Review: BABY Gives Birth to Dramedy at Front Porch Theatricals

If you've read these reviews (or any reviews) over the last decade, you know the oft-recurring line: "it doesn't really matter what Front Porch produces, because it's the company reputation and not the show name that will convince you to see it." That philosophy has extended in the last few years to Front Porch presenting regional premieres (and quite possibly world premieres) of musicals who have been showcased and recorded in concert form instead. Last year's A, My Name Is Still Alice was likely the first fully staged theatrical presentation of that 1990s-era revue, and this presentation of the revised version of Maltby and Shire's Baby was introduced as one of, if not THE, first licensed production of the new version of the show. As usual, it's a show people haven't seen, but a show produced with such care and passion that it's impossible not to warm to it.

Directed by Kristiann Menotiades with music direction by Deana Muro, Baby splits the distance between a densely involved character study (a la Falsettos a few years back) and a series of barely linked sketches and songs (a la Alice last season). The story revolves around nine months in the lives of three couples: college students Lizzie (Saige Smith) and Danny (Braden Max Stroppel), thirtysomething lesbians Pam (Lindsay Bayer Ray) and Nicki (Maria Bechtell), and middle-aged empty nesters Alan (Allan Snyder) and Arlene (Becki Toth). They all live in the same college town, they all have social and professional interactions, but they have only one thing in common: they're all seeing the same OBGYN for pregnancy-related issues. Complications, both heartwarming and tragic, ensue. The stories are rounded out by a four-person Greek chorus playing college students, townies, professors and doctors: newcomers William Forrest Smith, Sarah Hennessy and Isabella Corea, plus Front Porch regular David Ieong. 

Baby is more of an interesting show than a perfect one, which, to me, is part of its appeal. If the show were completely actor-and-director-proof, you'd see it everywhere. It would probably have toured and been a regular in every midsize community theatre. What we have here instead is smart, enjoyable but slightly oddball material, the kind of show that requires a strong directorial insight to work. Thankfully, Menotiades has supplied exactly the kind of firm hand required, staging the show in constant fluid motion across Johnmichael Bohach's preschool-style toybox set with little more than a few wooden blocks and a pull-out nursery bed, all full-sized to adult proportions.

Saige Smith is a mainstay of Pittsburgh's theatrical scene for good reason, and she brings her ability to bounce between epic drama and light comedy to the role of pregnant student Lizzie. Her comic timing and playfully passionate duets with Braden Max Stroppel's Danny are a constant source of energy in the show. Stroppel digs into the underwritten role of Danny and finds a deep characterization as the fuckboy-turned-sincere-partner, though as a general rule the script gives the women more meat than the men (this is, after all, a show about pregnancy).

On the farther end of the continuum, Allan Snyder and Becki Toth bring the greatest gravitas to their unexpected geriatric pregnancy subplot, but then counter it with some of the broadest physical comedy. The running gag of Snyder's conveniently-named Alan forgetting he's in his fifties and overexerting himself starts out funny, turns into a groaner, and then circles around again to being funnier than the first time. Becki Toth shows glimpses of the zaniness she exhibited in Alice, but plays a much heavier role this time, as a mother of four who is torn between hope and resignation at the prospect of doing it all again decades later. Her duet with Snyder as they reassess their relationship in the empty-nest period comes close to Sondheimian.

At times, it seems like Lindsay Bayer Ray and Maria Bechtell are stuck in the middle, their storyline often serving as the glue to tie the other two plots together. There may be some truth to this; their characters' plot was rewritten from a heterosexual couple struggling with infertility to a lesbian couple struggling with IVF, and every so often you can see the seams where the cut-and-paste wasn't entirely invisible. (Ironically enough, the part that feels the most current and topical isn't the queer representation, it's the minor subplot about women's basketball suddenly becoming popular and profitable.) The two of them are the middle-of-the-road option, neither as overtly comedic nor as melodramatic as the other two plotlines; in fact, their recurring struggle is with the monotonous ennui of fertility treatments replacing the passion of romance. Despite the less explosive material they are given, both Bayer Ray and Bechtell provide warm, earthy presence onstage; Bechtell's performance of "At Night She Comes Home to Me" feels like the beating heart of Act 1.

You'd think I'm the wrong person to review a show about parenthood and coupling: I've never even had a pet, let alone a child. But I've been around parents, and I still remember being parented. There is a truth in this show that is not always sentimentalized, about the mix of ugly and beautiful that is family. Parenthood will undoubtedly ruin your life, but hopefully it'll grant you a new one after it does. If you've ever experienced that on either end- and who among us has not, except Dolly the sheep- this is a show for you.

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