‘Show’s’ Gentle Charm Sums Up Sturdy Talent of Songwriting Team

Tom Jones talks, Harvey Schmidt doesn’t. They’re the Penn & Teller of lyricist-composer partnerships.

Not that the Jones-Schmidt revue, “The Show Goes On,” offers cheap thrills, a la those madcap illusionists. This show, in which its creators star at Laguna Playhouse’s Moulton Theater, is low-key, focusing on gentle human comedy and sentiment.

These are also the primary appeals of “The Fantasticks” and “I Do! I Do!,” the most famous results of the Jones-Schmidt collaboration, so anyone who likes those shows might also like the mild charms of “The Show Goes On.”

In one segment of the revue, songs from the team’s “110 in the Shade” set up contrasting views of romance: bold adventures (“Melisande”) and quiet but sturdy partnerships (“Simple Little Things”). Jones and Schmidt apparently prefer the latter. In fact, “The Show” itself is a simple little thing.

Lyricist Jones hosts the proceedings from center stage, while composer Schmidt stays behind a keyboard at Jones’ left, playing all of the accompaniment and sometimes joining in the singing, but never uttering a single word outside Jones’ lyrics. Three younger performers provide most of the singing and movement, under the direction of Drew Scott Harris.

Jones, 72, points out that the central theme of the duo’s work is time, as often illustrated by the physical toll that aging takes. Jones himself looks fit and trim, and his stage movements are spry enough. But his voice, speaking and singing, doesn’t project as well as those of the younger performers (including spring chicken Schmidt, 70, whose occasional vocal contributions carry a bit more heft than those of Jones). The performers don’t use body mikes, but a few mikes are on the edge of the stage.

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The first act dips into the team’s most successful works, but it skips lightly over “The Fantasticks,” their biggest hit. After the opening number “Come on Along,” we hear the song that replaced it in “The Fantasticks,” “Try to Remember”--the most beloved Jones-Schmidt creation. But it’s used primarily as an introduction to the three other performers.

Jones’ commentary is disarmingly self-deprecating. But he doesn’t mention the controversy over the lighthearted “rape” song in “The Fantasticks” and how the team responded to it over the years. From reports in print, it sounds as if this song has been a particularly pesky fly in the ointment of their biggest hit, and a discussion of it might have added a bit of welcome substance to the overly placid first half of “Show.”

Instead, we hear a trio of songs about loneliness, another trio that was written for the female star’s “kick up her heels” slot in “110 in the Shade,” and a third trio of title songs from “I Do! I Do!” (they wrote 15 title songs for this show before settling on one). Though these numbers are of some interest, they’re a little too easy to dismiss as trivia.

Just before intermission, the tone gets slightly more contentious with “The Honeymoon Is Over” from “I Do! I Do!,” but then it concludes with the reassuring strains of the team’s second most popular song, “My Cup Runneth Over.”

The more rewarding second half covers more obscure shows and offers a better showcase for the less famous performers.

Emma Lampert, whose first-act appearances primarily show off her fresh-faced youth, covers up some of that shine for “Orphan in the Story” and tackles an enormous subject in “Fifty Million Years Ago” (too bad Jones’ lyric falters at the end of this otherwise intriguing song).

Jo Ann Cunningham enlivens a witty reflection on female aging, “Decorate the Human Face,” while Mark McGrath does well with the male counterpart, “Where Did It Go?” The two of them create a bit of sizzle in the evening’s sexiest number, “Under the Tree,” and Cunningham’s rendition of a song about a deceased mate, “The Room Is Filled With You,” is the show’s most poignant moment.

Jones and Schmidt sing the acerbic “Wonderful Way to Die,” inspired by the work of Jessica Mitford. The concluding numbers on the program, including the revue’s title song (taken from “Mirette,” recently seen in Fullerton) aren’t grand enough for a finale. But when Jones and Schmidt offer the first song they ever wrote--about being a freshman in college--as an encore, it’s a perfect little coda, in part because it sounds as if it were created to express their feelings at a specific moment. Most of the other songs sound as if they were created for professional obligations.

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* “The Show Goes On, A Portfolio of Theatre Songs,” Laguna Playhouse’s Moulton Theater, 606 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach. Tuesdays-Sundays, 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays-Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends July 30. $40-$45. (949) 497-ARTS. Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes.

Written by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt. Directed by Drew Scott Harris. Set by James Morgan. Costumes by Suzy Benzinger. Lighting by Mary Jo Dondlinger. Choreography by Janet Watson. Musical supervisor Dan Shaheen. Stage manager Nancy Staiger.