Steven Oxman

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It’s fair to say that the success relies completely on longtime devotees of the films and the kids they bring with them, because this musical works only as fan service. For the critical — hey, it’s my job — there’s more pleasure to be had appreciating the nostalgia-driven joy of the audience than there is in what’s on stage, which is all frantic adrenaline.

I was surprised but not disappointed. This piece, it turns out, is quite modest, but I found that modesty — the focus on the central character’s interior journey, the clarity of the relationships, the novel’s language, the spare rather than the spectacular — to have its own beguiling charms.

The good news is that the Robin Williams character — in one of the actor's classic film performances, improvising with that on-the-edge-of-sanity zaniness that made him so compelling — is played by Rob McClure in a rare case of the Broadway lead going on tour.

There are too many musical highs in this show to mention. One of Sondheim’s best scores, it shines here from the emotional, and often comedic, vitality, of an excellent ensemble. For the comic, there’s Act II opener “Side by Side by Side,” for which the cast puts on too-small party hats and Coleman skillfully mixes clownishness and desperation. And then there’s the always-a-showstopper-but-especially-here panicked patter song “Getting Married Today,” performed with neurotic aplomb by Matt Rodin in another perfectly conceptualized gender switch, and which also features characters’ delightful emergence from unexpected spots.