I *did* see the show. I think Green is badly mistaken in that he overemphasizes the negatives and understates -- badly -- the positives.
Hence, Green omits or treats only in passing:
-- an interesting musical, replete with worthy elements including score, dialogue, characters and development;
-- the play's raison d'etre, the brothers' relationship, in all its depth and pathos, the centrality of which relationship was palpable in the performance, and confirmed by the play's writers in a Q & A following the performance I saw
-- the sonorous beauty of much of the music;
-- solid direction/staging/stagecraft
(and, most importantly of all,)
-- the incredible performances of most of the players, particularly of the leads, i.e., the understated but at moments explosive Uranowitz, and, it can't be said too often, Raul Esparza, who is almost always a hurricane of talent, and was so, again, in this version of Road Show. The two fully embodied their characters in relationship to one another, and their chemistry felt quite organic.
Perhaps Green does not grasp that theatre is meant to be felt as much as understood? This performance was was to me among those one remembers gratefully as an event one was lucky to have seen in one's lifetime -- and I see a lot of theater.
1
Though familiar with many Sondheim musicals, Roadshow was a mystery to me when I saw it Friday night. It blew me away. The music was wonderful (no surprise there). What tore me up were the performances. Raul Esparza seemed loose and free; his portrayal of Wilson was delightful, surprising and moving. Brandon Uranowitz was his equal in passionate commitment to the character. Together they were ultimately heartbreaking. Mary Beth Peil was terrific. I would love to see this show again.
4
On the Bunuel show: This is acknowledged as gossip, but seems pretty specific to be made up from thin air, by a poster on All That Chat (not officially by the site itself).
"Posted by: ryhog 09:52 pm EDT 07/27/19
In reply to: SONDHEIM/BUNUEL -
It was reported recently (and discussed) that he is now working on it with Jeremy Sams (directing), with the intention of presenting it at the Public next year. We shall see of course what the nature of that collaboration will be, as well as what transpires"
Is it perfect? No. But this was one of the best examples of the right material meeting the right cast and it was thrilling. Esparza shines as unsavory characters...and Uranowitz surprised me with the different aspects of Addie’s character through the show.
For me, there is so much to savor in Sondheim’s more recent works. Perhaps he still leads in the art form...moving away from the giant Hal Prince extravaganzas..and the minimalist Doyles...to something just right.
4
I saw it tonite and enjoyed all of it. Raul Espresso (who I first saw in the Kennedy Center Sondheim Festival's Merrily as Charlie) and Brandon Uranowitz acted and sang beautifully, and for the most part kept it clever. Same with the other major cast members. I did find two characters to feel sympathetic to, Addie and Hollis. True, it doesn't have the emotional wallop or depth of Sweeney, Sunday, or Passion. And except for The Best Thing that Ever Has Happened and snippets of a few other songs, the music didn't grab me and shake me up. (I did notice lots of motifs either very similar to or borrowed from Sweeney - A Little Priest - Into the Woods and Merrily.) But, nonetheless, I completely enjoyed it and want to find a version of it to listen to.
1
@Jonathan Ben-Asher,
"Raul Espresso (who I first saw in... Merrily as Charlie)" - that's an auto-correction classic! I wonder if Spellcheck was at "Moulin Rouge" last night and had a full-bottle-size serving of bring-to-your-seat champagne, and thought "Esparza - Must be Espresso" when he came to work on the night shift after the MegaMix. Spellcheck may not have seen "Taboo," or maybe saw it in London.
It was when I bought seats for that very "Merrily We Roll Along" in DC that the computer helpfully asked if I might need "Roll-Along luggage" for my next trip.
I would have liked to see some the architect's works instead of these cookie cutter boring cardboard house models are carrying around. it seemed almost dismissive of whatever element of art is involved in creating his beach houses. Although, i doubt I could have found any house worthy of my applause as much as the performance of the architect's brother played by Ray Esparza.
1
@MaxStar212 - regarding "Ray Esparza"
Just noticed this. Did spellcheck get you too on his name?
I agree with the reviewer. I liked most of the songs. It’s Sondheim! But the show is mostly a mess. No reason to care about either of these brothers.
1
I’m wondering if this review was read by its author after it was written, since “Addison dabbles as a fight promoter, then a playwright, then a racetrack fixer, all in one song” isn’t correct. Wilson does the aforementioned dabbling. Carry on!
