Masquerade

The concept recording of Wuthering Heights was the first to be given a full page review in Masquerade, an honor that has been bestowed on but a handful of releases. The decision by Silva Screen to utilize part of that review in their publicity material for the record - I was rather taken back to find Masquerade quoted in Tower Records glossy U.S. magazine PULSE - meant that I always had a special fondness for it and was disappointed to hear nothing of either Wuthering Heights or its writer Bernard J. Taylor for sometime thereafter. But the release in 1993 of Success, quickly followed by a Claire Moore set, brought Bernard back into the limelight .

Great writers of stage music have always proved themselves to be versatile. Take Sondheirn. It is hard to believe that one composer could produce the likes of Follies, Pacific Overtures, Forum and Assassins. Or Lloyd Webber - Evita to Cats to Starlight to Phantom. Or Kander and Ebb - well you get the idea. In the light of the favorable reaction it received it would have been more than easy for Taylor to follow Wuthering Heights with another show in that same grand scale, but instead he quickly showed his credentials by heading in a totally different direction and in doing so came up with another admirable piece of work.

Success is a modern telling of the Faust story, set on Broadway where a struggling song writer sells his soul to the satanic Cedric E. De Ville, a manipulating agent. The result is an entertaining work that delivers its own message while gently poking fun at the genre of backstage musicals championed by A Chorus Line.

The music has been described as pop but that is off the beam. It is certainly not traditional show music but is peppy rather than poppy, making good use of a variety of rhythms.

The effervescent "Reaching The Top" links a score that is punctuated by a series of amusing interventions by de Ville (played by Lon Satton) who, with a wonderful dark voice, milks to the full the inherent cynicism in Bernard's lyrics - "if you've got no talent, that's no cause for shame, because we can fix it all in the marketing game".

The introduction to Claire Moore is equally clever with her insisting that she just an "Ordinary Girl" - "I'm the daughter of an ordinary millionaire, from a mansion up town Bel Air; it's a mansion that was once owned by Fred Astaire, and we had a musical wing, where I learned how to sing". Miss Moore carries the weight of the vocal chores and is given some quality ballads into the bargain.

The central role of the songwriter is perfect for Maurice Clarke while the fourth member of the main quartet is Kathryn Evans who smolders through the slinky "Gimmie Me Some Trust".

Success is full of splendid material and is loads of fun. It may not be another Wuthering Heights but then again it in turn is no Success.