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Masthead
A CurtainUp DC Review
Simply Sondheim
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Not a day goes by. Not a single day. But you're somewhere a part of my life, and it looks like you'll stay. — Beth, in Merrily We Roll Along. |
Donna Migliaccio (Photo by Clinton Brandhagen)
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Eric Schaeffer, Signature's Artistic Director, and David Loud, who took care of the musical and vocal arrangements, have chosen songs that are very familiar but never got old; also songs that seem new either because they were cut from shows, such as "Who Could Be Blue?/Little White House," excised from Follies, and therefore are little or less known. Jonathan Tunick did the orchestrations and Matthew Gardiner shows his talent as director and choreographer. There's little dancing per se except for a little soft shoe, some hip twirls and dramatic gestures that emphasize the emotions behind the lyrics but Gardiner moves his actors around the stage inventively.
There are six performers — three men, three women — who divvy up the songs. Donna Migliaccio, a co-founder 25 years ago of Signature Theatre and veteran of many of the 24 Sondheim shows that the theatre has produced, gives a truly dynamic performance. She's very funny when slapping pastry for "The Worst Pies in London" from Sweeney Todd, romantic in "Loving You," from Passion, tough and gutsy in "Could I Leave You," from Follies, and hilarious when belting "The Ladies Who Lunch." If this ensemble piece does have a star, it's Donna.
Bobby Smith, who has a few years more experience of life's ups and downs than the younger players, is an agile hoofer, a good actor (when restrained from too many repetitious movements) and very fine singer (until he has to scramble for the upper ranges). He and Paul Scanlan set just the right tone for "Poems," from Pacific Overtures, as they alternate rhymes and asides in competition with one another.
Austin Colby, who seems very young and somewhat green when it comes to acting, has a beautiful voice that he puts to the test and wins nobly in "Someone in a Tree," from Pacific Overtures. Stephanie Waters, whose bio includes the intriguing fact that she was a White House Presidential Scholar, has a voice that has an operatic in timber that's well suited to such numbers as "On the Steps on the Palace" from Into the Woods and "Not a Day Goes By," from Merrily We Roll Along. Kellee Knighten Hough has a tough time adequately enunciating the fast-paced "Getting Married Today" but fares much better with "Losing My Mind" and "Not a Day Goes By" which she sings as a duet with Donna Migliaccio.
While many of the numbers are very familiar there are some surprises (at least to me) such as "Impossible" from A Funny Thing Happened On The Way to the Forum and "Now/Later/Soon" from A Little Night Music. Maybe I've heard them before that they were overshadowed by other numbers.
Music director Jon Kalbfleisch is in fine form and so is his onstage 15-piece orchestra. There is no credit for set design which is a pity since the scrims hung at obtuse angles and lit in varying colors by Rob Denton make a fine backdrop for what is an enormously pleasing afternoon/evening of listening to Stephen Sondheim's marvelous music and angst-filled lyrics.
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Simply Sondheim Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim Co-conceived by David Loud & Eric Schaeffer Orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick Musical Supervision and Vocal Arrangements by David Loud Directed and Choreographed by Matthew Gardiner Costume Design by Kathleen Geldard Lighting Design by Rob Denton Music Direction by Jon Kalbfleisch Cast: Austin Colby, Kellee Knighten Hough, Donna Migliaccio, Paul Scanlan, Bobby Smith, Stephanie Waters. Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Avenue, Arlington, Va. 22206; www.signature-theatre.org; tickets start at $40; 703-573-SEAT; April 2 to 19, 2015. Review by Susan Davidson based on April 5, 2015 performance. |
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