rOcKS @ 'Road Show'

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 10:06pm

So I went to see the first preview of ROAD SHOW this evening with basically blind. I had never heard any of the music, only knew about the plot from the synopsis on the Public Theater website, and only knew it was Stephen Sondheim's new show starring Michael Cerveris and Alexander Gemignani.

And to be honest that's about as much as I know after seeing the show. It's very uninvolving and very cold-feeling. None of the characters are fleshed out fully and the book is so bad that you don't care for any of the characters or the outcome of the plot. The first half of the show (up until the entrance of the characters Hollis) I found to be, truthfully, terrible. It's poorly paced, almost laughably conceived, and the music seems like recycled Sondheim songs. Then after the entrance of Hollis, finally we see some character development that actually works. The scene wherein Addison begins to build houses first for Hollis' aunt and then for the rest of the town really was the only moment in the show where the score soared, the drama clicked, the comedy was sharp, and the show really worked like a well-oiled machine.

Everything else is very clunky, very forced, and very (again) cold. That was what I felt throughout the show...none of it seems real or relatable or involving it's all very obvious that we are WATCHING A MUSICAL not INVOLVED IN THE MUSICAL.

As I said, the book is honestly pretty awful and ill-conceived attempts at dark humor come off as awkward and forced. And then there's the score. God knows I love Stephen Sondheim and when he's inventive and smart, his music is incomparable. He is a genius. But when he rips himself off, as he is doing here, creating the same melodies and rhyming patterns we have heard again and again from him, his music is less organic-feeling and it doesn't register because we have heard it before. And for those who aren't familiar with Sondheim, the score will seem repetitive and (I'm using a direct quote I heard from someone who left the theater in front of me) "pretentious."

And then there are the performances, the aspect of the show I was most interested in seeing. The cast is (vocally) strong and can pull of Sondheim's trademark quick rhymes and unique melodies like gangbusters. Michael Cerveris and Alexander Gemignani were both, truthfully, somewhat underwhelming. They are obviously trying very hard to give good performances but Cerveris comes off a bit too crazed and manic and Gemignani is a bit too naive and innocent. Since the book doesn't let us get deeply involved in either, I was clinging to the idea that these two great talents would give us something to grab onto but there wasn't much there. They sound great and when they are hitting the right emotional notes, it rings true, but those moments (for me) were few and far between.

The best aspect of the show is the direction. John Doyle is a freakin' genius. He has done such brilliant work show after show after show and here he takes a lot of chances directorially and most of them pay off. The one thing that doesn't pay off is that throughout the show characters are constantly throwing dollar bills into the air so that by the end of the show the stage is littered in money...it's a good idea but it was overkill after the five millionth time it happened. The set (also designed by Doyle) is a barricade of suitcases and drawers and file cabinets and crates and trunks and Doyle has the cast working around them and on them in ways that I found to be truly innovative and at times brilliant. He is a master at being able to be innovative and fresh as well as classic in terms of helping the progression of the plot.

The rest of the technical aspects were all fine (I liked the costumes, especially the idea of the ensemble wearing dresses and suits made out of what seemed to be some form of blueprints).

All in all, I really was dissapointed by ROAD SHOW. It's kind of a mess and (at this point at least) will doubtfully be making it to Broadway. I had a weird feeling after the first half hour of the show. I thought, this show should be two acts...everything feels so rushed. And then about twenty minutes before it ended, I thought, nevermind...the show is an hour and forty minutes and it feels WAY longer. The pacing is really a huge problem in the book and it doesn't know what to focus on. With an unfocused book, a good but not great cast, and a Sondheim score that seems to be a rip off of himself, ROAD SHOW is undoubtedly a strong effort (the idea is there) but the execution is just a mess. And it's a shame.

*1/2 out of ****

There was no song list in the Playbill, FYI.
Updated On: 10/28/08 at 10:06 PM

[ljay889]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 10:09pm

Yikes.

Well since there is no song list. Does the show still have an Overture and is Get Out Of My Life still in the show?

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 10:12pm

As Harvey said in TST, ooopppssss!!!!

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 10:12pm

No overture, no.

I thought it was flawed, but not nearly as deeply flawed as you did. I also, not surprisingly, thought the direction was BEAUTIFUL. I love what Doyle chose to do with the money -- and if you sit close enough, you'll notice that as the littering progresses, about half of the bills are actually blank, which is just genius.

Updated On: 10/28/08 at 10:12 PM

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 10:12pm

Nope...no overture.

And I don't think GET OUT OF MY LIFE was in it. I thought of you ljay when I was rifling through the Playbill and there was no song list! Haha!

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 10:12pm

Waaaaaaahhhhhh...

[ljay889]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 10:14pm

Awww. I am going to cry if Get Of My Life is really gone . And I really loved the Overture.

