The New Rep Theater's "Side by Side by Sondheim"

We saw the New Repertory Theater's production of "Side by Side by Sondheim" at the Arsenal Center with a group of friends.

We all loved the show. To paraphrase the narrator, each song was like a small several act drama. Usually, the drama (or comedy, or tragedy) was about a marriage breaking up, a marriage forming, a marriage not meant to be, or a relationship that once was.

I liked Leigh Barrett, as usual. Her singing is always powerful, and her face and gestures are mobile. She surprises you. When she takes on a character in an instant, you feel her empathy and understanding for the character. Her song, "The Boy From...." was a scream. And sad at the same time, of course, since you know this girl's hopes for a man will always be skewed, and only a miracle will put the right man who returns her love in front of her. There are moments when Barrett just sends a chill through you.

Maryann Zschau sang "Send in the Clowns" well. But I liked Leigh Barrett's version from a couple of years ago, when she performed in "A Little Night Music" for the Lyric Stage. More understated. Schau sometimes let the tear and choke in her voice get to be a little too much.

Which was not the case when Schau did the funny "Can That Boy Fox Trot." She was a riot. She's got a wonderful, sexy voice, with a kind of smoker's tenor rasp.

I read that Brendan McNab was an 11th hour addition, that something happened to the actor originally signed for the show. He was terrific. Maybe not as strong a singer as the other two, but a wonderful showman. His "Could I Leave You" was from the heart.

I agreed with Louise Kennedy's remarks in the Boston Globe that some of the narrator's remarks and the boy-girl repartee onstage was cloying and silly. The jokes seemed labored, and the actors seemed pained to have to haul themselves through. It detracted from the sophisticated irony that imbues Sondheim's work. (Kennedy's full review is here.)

We all remarked on how "real" the actors seemed -- not over-pretty and right from the acting workshop. They all had mileage. And how else could it be for these Sondheim songs?