Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Encores! Off-Center’s revival of Sondheim’s ROAD SHOW makes a strong case for the musical

• By drediman
• July 28, 2019
• No Comments

Raúl Esparza in Encores! Off-Center’s production of “Road Show” by Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman at New York City Center. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Last night at New York City Center, I caught the closing night performance of Encores! Off-Center’s hugely satisfying 2019 summer series, which concluded with a handful of performances of a revival of Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s musical Road Show. The musical has been notoriously under renovation for at least a good two decades now, having gone through a number of incarnations (I caught the show when it was known as Bounce at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre way back in 2003 under the direction of Hal Prince). The musical tells the American story of the Mizner brothers – Wilson (“Willy”) and Addison (“Addy”) – who, at the turn of the 20th century, set out to pursue success and fortune, only to come up empty-handed.

In youthful and tuneful energy, Mr. Sondheim’s open-hearted score calls to mind his work on the comparably maligned and reworked Merrily We Roll Along. Thematically, the show is also reminiscent of the master’s 1990 musical Assassins, which also features a book by John Weidman. Both shows probe, sometimes uncomfortably but always thoughtfully, the darker underbelly of the notion of the American Dream, and the disillusioned motivations behind it (the current Tony-winning revival of Oklahoma! also explores similar themes). By design, Road Show and its previous versions have been episodic and awkwardly conceptual affairs, which have been the root of the piece’s structural problems and seeming lack of shape and compelling connective tissue. If it can up the vaudevillian factor already built into its DNA – an approach so sensationally leveraged in Chicago – I think the show could be even more theatrically effective, bringing some needed cohesiveness to the musical.

As such – and perhaps unintentionally – the show works better than ever as a staged concert, as it was in this recently-shuttered Encores! Off-Center revival, which was cleverly staged by young director and choreographer Will Davis as a sort of radio show. Also helping to make a case for Road Show as a worthwhile entry in the Sondheim canon was the top-notch cast, which was led Raúl Esparza and Brandon Uranowitz as the brash Willy and more subdued and artistic Addy, respectively. Each was  in glorious voice and utilized their particular brand of acting (Mr. Esparza’s manic energy and electric stage presence; Mr. Uranowitz’s neurotic charm) to beautifully portray not only the brothers’ philosophical differences, but also their unavoidable familial similarities. Also featured were Mary Beth Peil (radiant as their mother), Chuck Cooper (commanding as their father), and Jin Ha (an inspired choice for Hollis, Addy’s lover and business partner), who were all quite perfectly cast.

RECOMMENDED

ROAD SHOW
Off-Broadway, Musical
Encores! Off-Center / New York City Center
1 hour, 45 minutes (without an intermission)
Closed