Putting it Together

Tickets and Information

RE:Sondheim for Dummies
Putting it Together: Dan Pasley It is painful to say what I must say about this piece, because so much talent was engaged in the production, and this rather negative review should not reflect on the singers, musicians or designers. the choreography was weak, but the stage, which was brilliantly designed for the material, was not well designed for choreography As it plays, "Putting it Together" could just as easily have been marketed as "Sondheim for Dummies". And if my grandchildren were in town, who could benefit from a painless introduction to Sondheim, I would gladly buy a gaggle of twenty buck tickets and hire a limo for the occasion. A trip to this lovely venue is a nice experience. Not a bad seat in the house. Nice acoustics. Flawless stagecraft and memorable singers. Set in a prime example of suburban gentrification. Lots to love if you love it. Lots to scold if you are even more curmudgeonly than I. But for anyone with even a modest respect or appreciation for Sondheim, it was very unsettling. Of all the large figures of the 2Oth century Broadway stage, Sondheim suffers most from decontexualization. Very few of his songs fare well as independent "album cuts". Sondheims genius is that with very few variations of lyric pattern and a limited repertoire of melodic lines he paints character with his music. The character is intrinsic to the music, and the music becomes repetitive and less interesting without the character. I found myself wondering which play a very familiar song came from because I didnt recognize it without the character, and asking myself "what is so special about this song"? I have to wonder how much Sondheim had to do with "Putting it Together". I hope it was just his lawyers and agents who had a flash of recognition about lure of jukebox musicals in attendance challenged suburban arts centers and playhouses. Hey Steve! What if......? It would have been better to take this talented group of singers and let them do an evening with Sondheim around the piano and segue from musical to musical highlights, and not exclude Gypsy and Westside story because the song wouldnt shoe horn into a contrived though well executed and thoroughly unnecessary story line. It not only fails to add.... it measurably detracts. Did I mention the singers were great. The four piece orchestra never sounded thin. Beautiful set. For $20. that was way more than enough. At $75 I would be pissed.

Reviewed by gypseyjingle on Monday, Sep 14th, 2009