Haha, but thanks for thinking of me!!

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 10:18pm

It may be in the show...honestly I didn't even know what the titles of any of the songs were since I hadn't heard the music before and didn't have a list in front of me.

So I don't know the context of it in the BOUNCE form of the show and can't really say whether or not for sure it was in this version. But I don't think it was...

[laura is broadway]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 10:23pm

Ugh, it really upsets me to hear this was a disappointment... I was looking forward to a new Sondheim masterpiece so much...

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 10:34pm

The song is there.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 10:38pm

Nevermind then...OT but that's a great default, Emcee.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 10:41pm

Thanks. It's from a new piece in the New yorker.

[ljay889]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 10:46pm

Well, I am relieved my song is still there... but now I am worried about the overall show. But hopefully they can fix some problems by the time the show opens and the critics come.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 10:51pm

I sort of have the opposite reaction. While I didn't think it was brilliant (it's no "Sunday In The Park..."), but it wasn't awful. I thought Cerveris was brilliant. He commanded the stage and gave an interesting portrayal of a flawed man. Gemignani just didn't do it for me. At times he managed to pull me in, but for the most part he just didn't seem connected to the material. It seemed almost out of place to me. I found the guy playing Hollis to be the right look for the part, but not the right parts. I found his acting to be sort of one note, and his singing just didn't do it for me (granted it could have been a result of the weather or something). Also, I thought the ensemble's costumes were awful. They just seemed...tacky? Also the sunglasses and the red, white, and blue hats were horribly tacky, but I can over look those because it makes sense with the plot at that point. Doyle designed a beautiful show. At times it reminded me of "Company" with the brick wall in the back and the different colored lights on it, but it fit the space so well. If it ever did - or does - transfer it will def. loosing something because it seems almost built for the space and designed for this particular space. I don't think it's a great show, but it wasn't bad. I honestly was never bored, but I also wasn't exploding out of my seat to applaud at the end.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 10:56pm

The red, white, and blue baseball hats killed me a little inside...

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 10:59pm

The direction has a lot of little hints of Company and Sweeney, if you know to look for them. That's one of the things I loved about it, as someone who is very supportive of Doyle's work. But what I also loved about it is that it wasn't overly conceptual like Company and Sweeney were -- it was just beautiful direction by someone who not only has a very sharp eye for the theatrical, and how to present it in a really effective way.

Updated On: 10/28/08 at 10:59 PM

[ljay889]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 11:04pm

There's a rave for it from a well respected member over at ATC.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 11:07pm

I have no doubt in my mind that this show will have its followers and fans. It's going to divide a lot of people.

And I really do hope they fix it up before it opens.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 11:07pm

The way Alma Cuervo and William Parry "watched over" all the action on stage was brilliant. Cerveris was also brilliant. I knew absolutely nothing about Bounce, the score, the plot...and I thought it was excellent. It needs tweaking, but the show has a lot of potential. I'm looking forward to seeing it a few times during previews to see the changes. Congrats to Sondheim, Doyle, and all involved.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 11:10pm

One of my favorite moments was the way Wilson was looming over the models of the houses as they were being built.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 11:10pm

Wow. I guess I'm in the minority here...well I'm glad to see people are liking it so much.

Sorry if my reviews don't fall in line with everyone else's...I just didn't enjoy it.

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 11:12pm

Well, at least there's some hope. The rave over at ATC is encouraging.

[bwayboy976]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 11:19pm

I saw it this evening as well and have to agree with mostly everything wickedrocks said.

It's really not great and I just did not like it very much at all. It is VERY cold and VERY uninvolving and really is a mess. And God I wanted to love it so so so so much. I just didn't.

Wickedrocks hit the nail on the head though and everyone I spoke to after the show did not like it very much.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 12:06am

See, I don't understand the argument "it's cold" or "it's not involving" or whatever, I think that's the point. It's obvious that Doyle takes a lot of influence from Brecht, and Brecht is all about the "you are watching a play" performance style. If you look at it form that stand point, then i think you'll enjoy it more. I still felt for the characters, but I wasn't like emotive and crying, but that doesn't mean I wasn't happy or sad for them. I really enjoyed the new duet between Hollis and Addy. And to comment more on the direction, I was really close to the stage, so I really enjoyed how the actors were just walking around in the wings very obviously - it added more to the Brecht / Thorton Wilder aspect of the production.

And emcee, I almost laughed when Cerveris entered through the "coffin"-esque box. I really enjoyed the look in his eyes when he said "America" at the end.

This lady in front of me, as I was walking out, was talking about how the play was obviously written and conceived to be a "happy play" and that it was so "pro America," which just made me laugh out loud. I mean, did she see the same play? It's obviously talking about America as a land of great opportunity with a wink and a smile.

[ljay889]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 12:09am

Another positive review over at ATC.