STAGE REVIEW : ‘Kismet’ Wafts Through With Its Silken Score

It’s good to see “Kismet” again. Rather, it’s good to hear it again. We think of it as an extravaganza, but its sets and costumes weren’t the reason that it ran so long back in the early 1950s, and certainly aren’t the reason to see Opera Pacific’s revival at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

The heart of the show is its silken score, derived from Borodin, and its shameless gags, derived from Bing and Bob: “Call me in the harem if you want me--I’ll be taking inventory.”

One wouldn’t think these elements would go together, but they do, as in old-fashioned operetta. (“Kismet” was originally produced by Civic Light Opera’s Edwin Lester.) There can even be a hint of humorous wisdom at the final curtain. Yes, this was all very silly, and so are most of the things that you, the audience, take so seriously.

It would take a more mature performer than David Chaney to convey that in his final smile, but Chaney nicely carries the star role of the Poet--a two-bit poet trying to find steady work in Old Baghdad, plus a likely husband for his daughter (Beverly Lambert).

The vocal authority and verbal dash fall somewhat short of Alfred Drake’s, but Chaney is on the right playful path. Lambert is appealing, too, and has the gift of a soprano voice that sounds pleasant even when it falls off-key, as it sometimes did Saturday night.

The score, processed from Borodin by Robert Wright and George Forrest, approaches opera, with rather more taste and knowledge than recent Broadway attempts to do the same. “And This Is My Beloved,” for example, begins as a quartet and then solidifies into an aria, and here Lambert wasn’t off-key.

“Kismet” is timeless musically. Where it feels like a 1950s show is in its nightclub “naughtiness.” The girl slaves all have big chests, as do the boy slaves, and choreographer-director Theodore Pappas throws in bumps and grinds for everybody. The dances could be described as being “after Jack Cole”--long after.

It wouldn’t be fair to call the physical production cheesy. (It’s based on a recent Canadian Opera Company staging.) It is a bit skimpy. James Noone’s painted settings make Old Baghdad a city of two dimensions at most, and Michael Stennett’s costumes feature the kind of gold harem pants available (or once available) at Zody’s.

But too lavish a production might smother the score. The voices are good (including Brent Barret’s in “Stranger in Paradise”), and the jokes are awful (especially Avery Saltzman’s as the wicked Wazir), and that’s what “Kismet” is about. Don Jones was the conductor.

KISMET The 1953 musical, presented by Opera Pacific at Segerstrom Hall, Orange County Performing Arts Center. Music and lyrics Robert Wright and George Forrest (based on themes of Alexander Borodin). Book Charles Lederer and Luther Davis (based on the play by Edward Knoblock). Director-choreographer Theodore Pappas. Conductor Don Jones. Set James Noone. Costumes Michael Stennett. Lighting Marilyn Rennagel. Production stage manager Peggy Imbrie. Makeup and hair design Elsen Associates. With Matthew J. Scully, Paul Grant, Scott T. Hoffman, Joseph Paur, Kit Wilson, Thom Keane, Curt Booker, Michael Vodde, Curtis Cole, David Koch, Whit Vernon, David Chaney, Beverly Lambert, Alan M-L, Daniel Costa, Joseph R. McKee, Robert E. Lauder Jr., Lee Henry, Doug Carfrae, LaRue Palmer, Avery Saltzman, Kim Criswell, Marci Kunin, Piper Lee Vaughan, Jacqueline Stoerger, Constance Houghton-Day, Roberta Mathes, Rowena Modesto, Daniel Costa, Joseph R. McKee, Bernice Brightbill, Brent Barrett, Eugenia Hamilton, Kimberly Allman, Curt Booker, Jack Grubisch, Constance Houghton-Day, Alison Logan, Grant Norman, Maryjo Theresa Palencia, Cass Powell, Erica Rose, Jacqueline Stoerger, Ann Winkowski, Suzanna Zonis. Plays Thursdays-Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 7:30 p.m., with Saturday-Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. Additional performance at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 17. Closes Feb. 21. Tickets $15-$45. 600 Town Center Drive; (714) 553-0699 or (800) 34-OPERA.