Mountain Scenery

For those folks who go to the Berkshires in summer for the cool air and cooler arts, we can report that, recently, the weather has for the most part been better than the theater. But there is a stellar production of Follies at the Barrington Stage, and that’s reason enough for a trip to the area.

Follies has always been admired for its Stephen Sondheim score, while its book by James Goldman has been bemoaned for its awkward construction. The basic plot concerns a 1971 reunion of performers from the legendary Weismann (read: Ziegfeld) Follies productions on Broadway in the years between the World Wars. Everyone gets his or her star turn but the focus is on former showgirls Sally and Phyllis, who dated — and married — two stage door Johnnies named Buddy and Ben. They didn’t live happily after. At the reunion, old passions flare and secrets are revealed. Most important, great songs such as “The Road You Didn’t Take,” “In Buddy’s Eyes,” “Losing My Mind,” and “Too Many Mornings” reveal their angst.

The success or failure of any production of this show always seems to be a reflection of the star power that illuminates it, so mounting Follies in summer stock is an ambitious undertaking. Barrington’s artistic director, Julianne Boyd, has managed to pull it off, in large part because she’s been able to attract such a stellar cast. As Ben, Jeff McCarthy not only has a wonderful voice but his acting is very strong; the character’s sense of loss is palpable. Kim Crosby, who also sings beautifully, is solid as Sally though a bit young for the part. Leslie Denniston as Phyllis gets her chance to shine in the biting “Could I Leave You?” Lara Teeter’s standout moment as Buddy is his performance of “The God-Why-Don’t-You-Love-Me-Blues.”

You shouldn’t have Donna McKechnie in your show if you haven’t got a showstopper for her to belt. If McKechnie’s voice isn’t entirely up to the demands of “I’m Still Here,” her history sure is; just like her character Carlotta, she has lasted through thick and thin. (There’s a line in the song where Carlotta sings “I’m almost through my memoirs,” and McKechnie has her own memoir coming out this year.) But the most thrilling — and surprising — moment in the show comes halfway through the first act when Diane Houghton, an older actress unfamiliar to these critics, stops the show with “Broadway Baby.” Speaking of Broadway Babies, the up-and-coming actors who play the younger incarnations of Ben (Eric Ulloa), Buddy (John Patrick), Phyllis (Nili Bassman), and Sally (Elise Molinelli) distinguish themselves and never get lost in the shadows of their elders.

For all its pluses, this remains a summer stock production; it’s hampered to some degree by shortcomings ranging from an inadequate sound system to wigs that look like they were bought at Woolworth’s. (Yes, we mean Woolworth’s; they not only look cheap, they look old.) But a fine cast tips the scale in the show’s favor.

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A Side Order of Sondheim

As it happens, Follies is not the only Sondheim show in the area. Side by Side by Sondheim is playing at the much admired Berkshire Theatre Festival. This modest production, more pleasant than trenchant, features Jessica Walter as the narrator and three singers: Allison Briner, Marcus Neville, and Michele Ragusa.

Considering the material — the revue covers Sondheim’s work through Pacific Overtures — this show should have been better. It’s probably not the singers’ fault that it isn’t. (We know that Briner and Ragusa are capable of delivering the goods; Neville was a cipher to us before the show began and he remained so when it was over.) Apparently, director Gary M. English did not trust that the material — some of the greatest in musical theater history — was strong enough to work without larding the production with shtick. The performers rarely get the chance to simply sing the songs without distracting the audience (and, perhaps, themselves) from the more than ample wit inherent in the material. For example, when Briner sings “I Never Do Anything Twice,” she pummels the double entendres into submission, indicating every gag and stressing every sly punchline as if the audience had just learned to walk upright.

Nonetheless, there are some good moments: Ragusa’s rendition of “Losing My Mind,” Neville and Briner singing “We’re Gonna Be All Right,” and Ragusa and Briner duetting in “A Boy Like That” and “I Have a Love” are among the highlights. (Note: Those last two songs are, of course, from West Side Story and have music by Leonard Bernstein.) Director English should have known better and just let the music and lyrics speak for themselves.

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Younger Than Swingtime

If you leave the Berkshires and cross over into New Lebanon, New York to sample the fare at The Theater Barn, you will get a taste of old fashioned summer stock where young, non-Equity performers pay their dues and audiences pay generally modest ticket fees. We were able to see the theater’s second show of the season, Swingtime Canteen by Linda Thorson Bond, William Repicci, and Charles Busch. The show combines a campy book about an all-girl band on a U.S.O. tour in 1944 with music from the Great American Songbook. This production was directed by Penny Ayn Maas to be within reach of the raw skills of the cast.

As we noted when we originally saw Swingtime Canteen in New York City, the role of washed up movie star Marian Ames should always be played by a guy in drag. (In New York, Busch himself eventually stepped into the part.) Here, Ames is played by the regal Jennylind Parris. She gets what the role is about but can only extract a small degree of its humor. Most of the others in the six-person cast have similar struggles, but one of the pleasures of checking out shows like this is finding someone who really stands out. Here, Laura Binstock, who plays the movie star’s niece, seems ready to make her mark; she is genuine, endearing, and sings very sweetly.

We discovered upon entering The Theater Barn that its artistic director is Michael Marotta, a cabaret/theater performer of considerable talent. Under his leadership, the theater is becoming more ambitious; among its upcoming shows are the Ahrens/Flaherty musical Lucky Stiff and the first local production of The Full Monty.

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Don’t Get on This Carousel

Without question, the best musical — in the worst production — now playing in the Berkshires is the Rodgers & Hammerstein classic Carousel at the Mac-Haydn Theatre in Chatham, New York. This is the kind of production you’d want to see only if you had a relative in the cast. (Maybe that’s why the cast is so large!) But here, too, one performer stands out from the crowd in a very positive way: Karla Shook plays Carrie Pipperidge with real humor and flair.

Carousel is one of the most difficult musical theater pieces in the canon. The remarkable thing about this production is that, despite its countless inadequacies, it proves that the show is finally indestructible. A woman behind us was weeping as the cast sang “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” And when Billy Bigelow tried to help his daughter and failed, even these hard-bitten (and mosquito-bitten) critics started to tear up.

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[To contact the Siegels directly, e-mail them at siegels@theatermania.com.]