Singing John Malkovich strikes a bum note for some

The American movie star is a hit with audiences, though not critics, as he plays the ageing philanderer Casanova in a musical in Vienna, writes DEREK SCALLY

BEING JOHN Malkovich is more fun than you might think. Like this week, when he donned his powdered wig again after two decades to play Casanova to an enthusiastic Viennese audience.

Even better: he sings, too. Malkovich is starring in The Giacomo Variations, a kind of operatic Mamma Mia!,in which an ageing Casanova recounts his exploits as Europe's most notorious lover, occasionally breaking into song. Rather than turning to Björn and Benny, the show's creators helped themselves to the back catalogue of Europe's other favourite composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

It's a suitable match when you consider that the librettist of Don Giovanniand Cosi fan tutte, Lorenzo Da Ponte, was Casanova's confidant. There's just one problem: Malkovich is a talented actor, but he's no singer.

So how does he cope? He does his best with his small, slightly hoarse voice in the song Deh vieni alla finestra, from Don Giovanni, but for most of the evening the baritone Florian Boesch, billed as Casanova II, takes over the musical heavy lifting.

Playing the many women in Casanova’s life are the Lithuanian actress Ingeborga Dapkunaite and the soprano Sophie Klussmann.

Born in 1725 in Venice, Casanova was one of the world’s first celebrities. After a failed attempt at the priesthood he spent his life on the road in Europe, keeping company with kings, popes and countless female admirers.

In his memoirs Casanova admitted that “despite an excellent moral foundation . . . I was all my life the victim of my senses; I have delighted in going astray and I have constantly lived in error”.

Drawing liberally from these memoirs, the evening sees a pensive Malkovich remembering the many women in his life: the love gained and lost; the lovers he forgot about the second after promising he never would; even a 14-year-old girl who, after an affair with him, was locked away in a convent for life.

The role of Casanova sees Malkovich come full circle to the role of the serial seducer that catapulted him to fame in the 1988 film version of Dangerous Liaisons. Now 57, the actor says he was attracted by the idea of playing an ageing Casanova looking back on youthful indiscretions.

"Thank God Casanova is 70 in our piece, as I'd have a big problem trying to play him as an 18-year-old," he told Der Standardnewspaper. "Casanova was someone who just couldn't leave things alone, even when he wasn't successful. He tried it on his entire life. Something was wrong with this man: he was out of balance; too much libido."

Malkovich’s Casanova is a tired, regretful older man who is amazed how, despite thousands of affairs and adventures, he may die alone without having understood the meaning of life.

For the piece’s creators, director Michael Sturminger and conductor Martin Haselbäck, luring the Hollywood star to Vienna’s Ronacher Theatre was a question of artistic merit rather than financial clout. “He earns 10 times more in those advertisements he films in an afternoon than what we are paying,” said Haselbäck. “And we’re not paying him badly by any means.”

The Malkovich magic has ensured the run was sold out before the premiere, on Wednesday, and is thus critic-proof. It’s just as well given the very mixed reviews it got. After Vienna the production transfers to Sydney Opera House before touring Europe in the summer. Casanova probably would have approved of Malkovich’s efforts. As he once remarked: “Time that is given to enjoyment is never lost.”