jv92 sees Road Show

[jv92]

Posted: 11/16/08 at 1:53pm

SPOILERS AHEAD! (Just warnin' ya!)

It is safe to say that Stephen Sondheim, America's greatest musical theatre artist, has a very different view of American than most of us. In Sondheim's America, the American Dream is nothing but a fraud ("Follies", 1971), ambition doesn't get you happiness ("Merrily We Roll Along", 1981) and neither does shooting the President ("Assassins", 1991). "Road Show", Mr. Sondheim's latest musical (with a book by John Weidman), America is your corupt, devil-may-care leech of a brother that won't leave you the hell alone. It offers you oppertunity, wealth, love, success (both personal and professional) and gold! But in the end, it all comes back to bite you. It's all, as the opening number of the show goes, a waste.

"Road Show", which opens next week at The Public Theatre (I saw it at a Saturday preview), is Sondheim's most profound statement about America, especially since it has opened durring such a dark period in America's history. Telling the tale of the Mizner Brothers (Wilson and Addison), the former a scoundrel out to screw eveyone and everything in his path (literally and figuratively) and the latter a gentle, stubborn (and homosexual) artist, the musical does not feature Mr. Sondheim's most profound score ("Sweeney Todd", 1979) or his best set of lyrics ("Gypsy", 1959 or "Follies"- you choose!). However, it its a special trimuph for bookwriter Weidman who has had difficulty with epic subject matter ("Pacific Overtures", 1976 and "Assassins"). Here, he shines with witty dialouge, fully realized characters and nearly no structure problems (Quite a feat for a modern musical!). Oh, and Mr. Sondheim can rest easy. Not every show can be "Sweeney Todd." This is his best score since "Assassins", nearly eighteen years ago!

However, the piece would not be as profound without the stunning direction of John Doyle. Doyle, who reinvented "Sweeney Todd" several seasons ago (marvelously) and "Company" two seasons ago (bizarrely), uses his typical minimalist, Brechtian technuqies here splendidly. I can think of no finer example than the last scene of the musical. Wilson has destroyed Addison's dream for the last time. He wears and Uncle Sam tophat as Addison sings "Get out of my life!". America! You've screwed me over! You've screwed us all over! "Get the hell out of my life!" Wilson's reply, "You don't want me to go." You don't want me to go, I'm the American dream. I'm oppertunity. I'm corrupt. I'm bull****. But I'm America! And that, my friends, is why this is Sondheim's most profound statement on America. This is what America is. Doyle's marvelous, symbolic staging makes us realize it a little better. However, though we do love our sweet land of liberty, America is Wilson Mizner.

By the way, playing the role of Wilson Mizner is Michael Cerveris. I have admired Cerveris in the revivals of "Assassins" and "Sweeney Todd" and found his portrayl of Kurt Weill in "LoveMusik" quite moving. Here, Mr. Cerveris proves that he is the finest young actor in today's musical theatre. Charming and creepy, magnetic and chilling, Cerveris is spectacular. As gentle Addison is another one of the theatre's finest newcomers, Alexander Gemignani. Gemginani is gentle and stubborn, kind and bad tempered and above all, moving as Addison.

However, despite the symbolism, the yucks, the brother to brother feuds and the bull****- "Road Show" is also a moving show. When the two brothers sing of their younger years while sharing a sleeping bag looking for gold in the Yukon, one tries to fight back tears (One is also left wondering if there was a hint of incest in this scene as well). When the self-centered mother of the boys sings of Wilson, "Isn't He Something!", even though he is a cocaine-addicted, careless rascal that could give a rat's ass about her while darling Addison sits on her death bead, one can no longer fight back the tears. The clever rhymes and the jaunty tunes are wonderful, but this is what makes Mr. Sondheim the greatest songwriter we'll ever know in the musical theatre.

So bravo to all involved! "Road Show" is a profound and exciting new musical.