5
While I can sympathize with The Times review, I found, by surprise, myself almost moved to tears at several emotional moments in the show. However, the dismissive mention of Raul Esparza is especially notable, as I found his performance--running the gamut between campy vaudeville through heroic drama-- easily worth the price of admission by itself. In fact, converse to Mr. Green, I began with a doubting attitude but ended with a thrilling experience. As an octogenarian, with a theater education and thousands of viewed productions as far back as Lunt & Fontanne in my memory banks, I am more in agreement with Ted Dawson's incisive comment. Here's to difference!
10
Checking all the responses, I notice that John Weidman, who is credited for writing the book, goes unmentioned by anyone. In addition, Encores! Off Center is a stripped-down production, and the program even includes a caveat. The show needs to be viewed as an opportunity we might otherwise miss. For better or worse, it's not all about Sondheim, altho that may be the reason most were in the audience. I thought the Weidman book up to the task, and the overall production something I grew to accept under the circumstances. A Broadway "Follies" it was not, but certainly a level above "Assassins." @Max Baxley
@Max Baxley, of course, John Weidman has certainly gotten a great deal of respect (and success) during his career, with and without Mr. Sondheim. The sad news about Hal Prince had me looking at where YouTube took me, like this about "Pacific Overtures" (which it took Mr.Prince's daring to produce a show this subject matter as a commercial venture). Your comment here came back to my mind as I was watching this old Camera Three episode when at around 6:03 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPmRiJNOVz0 you can see clearly that John Weidman was accorded tremendous respect in the process, even at age 28 or 29!
I saw Road Show wednesday night and am wondering if I saw the same show as Mr. Green.
Full disclosure: I am an avid admirer of Mr. Sondhiem and Road Show is the only show of his that I have not seen at all. All the others I have seen not only the original productions but many, many others.
So I was particularly excited to walk into the theater having not only not ever seen this show, but having heard no recordings. It was a blank canvas for me (no pun intended).
I left City Center exhilarated. As always, Mr. Sondhiem has taken extraordinarily complex material and given it emotion and intelligence and, in this case, currency...portraying con artists and the people they swindled and destroyed all in search of the American Dream. Who needs the Mueller Report!
It seemed to me that Mr. Green was lumping and reviewing all the previous versions of this show..allowing that baggage to cloud this production. I came away yearning for a move to Broadway...God knows it needs a musical with guts!
And who are you to proclaim that this will be Sondheim's last work of art..really!
15
Did you deliberately choose to not listen to the songs at all? That decision fascinates me.
I wonder if the target demographic for an event like this when it's Sondheim may actually be people who have seen the show in at least one of its versions. (I even couldn't resist really taking in Mizner Park when at a bar mitzvah in Boca, and I know I'm not alone in really wanting to see the place.)
PS Have there ever been articles on how critics and other theater professionals approach seeing a work vs. a paying audience pretty much just wants to have a good time and really with no thought expected for the art overall, just what they're seeing that night.
3
@Ted Dawson
I completely agree with you. I saw Wise Guys at New York Theater Workshop and Bounce at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. Missed Roadshow at the Public and just listened to that recording this week for the first time. I was blown away by this production. Mr. Green seems to have a chip on his shoulder when it comes to Encores. After reading his reviews, I almost always feel he must have seen some other production. I am sorry if anybody missed this wonderful production because they listened to his review. I doubt we’ve seen the last of Road Show and as chipper as Mr. Sondheim was at the talk back yesterday, I doubt we’ve seen the last of him either.
2
@Phil Koeber, regarding "a chip on his shoulder when it comes to Encores." - Once in a great while, Encores does do a very worthy historical project, like restoring Cole Porter's "New Yorkers" - love the show or not (I did, a lot, in part due to the richness it added to theater history and knowledge of its era and Cole Porter) it brought something to the art that never could be done commercially. There are others, maybe one a year (?), some discoveries in off-Center especially.
But with huge galas like "Chorus Line" lat fall and this fall's "Evita" that make them a textbook example of why Mnuchin/G.O.P. think so many arts organizations where employees make huge salaries don't add nearly enough to the arts to warrant Internal Revenue Code support; Though I'll be there in my Broadway-priced seat, six-week bookings of totally commercial work like "Bat Out of Hell;" The fact that Encores almost 19 years ago started including shows like Bye Bye Birdie, Pajama Game, Hair, or Follies, and basically becoming "Let's do three shows that we'd enjoy doing and charge full Bway prices but pretend we're not being paid the top Broadway-par salaries;" Wanting to sound like a soup kitchen by saying (even in online comments) go easy on us because we have less time to rehearse and less for the summer shows, when this is just a financial decision they choose to make, while CEO and Board block and/or ghost emails about human rights violations
Out of room but the list could go on.
