Something for everyone, a Sondheim weekend.

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This was a fun Sondheim theater weekend. Saturday night was a production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum performed by The Blue Hill Troupe. Blue Hill is a theater group of talented people who put on two shows a year, a Gilbert and Sullivan show in the spring and a non G-S musical in the fall. I've been attending their shows for a few years now (though I missed last year's Little Shop) and every year have been throughly entertained. Forum is a show I'd seen on Broadway, with both Nathan Lane and Whoppi Goldberg. Alan J. Abrams seems to be chanelling Nathan Lane's Pseudolus a bit, but it works. Michael Macaione as Hysterium was also quite enjoyable. All of the courtesans were fun, and the choreography for them and for the Proteans made good use of the stage at St. Clement's Theater. Less effective was the sound design, a problem I have had at that theater before. For some reason, no matter where I sit, the orchestra always seems to overpower the singers at some points. And while I'm all for "colorblind" casting, when it makes a plot twist farfetched, it took me out of the enjoyment of the story a bit.

Hurricane Irene caused the cancellation of Broadway shows when she came through, and so we had to rebook our tickets to Follies, so that became my second Sondheim of the weekend. And gotta tell you, I enjoyed Forum quite a bit more. Follies is a complicated show with too many layers for my taste. The framework of the show is a reunion of "Weismann's Follies" girls on the occasion of the imminent destruction of the theater in which they performed. But our supposed main characters are two married couples, Sally Durrant Plummer (Bernadette Peters) and her husband Buddy (Danny Burstein), and Phyllis and Ben Stone (Ron Raines). At this performance, Phyllis, usually played by Jan Maxwell, was played by Colleen Fitzpatrick. While I was a bit disappointed not to see Maxwell, Fitzpatrick did an excellent job, nailing Phyllis's big act two song. The two couples have a history together, and that history is played out through their "young" counterparts. This story would have been enough to sustain a musical, I think, but in addition to these four main characters, we get production numbers from a number of the other Weismann girls. Backed up by "ghosts" of their younger selves. Jane Houdyshell scores with "Broadway Baby" and Terri White leads all the women in a wonderfully choreographed "Who's that Woman". Elaine Page brings a different spin "To I'm Still Here" and although there have been stories that she's been missing lyrics, she was fine at this performance. The most confusing (and annoying to me) part of the show is a sudden descent into a full fledged "follies" type set of numbers in the 2nd act. They don't really serve to advance the plot and the change from the "present day" soon to be demolished theater set to bright red feathered set was too jarring. And to be honest, while listening to Bernadette Peters heartwrenching version of "Losing My Mind," I had my eyes closed.

I know that there are people who absolutely love Follies, but if given the choice, I'll see Forum again before I'll see Follies again.

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