Bernstein’s score invokes Broadway and Copland, and a Greek chorus of three sings in the style of old radio jingles. The composer’s libretto is in everyday English: “This coffee is burned!’’ “Make it yourself!’’ Baritone Stephen Salters delivered powerfully as the husband, and his voice seemed better suited to the conversational tone than that of mezzo soprano Sandra Piques Eddy as the wife. She was touching in her sadness, though, and their duets hit hard.
The second piece was a solo turn for Tony winner Judy Kaye. Lee Hoiby’s 1985 “Bon Appétit!’’ sets the actual dialogue from an early 1960s Julia Child WGBH cooking show on chocolate cake to a jaunty score. In apron and pearls, Kaye evoked Child’s sing-song voice on lines like “Every good kitchen should have cream of tartar,’’ and her gung-ho cooking style while cracking eggs and running a blender.
Music director, conductor, and Bernstein friend Susan Davenny Wyner drew sympathetic performances from a 15-piece ensemble. Scott Edmiston stage-directed “Tahiti,’’ while David Green did “Bon Appétit!’’
Kaye closed out the evening with an encore, singing Bernstein’s “Lucky to Be Me’’ from “On the Town.’’ It was a nice, tie-it-all-together closer. Still, the two main pieces fit together oddly. The 45-minute “Tahiti’’ is ambitious. “Bon Appétit!’’ is a trifle; at just 20 minutes, it was shorter than the intermission. Those in attendance, though, seemed to enjoy everything they were served.
Joel Brown can be reached at jbnbpt@gmail.com.