I remember seeing an earlier version of this show at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. The hype that Hal Prince was once again collaborating with Mr. Sondheim made the expectations for the audience to shoot through the roof. I remember telling my wife (during intermission) that the show was so brilliant that I couldn't follow the story. She confessed that she, too, couldn't follow the story. Virtually all of our future discussions about the performance involved a bit of business Richard Kind did with a bridge that vaguely resembled a see-saw. Also, the relatively unknown Gavin Creel was in the cast and he sang well. Other than that, it was a forgettable night on the Potomac River. From that point on, when we wanted to see a first-rate production of a Sondheim musical we'd go to Signature Theater in nearby Arlington.
2
@MarathonRunner,
just regarding "Also, the relatively unknown Gavin Creel was in the cast and he sang well."
He had already been the male lead on Broadway in "Thoroughly Modern Millie," for which he got a Tony nomination for lead actor. The other nominees were John Lithgow, John Cullum, John McMartin and Patrick Wilson. So New Yorkers saw him taking that role in the show "Bounce" from a different perspective, that he was already a Tony-nominated leading man doing that role.
1
@Freddie
Turn off your computer, Gavin.
3
@Blake N, LOL - actually, I have been mistaken for Gavin MacLeod, but he sings better, and he's an Evangelical Protestant and I'm not, as far as I know.
My point was that it was a pretty starry cast in DC - and it was an event. And Kennedy Center has certainly done more than OK by Sondheim work. I think some of the ticket sellers may be young. When I ordered "Follies" tickets, the phone salesman (or saleskid? is that term PC or is it reverse ageism?) said "OK, now that's two tickets for The Will Rogers Follies" and I checked my computer quickly to make sure it was "Follies" - and it was.
2
I think it's ghoulish and unseemly to proclaim that "'Road Show' is the last new artistic statement we’re likely to have from the master." Let's let Sondheim decide when to retire--we don't need Mr. Green to make that decision for him. I saw Sondheim speak recently and he was as lively, cerebral and engaging as ever. If he's not ready to throw in the towel, Mr. Green needn't throw it in for him.
24
This article from https://www.everythingsondheim.org/everything-we-know-and-dont-know-about-sondheims-surrealist-collaboration-with-david-ives/
has this added since Nov. 2018 - "Editor’s note: Since the printing of this article, Sondheim is reportedly no longer collaborating with David Ives on the project."
Does that mean maybe Mr. Sondheim's now working with someone else on it? That maybe Mr. Ives is? That maybe the rights got lost? Even Siri has nothing more current. Whoever knows what happened will surely tell Siri and Alexa when they want us to know, and then they'll tell us.
The publication linked is from the Signature Theatre in Arlington outside DC, so very reliable. (Too bad Nora Ephron is no longer with us, for many reasons, but also that's how we in New York City all found out Watergate's Deep Throat was Mark Felt years before the rest of the world knew.)
@Ezzie Hardly "ghoulish" considering Sondheim's very advanced age and notorious slow work pace. His Bunuel work-in-progress has been talked about for years and still seems far from completion. Green was merely stating the obvious
1
I never was able to get to London to see the new version of "Company," (show tickets were surprisingly still decent in London, but even one night hotel and airfare where too much - we could see "Moulin Rouge" from the table seats for then lowest travel and cabs alone) but it sounds so hopeful that his direct involvement in reworking that show may in and of itself be a great way for New York fans to help celebrate his 90th birthday. Sounds like even George Furth's work is enhanced from what's been done. (Then, as with Sheldon Harnick and Charles Stouse, anything Sondheim chooses to do in his 90s - tinker with old work, authorize and be part of an updated "Sondheim on Sondheim" - is something fans will appreciate.)
Not to be disrespectful, but the very outspoken Arthur Laurents not being so outspoken allowed wonderful development for "Hallelujah Baby." "Anyone Can Whistle" might benefit, and still in a revisal process honor Mr. Laurents, too - but anything he chooses to do...