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Music
outwits acting in ‘Together’ “Putting it Together” at Stage West is not the best show to see for a romantic evening of theater. The show, a loosely plotted revue of Stephen Sondheim’s songs on relationships and love, involves five people who fight and bicker their way through relationships, a few affairs and a near divorce during a Manhattan dinner party.
But Sondheim’s show makes a great evening of music with strong performances by the cast, most notably Melinda Wood Allen and Laurie Vlasich Bulaoro. The two females in the cast both deliver stunning featured songs that are high points of the show. Bulaoro controls the small theater during her long but beautiful “The Miller’s Son”, and Allen turns in a strong, captivating performance of “Could I Leave You?” to end the first act and the very funny “Getting Married Today” midway through the second. These three songs alone are worth the show. Although frequently outperformed by the women, the men in the cast also handle the material very well. All three have a lot of fun with the song “Everybody Ought to Have a Maid”, and Shane Peterman performs “Marry Me a Little” with a heroic sweetness. Because of the revue format, this show is mostly for people who are familiar with and fans of Sondheim’s work. Music from his shows “Company,” “Merrily We Roll Along,” “Follies” and “Dick Tracy” are featured. Even audience members with little knowledge of Sondheim will enjoy the show, though, thanks to the strong performances by the charming cast. Little dialogue tie the songs together. Instead, one song flows into the other creating a barely-there storyline. The cast makes this format work, giving the songs so much meaning that dialogue is unnecessary. Because the show is well put together from Sondheim’s other works, not every song fits well within the whole. “I Could Drive a Person Crazy” in particular greatly interrupts the flow of the second act. Randy Clements holds nothing back in his performance of the song, but it simply doesn’t work. A few other songs, like “Hello Little Girl” and “Sweet Polly Plunkett” suffer from this same problem. On the whole, though, “Putting it Together” functions as a solid whole, creating a well-performed night of enjoyable and impressive theater. “Putting it Together” runs until Feb. 9 at Stage West, 3055 S. University Dr. Performances are 7:30 p.m. on Thursdays , 8 p.m. on Fridays, 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Saturdays and 7:30 p.m. Sundays. Tickets prices range from $9 to $22, with a discount with a valid student ID. Students may also purchase any remaining tickets 30 minutes before the how for $5. For tickets, call (817) 784-9378. John-Mark
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