IF ONLY
IF ONLY
A New Musical
Based on a
Balzac Classic
By Matthew Goldsby
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‘IF ONLY’ Script Sample
(pdf)
IF ONLY – Audio Clip #1
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IF ONLY – Audio Clip #2
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A CurtainUp Los Angeles Review
If Only
Balzac’s tragedy, Pere Goriot, would seem slim pickings for a musical. But in the hands of composer/librettist Matthew Goldsby, who has a gift for structure and a wonderful way with a libretto, the full colors of the author’s Human Comedy emerge.
Goldsby opens the show with the sorrowful figure of Goriot mourning his distant daughters. However, the emphasis quickly shifts to fellow boarder and law student Eugene, a delicious and naïve young man new to Paris, whose head is quickly turned when he meets his beautiful cousin Anastasie, Goriot’s oldest daughter, at a ball. The plot revolves around Eugene’s infatuation with Anastasie and subsequently her sister Delphine, and the financial desperation that leads to his asking his mother for her life savings. Subplots involve Old Goriot’s desperate efforts to retrieve his daughters’ dowries (and love), Eugene’s tender relationship with young Victorine a fellow boarding house resident and the villainous Vautrin. Torn between two beauties as well as between love and honor, Eugene comes of age with a bang.
Social climbing and financial compulsion are as prevelant today as they were in 19th century France. The callousness of children towards their parents is a theme Balzac repeats twice, first through Goriot’s daughters, then through Eugene himself. Balzac was a lawyer (as is Matthew Goldsby) and very clearly defined the legal restrictions and possibilities of the social scene.
The music is well integrated into the book. Songs don’t stick out like officious thumbs. They range from a wonderfully raunchy can-can to the slyly humorous “Wits With Us” to delicate ballads like “I Can Tell” and the solid curtain number, “Carry On.”
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LA WEEKLY says
“… The adaptation intelligently blends farcical elements of French comedy with the dark melodrama, taking the audience through the elegant music …”
REVIEWPLAYS.COM says
“…If you’re looking for a story that revels in the reaffirmation of timeless values while sticking it (humorously) to those who are only out for money, If Only is a show to see.”
VARIETY says
“… Goldsby’s musical always engages audience interest.”
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‘If Only’ Production Photos
Photography by Jim Hagopian