Updated On: 11/16/08 at 01:53 PM

[coolboi952]

Posted: 11/16/08 at 2:37pm

I completly agree with this review. I rushed the show last night and I loved it. I saw it years ago when it was bounce. I saw the potential in the show then but knew it needed work. They kept in the songs that they should have and added new ones that really worked. I am so glad they didn't give up on this show. But I do think that it will not transfer to broadway. Which is a shame.

[Ole Chum]

Posted: 11/16/08 at 3:10pm

Gypsy- best Sondheim lyrics? huuuWHAT?

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 11/16/08 at 4:00pm

If this was divided into paragraphs, I would have read the entire thing.

However, your lede is incredibly compelling, and I would very much like to read the entire thing...

[jv92]

Posted: 11/16/08 at 4:21pm

I'll divide it into paragraphs. I didn't have enough time when I originally posted.
And yes Ole Chum, every lyric in Gypsy is an absolute gem. What don't you like about them? Updated On: 11/16/08 at 04:21 PM

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 11/16/08 at 4:28pm

Thanks much for writing. Glad you enjoyed the show.

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 11/16/08 at 5:00pm

I wish I could agree with your assessment, jv92.

I'm just posting this so that if anyone here sees the show and doesn't like it, you don't have to worry that you're the only one who feels that way.

[jv92]

Posted: 11/16/08 at 5:01pm

Ah, it's okay. Everyone's entitled to their own opinion.

[B3TA07]

Posted: 11/16/08 at 5:26pm

I really liked reading your review. Makes me wish I could see the show even more. I'm crossing my fingers that Nonesuch will pick the show up again, or another label!

[jv92]

Posted: 11/16/08 at 5:35pm

They really should. There's plenty of rewritten material and some new numbers. Cerveris, Gemignani and Alma Cuervo (as Mama Mizner) are also superb and deserve to have their performances presevered on record.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 11/16/08 at 5:35pm

Thank you for your review....I very much enjoyed reading it. I can't wait to see this at Christmas!!!!

[scaryclowns223]

Posted: 11/16/08 at 5:41pm

I respect your review, and thought that most of it was spot-on. But I thought the book was an absolute mess- relationships were under-developed, some scenes didn't make sense, and the dialogue wasn't sufficient enough to provoke a lot of the action. For example, Addison refuses to go to Alaska, but out of nowhere, without hesitation, decides to go. Also: the father. What was annoying about him? He was always an inspiring presence for the boys, that is until it was funny to make him annoying. And this happened with no support to justify it. I also thought the relationships with Mom, Dad and even Hollis went underdeveloped. I never really got a picture of who they were or how others felt about them. It was less of a problem with Mom, but a definite problem with Hollis and Addison- their relationship seemed forced and shallow. It just seemed disjointed, and I felt like the show was building up to something great that never quite happened. Maybe that was the point, but the book was still a bit weak. Not so much that it made the show unwatchable, but it definitely was the weakest part of the show.

[JeaniusIsMe]

Posted: 11/16/08 at 5:56pm

I agree with most of the review- on the whole I enjoyed the show, the songs were fabulous, and the performances were spot-on. Once they got to Florida, the show really hit its stride and entranced me.

But I also agree with scaryclowns about the book- especially the early Alaska sections. They needed to flesh that section of the show out- it just seemed like the jumps were so sudden (father's dead, we have no money, let's go to Alaska for gold!). I sat there trying to wrap my head around all of the plot that had just been thrown at me in mere seconds. But, once they would start singing, it all started to make some sense and became an enjoyable show.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 11/17/08 at 7:53am

Great review and a pleasure to read! I'm gonna nit pick a few points but these are just my opinions...

you use the term epic theatre--but is Weidman's book epic in the Brechtian sense that his libretto for PO was, for instance/ it seems vastly different in style.

"This is his best score since "Assassins", nearly eighteen years ago! "

Faint praise considering he's only done one other full score (Passion) plus a half score (Frogs) since then... And since Passion is in my top 3 Sondheim scores musically one I really disagree with, but that's a personal opinion.

"It is safe to say that Stephen Sondheim, America's greatest musical theatre artist, has a very different view of American than most of us."

