STAGE REVIEW : New Sondheim Revue Opens New Actors Alley Home

Actors Alley found a perfect inaugural song for its new home at the former Main Stage Theatre in North Hollywood: Stephen Sondheim’s “Invocation and Instructions to the Audience” from “Frogs.” But the gods invoked in this witty ditty were not always doing their job during the rest of the opening night.

The song opens “You’re Gonna Love Tomorrow,” a new Sondheim revue, not to be confused with “Side By Side By Sondheim” or “Marry Me a Little” (though it does share three songs with the former and one with the latter).

The first block of tunes, following that exuberant opener, is from Sondheim’s unproduced first show, “Saturday Night.” Though the cast is clad in black formal wear, a casual, youthful spirit is evident, especially in the men’s ensemble performances. But the section was marred by the strain apparent in Bonnie Bailey’s voice during her solo “This Is Nice, Isn’t It?” Her voice continued to waver throughout opening night.

Following two intriguing but awkwardly placed “Poems” from “Pacific Overtures,” Karen Reed returned to “Saturday Night” for “What More Do I Need?,” a spirited tribute to love blooming in the middle of the New York madness. It was followed by Sandy Rosenberg’s rousing rendition of the more familiar but well-matched “Another Hundred People” from “Company.”

During “The House of Marcus Lycus” from “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” a little joke was made out of the women--and then one of the men--portraying enticing courtesans in their black formal wear. The men added a brisk “There’s Something About a War” from the same show and did well by the enigmatic “Someone in a Tree,” from “Pacific Overtures.” “You’re Gonna Love Tomorrow,” from “Follies,” closed the first half on a jaunty upbeat.

The second half draws heavily on recent Sondheim shows that weren’t represented in the other two revues: “Sunday in the Park With George,” “Merrily We Roll Along” and “Into the Woods.”

“State of the Art/Putting It Together,” from “Sunday,” seemed stiff in Gordon McManus’ staging, and Gregory Franklin didn’t have every last lyric of this difficult number firmly in place. But the show rolled along smoothly with the grand music from “Merrily” and “Woods.” The odd inclusion of individual songs from “Company” and “Follies” in the middle of this later material netted uneven results, with Joe Garcia doing a condensed but adroitly staged “Buddy’s Blues” and Christy Botkin delivering a lackluster “Being Alive.”

The choral work was generally superior to the solo work, though Gary Reed carried off his solos in high style. Musical director Marjorie Poe’s piano accompaniment occasionally sounded insecure on opening night.

The lighting operator was slow on the draw at several moments. Speaking of lights, someone should find a better way to illuminate the house before the show than with a bright light pointed directly at the entrance; I felt as if I were entering an interrogation chamber instead of a gracious small theater.

At the outset, we were told that the house was not wired until 6 p.m. on opening night; perhaps some of the technical problems will disappear with time. The songs have enough class to make up for the most of the flaws in the presentation. It’s just too bad that someone didn’t catch the typo in the program: Sondheim’s “songs are the most varied, consistently challenging body of work over written for the American musical stage.” That’s the sort of line that will make Sondheim detractors sit up and snicker.