REVIEW: BOUNCE at the Kennedy Center in Washington

It's finally happened! After forty years of dark-souled complexity, Stephen Sondheim has finally written a bright, cheerful, and (dare I say it?) hummable score! Oh, sure, there are some tricky rhythm and patter songs and a few counterpoints, but on the whole, the score to Bounce is gentle on the ears and on the mind. It's the kind of score that can be appreciated without having to concentrate terribly hard. It's a melodic score that is meant to be enjoyed.

Would that all of Bounce was so enjoyable.

It's not that the story isn't interesting. The lives of the Mizner brothers is ideal for a musical. They lived out the American dream at the turn of the century, gaining and losing fortunes from the Alaskan Gold Rush to the Florida Land Boom. It's a good story about ambition and loyalty and family that should make a good show. And it is a good show. Sad thing is, it isn't a great show, fun though it may be. For that, I blame John Weidman's awkward book that focuses more on one-liners than plot or character development. To be fair, some of those one-liners are rather funny, but the jokes always come from Weidman, never the characters, and therefore seem forced. Weidman relies on curse words and crude sexual humour to get laughs, rather than following the jovial music and lyrics into natural comic dialogue. And when the jokes in a musical comedy are forced, ya got trouble, my friends.

Fortunately, there is plenty to praise about Bounce, mostly how much it has improved since its Chicago tryout three months ago. Back then, it seemed like every member of the creative team was working on something different: Sondheim wrote a traditional musical comedy, Harold Prince directed a vaudeville, and Weidman wrote a bittersweet melodrama. The pieces were far too different to click together into a whole, and the whole show felt awkward. It's much better now. A song that once brought Act One to a screeching halt just as it got going is still there, but some dialogue has been added to the bridge to keep the pace moving a little. Several vaudeville-esque visual gags have been excised or at least smoothed over, and a few songs have been tweaked or moved, almost all for the better. These changes have made the show smoother, more consistent, and stronger.

And of course, much praise must be heaped upon the actors. Richard Kind's musical debut is nothing short of brilliant, playing the loving but perpetually abused Addison Mizner with a gentle innocence that never crosses the line into naïveté. Kind's comic timing is perfection, and he also finds the true heart of the more dramatic moments between the brothers. If Howard McGillin's performance as the drug-addicted scam artist Wilson Mizner is less impressive, it's probably because the role is not as complex or dynamic as Addison. Still, McGillin sings very well, and makes the rake charming and amusing. Recent Tony-winner Michele Pawk rises above the contrivances of her role to play the Wilson's bawdy short-term wife with great aplomb. Her comic timing matches Kind's in its perfection, and her voice has never been lovelier. Back in Chicago, Jane Powell's performance as Mama Mizner was acidic and almost cruel, but now she is just soft enough to make us see why her sons would compete for her love. Herndon Lackey, a true theatrical chameleon, sings very well as the boys' father and is very amusing in his myriad smaller roles.

Adding to the theme of an old-fashioned musical comedy are Eugene Lee's sets, mostly comprised of backdrops, and Howell Binkley's follow-spots and footlights. Harold Prince has stopped trying to force a musical comedy into a vaudeville frame, and his direction now keeps the show moving at a good pace despite the book.

And oh, the score. That charming, bright music with the clever and quirky but uncomplicated lyrics. It's fun, it's enjoyable, and it works just beautifully. If any other composer churned out songs like these, we would accuse him of being retro. For Sondheim, it's new.

Bounce will play the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, until November 16th. If you want traditional Sondheim, don't go, you'll hate it. If you want a fun evening watching gifted actors sing lovely melodies, grab a ticket and get ready to smile.

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