Roadshow

Experiencing a new Sondheim show, you realize just how inadequate other modern composers are. Roadshow may not be the next Sweeney Todd, but it’s like pizza, even when it’s bad it’s good. And it’s not bad either, it’s just not Sondheim’s most brilliant work. After being brainwashed into believing that corporate-churned modern spectacles are “quality” and that pop scores with generalized, unspecific lyrics are adequate; listening to the intricacies and nuances of a Sondheim score/lyrics is almost like experiencing a musical theatre multiple orgasm after having subsisting on a steady diet of boring, drink-induced, pity f*cks. It’s almost criminal that we let such mediocre fare, like Legally Blonde and The Little Mermaid - both shows that I don’t necessarily dislike, but could have been much better - become representative of the modern Broadway musical. But I’m ranting way off topic here.

Like most of Sondheim’s oeuvre, at first reading, the story doesn’t exactly scream out to be musicalized: the relationship of two brothers turned conmen who lose their fortunes on risky schemes and bad business decisions. But again, Sondheim makes a detailed and interesting case study of the brothers’ psyches and explores how their deeply destructive relationship develops over a series of soured relationships and business ventures. All the while incorporating humor, interest and just the slightest bit of pity (although not much) for these unsavory characters.

The tone and style of the show are reminiscent of Pacific Overtures and Assassins in that the structure, though loosely linear, is a series of vignettes illuminating the high and low points of both brothers’ lives. There are some wonderfully melodic and touching songs, notably, “The Best Thing That Has Ever Happened to Me,” sung by Addison and his lover.

Lyrically, Sondheim is still untouchable. He makes everyone else sound like elementary school students forced to write poetry for class. His rhyme schemes are never obvious and are always unexpected - unlike most modern day composers, whose rhymes you can spot a mile away. All the while, he creates lyrics that are character, time and situation specific.

The cast is uniformly excellent and both Michael Cerveris and Alexander Gemignani, as Wilson and Addison Mizner, respectively, turn in believably nuanced portrayals. Not usually a fan of Gemignani, I found him likeable and extremely believable as the well-intentioned, but self-destructive brother. Through the show, I grew jealous of the ensemble of actor-singers who had the pleasure of interpreting Sondheim’s lyrics.

My only regret is that our country’s greatest living theatre composer may not be for long. Nearly 80, his output has vastly dwindled in the last few years. Here’s hoping he can churn out at least a show or tow more before departing.