US Regional Premiere of Sondheim's ROAD SHOW at Stages in Houston, TX

I hate this show. There, I said it.

I think it's a great score.

My wife liked it a lot. I found I couldn't emotionally connect to any of the characters. We had an interesting conversation on the car ride home. But in all honesty, the writing was abysmal! The cast I saw did an excellent job with what they had, but...

It's nice to see the names of old friends of mine listed in this post. Congrats to them!

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The show seemed to be under the impression that it had something Important to say about The American Dream, but it never did get around to actually saying it...

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I already owned (and moderately liked) the BOUNCE cd when we saw the Doyle-directed ROAD SHOW. Halfway through the show, I actually thought they would succeed in pulling off a fine show out of the ruins of Bounce, but alas it was not to be in the end. What a shock to see characters we were supposed to take seriously crawling around on the floor snorting coke and making as much sense as people in the throes of a coke high ever do.

I still love the "Addison's Trip" sequence (as well as the cut song, "A Little House for Mama"), but as a whole the show was a poor excuse for a history lesson and a really poor excuse for a love story.

Speaking of which, I trust broadwaywannabe is aware that his esteemed gay love song "The Best Thing That Ever Has Happened" was originally written for a man and woman in the earlier incarnations.

Updated On: 5/28/13 at 03:44 PM

So last night (5/30), this happened, as reported by a cast member:
During ROAD SHOW at Stages Repertory Theatre, four angry patrons left the theatre during our beautiful little play because two men fall in love. Now, the cast often enters from the house, and as they left, they happened to pass one of the gentlemen in question who plays Hollis Bessamer (the fantastic Michael Prescott McClure). After making a disparaging comment to his face (and right before his entrance! Is there no end to it?!), they told house management, again within earshot of the cast, that Mr. Sondheim and Mr. Weidman's play "should have a disclaimer on it because there are relationships that people might find inappropriate." They went on to say that they had seen many shows at the theatre, and they were "very disappointed".
Road Show at Stages Theatre

>> "The Best Thing That Ever Has Happened" ...with the latter being the first openly gay song i think SONDHEIM has ever written...a lush love song for two men...

I saw Bounce, but haven't seen Roadshow so I can only assume that the book might be improved. I'd seen every show Sondheim wrote, and had never felt anything negative other than just the mildest disappointment with Merrily... - until this show.

I couldn't believe my bad luck at finally seeing a Sondheim show at its birth, and being so uninterested in a book with so many melodies that sounded recycled. To me, there was so much narrative to be told that there was no room left to explore the emotional details I enjoy in Sondheim's music.

Having a song like The Best Thing That Ever Has Happened trapped in this show feels really sad to me. I feel like a really important part of Sondheim history is buried in this particular show.