The Bennet sisters (Sharon Rietkerk, Mary Mattison, Melissa
WolfKlain, Chanel Tilghman, and Tara Kostmayer) meet their
their pompous relative, Mr. Collins (Brian Herndon), in a
scene from Pride and Prejudice (Photo by: Kevin Berne)

“As members of the landed gentry, working was out of the question for the Bennets – it would dramatically lower their social status. Moreover, average wages were extremely low at the time, so it would be impossible to maintain anything resembling their current lifestyle. Lizzie Bennet becomes all the more remarkable a character in light of these circumstances. She refuses to marry for convenience, determined to only marry a husband whom she could love and respect. When the self-involved Mr. Collins offers her lifelong stability in lieu of affection, she refuses to compromise. She rejects him even without the confidence that another offer of marriage will come her way.”

Mary Mattison as Elizabeth Bennett in a scene from
Pride and Prejudice (Photo by: Kevin Berne)

With costumes by Fumiko Bielefeldt, lighting by Pamila Z. Gray, and scenic design by Joe Ragey, this new TWSV production looks especially lovely thanks to the way Ragey uses three screens for a series of handsome projections that facilitate quick and easy scene changes. Subject to the desperately determined -- albeit remarkably insensitive -- efforts of their mother (Heather Orth), the Bennet sisters are portrayed by Sharon Rietkerk (Jane), Mary Mattison (Lizzie), Melissa WolfKlain (Mary), Tara Kostmayer (Lydia), and Chanel Tilghman (Kitty).

Appearing in supporting roles are Monique Hafen Adams (Miss Caroline Bingley), Dani Marcus, (Charlotte Lucas), Christopher Vettel (Mr. Bennet), Brian Herndon (doubling as Mr. Collins and Mr. Gardiner), and Sean Fenton (doubling as Captain Denny and Colonel Fitzwilliam). While Travis Leland paints an appealing portrait of the shy and easily manipulated Mr. Bingley, Taylor Crousore makes a strong impression as the studly but fickle Mr. Wickham.

Mary Mattison as the headstrong Elizabeth and Taylor Crousore
as Mr. Wickham in a scene from Pride and Prejudice
(Photo by: Kevin Berne)

In an effort to make the songs for Pride and Prejudice sound more contemporary, two important characters suffer from a horribly misguided artistic choice by the composer. While Justin Mortelliti (as the wealthy Mr. Darcy) and Lucinda Hitchcock Cone (as the haughty Lady Catherine de Bourgh) are extremely competent actors, both artists are victimized by music that has been written beyond their vocal range.

Mary Mattison (Elizabeth) and Lucinda Hitchcock Cone
(Lady Catherine de Bourgh) in a scene from
Pride and Prejudice (Photo by: Kevin Berne)

Although Ms. Cone manages her high notes weakly, Mr. Mortelliti, both vocally and physically, strains to land his top notes. Under normal conditions this problem could have, would have, and should have been solved by either (a) casting other artists who could handle the vocal demands of Gordon's music, or (b) having the composer lower the scoring for their songs by a third (something that is easily accomplished these days with software).

Justin Mortelliti appears as Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice
(Photo by: Kevin Berne)

Despite the best efforts of musical director William Liberatore and sound designer Brendan Aanes, there was no way to camouflage the results of this most unfortunate choice. Perhaps the best way to illustrate it is with a clip from Little Britain that spoofs Shirley Bassey and Tom Jones while employing the same musical signature (a raised fifth) that Gordon incorporates into many of the songs he wrote for Pride and Prejudice.


Performances of Pride and Prejudice continue through January 4, 2020 at the Lucie Stern Theatre in Palo Alto (click here for tickets). Here's the trailer: