As a songwriter and musical legend Stephen Sondheim (in photo) has proved extremely versatile both in musical style and subject matter. From the legendary lyrics to "West Side Story," to lesser known projects like, "Sweeney Todd," (a musical about a British serial killer) Sondheim has covered quite a lot of thematic ground. In light of this versatility, the Sondheim musical revue, "Putting It Together," is a bit of a disappointment. The songs are all pretty narrowly focused on a single theme. They are all narrowly focused around an almost non-existent plot.
The story follows an up-scale pair of couples: one very young-the other quite a bit older as they journey through the romantic difficulties of long-term relationships. Dale Gutzman's production at the Off The Wall Theatre takes the revue as far as it can go, but it never quite reaches the potential it would have if it was a more thematically sweeping collection of Sondheim's work.
The setting is a cocktail party between two rather wealthy couples. The show is opened with, "Instructions to the Audience," a witty musical bit by J Paoul C. Clemente. Clemente plays the older couple's servant. "Instructions to the Audience," is one of the best bits of the whole production, playing on certain conventions of local theatre which make for a thoroughly enjoyable introduction to the entire show. Clemente is enjoyable throughout the entire performance, whether singing a tune or simply standing by as a human prop.
In addition to the opening number, "Putting It Together," crams well over thirty lesser-known Sondheim tunes into a reasonably comfortable evening of music. Bob Hirschi and Marilyn L. White play an older couple hosting a cocktail party with a younger couple played by Jeremy C. Welter and Sharon Rise. The strains and stresses of relationships on both end of the spectrum are explored in a parade of songs that few will find overwhelmingly familiar.
The title song, (which follows the opening) is a rather memorable piece from, "Sunday In The Park With George." The entire cast performs well here, making for a very promising evening's music that very rarely disappoints. Perhaps the most recognizable songs in the revue were written by Sondheim for, "Dick Tracy." In the role of the young woman, Sharon Rise performs a couple of these songs almost exclusively solo (most notably "Sooner Or Later," and "More.") It would be difficult for any regional actress to live-up to the musical prowess of Madonna on the 1990 film soundtrack of the film, but Rise holds together her performance pretty well in contrast.
Hirschi and White have a memorable chemistry as the older couple in songs like, "Do I Hear a Waltz?" and, "Country House," but these songs, along with all of the rest of them don't cling together all that well with the rest of the very minimal story. Sondheim's songs convey so much in individual lines that it's difficult for the audience to get them to resolve into a single plot.
For their part, Sharon Rise and Jeremy Welter come together quite well as the younger couple in a number of songs. They bring "Sooner or Later" and "Unworthy of Your Love," alive, but the limitations of the overall plot of the revue keep them from ever reaching beyond the confines of the individual numbers.
The one serious fault of Off The Wall's staging here is the fact that the audience passes through the stage as they enter. There is no real escape once the production begins, as the stage exists where the audience would be leaving from if they needed to leave their seats for any reason. It would be extremely intrusive if anyone in the audience needed to use the restroom or talk on a silenced cell phone or use a restroom as the production was in progress.
Off The Wall Theatre's production of "Putting It Together," plays now through November 27. Tickets range from $26 to $22 and can be purchased by calling the box office at (414) 327-3552.
