‘Can-Can’ Can Too

In F. Kathleen Foley’s review of the Long Beach Civic Light Opera’s production of “Can-Can” (“ ‘Can-Can’ Can’t in Long Beach Civic Light Opera Performance,” Jan. 9), she tries to rationalize her ageist and sexist statement about Gretchen Wyler being too old to play Simone Pistache by writing that “. . . in light of the time period in which the show is set, the age disparity is jarring.”

If Foley had read her history, she would know that during the 19th Century, older women/younger men liaisons were very common. David Thome’s casting is guilty only of being historically accurate.

Moreover, the reviewer may have had a problem with the age difference, but, judging from the audience’s reaction, the problem was hers alone. My own group of friends, ranging from ages 7 to 39, ages that perhaps might have cared, didn’t. Why? One reason is, to use Foley’s own words, “Wyler has a throaty-voiced authority and charm that is undeniable.” She’s also an attractive, sexy woman. So a match with a younger man, (in this case, Jeffrey Rockwell, who was born to sing Cole Porter) or a man of any age, would be believable. And, certainly, the audience thought so.

Another reason is because older women/younger men relationships do not take place only, as Foley suggests, “in the best of all possible worlds” but in our world and probably among one’s own set of friends. Turn on the television, it’s the topic of talk shows, entertainment news, sitcom episodes, interviews with Cher and, soon, no doubt, an infomercial. Better yet, turn off the television and read. It’s the subject of newspaper and magazine articles, sociological studies, poetry, entire books of both fiction and nonfiction. Older women/younger men relationships are common. It’s reactions like Foley’s that, fortunately, are uncommon.

The original script by Abe Burrows is dated, flawed and boring. Its sleep-inducing power rivals that of prescription drugs. It’s not that Tracy Lore lacks the “comic edge” to play Claudine but that there’s no comic edge with which to work. And this is true of most of the characters Burrows created. It is to their credit that David Thome and the cast enhanced the original play by adding new lines and scenes, creating comic bits and giving enthusiastic performances that made a snore of a musical into a funny and pleasurable evening . . . for most of us.

JAN ROBERTS

Mission Viejo