Road Show in DC?

[MarkBearSF]

Posted: 2/19/16 at 9:30pm

I just saw the BWW news about a "possible transfer" of "Road Show" at Signature Theatre in DC.  (Yes, we all know how those words are inevitable usually are mere hopes and wishes)

Has anyone here seen it?  

I saw a teeny version of it in SF, which I believe was similar to Doyle's version (although the orchestra was only an onstage piano.)  While there were limitations in this particular production, I still find it hard to see how even a slightly enlarged production would play in a Broadway house - even an intimate one.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_dance/sondheims-road-show-on-the-rebound-at-signature/2016/02/18/e6064884-d1bf-11e5-b2bc-988409ee911b_story.html

 

Updated On: 2/20/16 at 09:30 PM

[EditGrl]

Posted: 2/19/16 at 10:41pm

I saw the show last night. Like the Chicago (Doyle?) production, it has a cast of 11 with a piano player and the ensemble playing instruments at various times. It could play in a very intimate theater, but it would be a challenge. I saw it as "Bounce" back in 2003 at the Kennedy Center and it didn't make much of an impression. It still didn't last night, though the leads were good. The only standout song for me was "The Best Thing That Has Ever Happened."

 

The Florida sequence was the strongest of the show, but it still lacks character development of the brothers. I never felt like I knew either of them; the show just skims the surface.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 2/19/16 at 11:51pm

I think it's a gorgeous show, but I don't know if it would ever work on Broadway. It's not commercial. 

[ljay889]

Posted: 2/22/16 at 12:39pm

The single piano is ridiculous. I want to hear the Sondheim score orchestrated. Tunick created a lovely reduced orchestration for the Public production. 

[mpd4165]

Posted: 2/22/16 at 12:44pm

This is Gary Griffin's production that started at Chicago Shakespeare, which I thought was very strong and loved the use of the actor/musician doubling, but I don't know how much it matches Doyle's staging. In Chicago, it was in the upstairs theatre of CST, which is very intimate. Not sure how I'd feel about a transfer. I remember attending a cabaret where Michael Aaron Linder (Addison Mizner) told a story of an audience member who stood up and threw the playbill at him during his love song to Hollis...so again, a tough sell it seems.

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 2/26/16 at 1:41pm

The production is wonderful, as is almost everything that Signature does, and the cast exceptional. If you are in the area, you really should see this.

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 2/26/16 at 2:49pm

Haven't seen the DC show, but enjoyed both the Chicago staging and the Doyle version at the Public. Doyle's version (which did NOT include actors playing instruments-- go figure) was far more static and Proscenium-geared. That stack of luggage boxes and trunks across the stage basically left a shallow sliver downstage in which to perform all the scenes. There was a dull-ly repetitive rhythm to the show, with scene after scene punctuated by a snort of cocaine or a cascade of dollar bills all over the stage. We were unmoved and bored by the end of the thing.

 

Gary Griffin's production was much more airy and elegant, staged on a roadway slicing diagonally through the intimate thrust stage of their upstairs space. The opportunity for actors to accompany others on piano, violin, cornet, etc, was beautifully realized and emotionally compelling. The orchestrations were intimate but still carried all the rich harmonies of the original. The performances were heartfelt and convincing, and some of the songs landed more effectively than at the Public. Did the show itself work any better? Not really for me. I'm sorry to say that ROAD SHOW seems stuck as a song cycle and morality tale that doesn't really thrive well as live theater so much as through headphones on a show album. Maybe this staging at the Signature will prove me wrong.

Updated On: 2/26/16 at 02:49 PM