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NOT SO "MERRILY WE ROLE ALONG: " SONDHIEM'S ROAD SHOW Review by: Beth M, Dec 1, 2008 |
by Beth Mandelbaum
Calling all musical theater aficionados, Broadway babies and fans of Stephen Sondheim. I implore you—DO NOT MISS ROAD SHOW, now playing at The Public Theater until December 28th. Otherwise, you will probably never have the opportunity to see what sadly may be Mr. Sondheim’s final original musical (though let’s hope that there will be another and another). As in Assassins and Pacific Overtures, Mr. Sondheim has again ... read more collaborated with John Weidman, who wrote the book. Road Show also boasts the continued collaboration between Sondheim and director John Doyle, who did superb work for the recent revivals of Company and Sweeney Todd.
Road Show is a rather dark musical which tells the tales of the adventures and grave misadventures of two brothers, Wilson and Addison Mizner, who are real figures in the history of late 19th and early 20th century America, when our country was perceived as a land of opportunity.
Road Show is not Mr. Sondheim’s best musical, but I have to say that my husband and I loved this “collector’s item” of a show, though I should say that we are both diehard Sondheim fans. Admittedly, it may not be for everyone, but it has a great deal to offer those who would welcome an exposure to one of America’s greatest composers and lyricists, and a noteworthy British director who now has been collaborating with Mr. Sondheim for a number of years. It also offers two of the finest performances gracing our stages at present, those of Michael Cerveris and Alexander Gemignani, both extraordinarily talented veterans of other Sondheim musicals, such as Assassins, Sweeney Todd, and Sunday in the Park with George. They are truly a dream team and not to be missed.
Road Show continues to explore some of the themes of other Sondheim’s other musicals, including an unrelenting drive for the American Dream, often hyped and sold in this musical, in which dreams are achieved by scheming and conning, especially in the case of Wilson; cycles of great fortune followed by losses and failures; ambition; self discovery; losing one’s way on the journey; self destructive behaviors and breaking down.
Another key theme that one finds throughout Sondheim musicals is that of relationships. Road Show explores the complex relationship between the two brothers, who couldn’t have been more different, and, as one observer has pointed out, couldn’t live with each other nor could live without. It also explores, often in very moving ways, the relationship of the brothers with their parents, and also the extremely touching relationship between Addison Mizner and a young man who shares key aspects of his vision and dream, the arts, and who becomes his partner in both senses of the word. And there is a gorgeous song sung between these two men called The Best Thing That Ever Has Happened.
If I had been taken blindfolded to see this musical and had no idea what it was, as soon as the extremely catchy, singular, idiosyncratic and unique music with its very clever and complex lyrics, I would immediately know that I was right in the heart of Sondheim territory. Many of the songs may be heard on the original cast CD of an earlier version of this musical (which has gone through many incarnations before arriving in New York) called Bounce, which opened at Chicago’s Goodman Theater in 1993. It may not be an easy CD to find. I ordered it from amazon.com just in time to play it several times before seeing the show. I have always found that listening to Sondheim music in advance of seeing one of his shows has always added greatly to my enjoyment as his scores can be rather difficult. Actually, I should add that from my first playing of Bounce I found the music and lyrics to be more accessible than some others. In Road Show, some of the songs have been eliminated, some added and others re-worked and revised, I would say for the better, though I must admit I greatly missed Bounce’s title song. This CD is a must for every musical theater lover.
One thing that was very striking was the single set, created by director John Doyle, which was constructed out of trunks and suitcases, desks and filing cabinets, which one observer suggests creates a metaphor for the instability and rootlessness that comes with lives of almost continual journeying.
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I saw this show with:
Spouse/Partner
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