Maybe it's cuz I'm Canadian but I'm not sure "most of us", here anyway, don't share some of that point of view...

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 11/17/08 at 9:10am

He wears and Uncle Sam tophat as Addison sings "Get out of my life!"

That sounds... heavy-handed.

But the rest is intriguing.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 11/17/08 at 11:52am

From jv92's review it would sound like Road Show has an entirely new book and score than those from the previous Goodman production of Bounce, but after reading other comments, it sounds as if not much has changed at all. I really think it's time to put this show out of its misery and let Sondheim focus on something else. Something better. Honestly, I just don't think this story is that interesting nor does it particularly benefit from being musicalized. It could possibly work as a play, but every scene that I witnessed in the Goodman production just seemed so forced. As if there were some sort of vital importance to the story that lurked somewhere beneath the rather superficial book. But it never surfaced. Mainly because, while the period of history is fascinating, the characters and their tale simply aren't that interesting (or at least, are not presented in an interesting manner). Nor are they particularly likeable or sympathetic. As far as Sondheim scores go, I think it is one of his lesser scores. I can't think of a single number that could possibly break out and make the Sondheim hit parade as with the majority of his scores.

[ljay889]

Posted: 11/17/08 at 12:34pm

think it is one of his lesser scores. I can't think of a single number that could possibly break out and make the Sondheim hit parade as with the majority of his scores.


- The revised "The Best Thing That Has Ever Happened" for Addy and Hollis will easily become a Sondheim classic.

[jv92]

Posted: 11/17/08 at 12:58pm

So will "Isn't He Something!".

Mister Matt, while I appreciate your opinion, I did review the show as a new piece. It may have some of the same music as Bounce, but plenty is rewritten and the show's tone and focus are both completely different this time. I would hope the New York critics would review Road Show as if it is a new show.

[WOSQ]

Posted: 11/17/08 at 1:59pm

I found the first 45 minutes of Road Show (up to the Houses number) to be a trial. Why am I supposed to care for these wastrels?

Once the House number began the show picked up and while never matching it, at least the rest of the show was watchable.

The score was like Jerry Herman meets Steve Sondheim meaning so many phrases and vamps were from previous songs. None of us could quite put our finger on which was borrowing from what, but we all agreed it was omnipresent.

Are the Mizners musical theatre characters? I felt they are not. Opera buffa/comique yes, probably, maybe, but not musical theatre. I left thinking they themselves had nothing to sing about metaphorically and were tone-deaf metaphorically. The rest of the characters could have sung around them perhaps, but the Mizners didn't make me follow them.

I thought Doyle's work was quite good and coming from someone who didn't like the direction of Sweeney Todd and loathed that of Company, this would be no small praise.

The show is better executed than Bounce, but if Sondheim, Weidman, Mendes, Prince and Doyle cannot make this show work, maybe it is time to move on. Unfortunately I wouldn't even classify this as a fabulous flop. It just fails.

The two other people with me liked the show a lot more than I did. Other friends who saw it a few days earlier felt like it was written by a student of Sondheim's trying to become the next Sondheim.

Updated On: 11/17/08 at 01:59 PM

[chrysler99]

Posted: 11/17/08 at 2:09pm

While I won't see Road Show until next month, I did see Bounce in DC and have the recording. At least based on the Bounce version, I think that "The Best Thing That Has Ever Happened" was already worthy of being part of the Sondheim canon. Presumably, now it's even better....

[ljay889]

Posted: 11/17/08 at 2:37pm

The revised BEST THING is definitely better. It has mostly new lyrics, and a different melody during some parts of it.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 11/17/08 at 6:43pm

As for songs that will have some length outside the show, Talent already seems to be becoming a fave among auditioners and some cabaret shows.

"The show is better executed than Bounce, but if Sondheim, Weidman, Mendes, Prince and Doyle cannot make this show work, maybe it is time to move on. Unfortunately I wouldn't even classify this as a fabulous flop"

To be fair (and I haven't seen it so can't say if I agree), Sondheim has said pretty much that this will be his last try with the show...