‘Only a Kingdom’: Pretty Little Musical About Abdication

Judith Shubow Steir is enamored with the love affair of Edward VIII and Wallis Warfield Simpson. Steir’s rose-colored musical “Only a Kingdom,” which opened Sunday at the Pasadena Playhouse, makes the celebrity lovebirds who became the Duke and Duchess of Windsor after he gave up the British throne for her in 1936 clear-cut heroes.

The show’s key lyric, used to cement the liaison in the first act and to clinch marriage in the second act, is this ungainly sentiment: “If a lifetime were only a moment/All is love.” Presumably, true romantics can figure out exactly what that means.

Not for Steir any of the ambivalence that enlivened “Evita,” another musical about romance at the top. In the program, Steir acknowledges that many “have written nasty words about the Duke and Duchess of Windsor,” but not her. She relied on testimony of the couple’s servants and friends and on photos in which “their body language revealed a deep compatibility.” This attitude may help Steir write a nice Valentine’s Day card, but it doesn’t enhance a musical.

Without some of the complicating details about these characters, without any harsh words exchanged between them, their story is innocuous.

The title suggests, perhaps ironically, that Edward sacrificed “only a kingdom”--and in fact Steir’s Edward realizes that the king has no real power. He displays no relish for his job and shows up late for royal duties. So when the twice-married socialite Wallis--painted as simply charming, without any cunning--appears, what has Edward got to lose? Certainly not his royal income or he seems to understand, without a word being said about it.

A British audience might retain a vestigial sense of the importance of remaining royal, but for Americans--who are inclined to root for their fellow American Wallis and who overwhelmingly took Diana’s side as she defied British royalty--Edward’s dilemma doesn’t look all that difficult.

True, Steir refers to more provocative wrinkles in this story, but so fleetingly that they hardly matter. When mobs demonstrate for Edward’s continued reign, we hear a warning about fascism, but it’s baffling without the explanation that English fascists did in fact see the abdication crisis as a possible avenue to power, with Edward as their proposed figurehead. Later we hear a token line about how Edward’s “naivete” would lead him and Wallis to socialize with Hitler in 1937. But it’s spoken by someone we hardly know, before Edward even abdicates. If this development were mentioned in its chronological place, it would have made the ending thornier--something Steir obviously didn’t want.

Steir uses a framing device in which American society columnist Elsa Maxwell tells the main story at a 1953 party, as the guests watch the coronation of Elizabeth II on TV. Maybe this is supposed to further Americanize our perspective, but it also inflates Maxwell’s role in the affair and leads to contrived musical numbers, including the second act opener (which has some garbled lyrics) and a later, cornier song in which Maxwell tries to cheer up Wallis.

Steir’s score is best as the couple woos each other during a collage that blends several soirees. But most of the melodies are stubbornly formulaic and the lyrics even worse. Still, it’s enjoyable to hear a live pit band at the playhouse.

Former “Forever Plaid” star Stan Chandler, playing the prince-king-duke, floats effortlessly between registers when he sings, and adopts impressively royal cadences in his speaking voice. He has the right welterweight build and an easy smile--it would be great to see him play the role in a better musical. The same can be said for Kaitlin Hopkins as Wallis--she’s adept at flirting and later at worrying whether she’s doing the right thing; she sings well, and she’s beautifully draped by Diana Eden. Any hint of actual sex between the famous characters is kept strictly under wraps.

The rest of director Scott Schwartz’s cast seem more or less frozen in their stereotypes, though James Joy’s gleaming and versatile set provides ample room for thawing.

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(Only a Kingdom)

* “Only a Kingdom,” Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Ave. Tuesdays-Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 5 and 9 p.m.; Sundays, 2 and 7 p.m. Ends Dec. 20. $13.50-$42.50. (800) 233-3123. Running time: 2 hours, 45 minutes.

Stan Chandler: Edward

Kaitlin Hopkins: Wallis Simpson

Mary Pat Gleason: Elsa Maxwell

Jack Ritschel: King George V/News Dealer

Christopher Callen: Bessie Merryman

Peter Schmidt: Ernest Simpson

John Connolly: Welsh Miner/Winston Churchill

Tom Knickerbocker: Stanley Baldwin

Kevin Burns: Bertie

Jennifer Gordon: Elizabeth/Nightclub Singer

David Parker: Archbishop of Canterbury

Hap Lawrence: George, Lord Bellimore

Chad Borden: Simon Palmsy

Mark Allen Reugg: Baldwin’s Secretary/Sailor

Leslie Stevens: Lady Thelma Furness

Book, music and lyrics by Judith Shubow Steir. Directed by Scott Schwartz. Music supervisor-arranger-orchestrator Peter Mansfield. Musical director-additional vocal arrangements James Vukovich. Choreographer Daniel Stewart. Set by James Joy. Costumes by Diana Eden. Lighting by Michael Gilliam. Sound by Jon Gottlieb-Philip G. Allen. Production stage manager Jill Johnson Gold.