BWW Reviews: They're Playing Our (Grandparents) Song at Winter Park Playhouse

Vernon Gersch, a 70's songwriter, is a punctual and sarcastic stick in the mud and Sonia Walsk practices candor and tardiness. So when he proposes that they join forces, it is clear from the start that these two are going to make a comedically disastrous pairing. A score by Marvin Hamlisch and Carole Bayer Sager and jokes by Neil Simon, THEY'RE PLAYING OUR SONG is a passé musical about the real-life relationship of Hamlisch and Sager. It is also The Winter Park Playhouse's third show of the season, conveniently starring the Company's Executive and Artistic Directors.

The trouble with comedy is how current it must always remain. Theatrical pundits refuse to acknowledge that Neil Simon has evolved out of the scope of American comedy. The frivolous jokes in THEY'RE PLAYING OUR SONG are stale. I predict a revival with a revised book and lyrics by Douglas Carter Bean will find its way back to Broadway one day, but until then, we are left with The Winter Park Playhouse and their unimagined production.

In his attempt to dust off this old chestnut of a musical, director Michael Edwards presents as many problems to the audience as Vernon and Sonia face in their own relationship. The perpetual technical follies with the sound system was the audience's Leon- always present and never going away. Instead of basking in the dated material and having fun with it, Edward's direction has the cast pushing tirelessly for laughs.

Heather Alexander has a wonderful voice and bursts onto the stage at the top of the show with incomparable bravado. She kept everyone else onstage from sinking, by carrying the show's heartbeat. But by the end Ms. Alexander is exhausted from picking up the slack of everyone else on stage, especially Roy Allen who gives nothing in return. Mr. Allen's performance, which never reaches beyond a battery of slow burns and awkward mugs, was as stale as the 35-year-old jokes he was delivering.

The ensemble of six (three men and three women) play the inner conscience of Vernon and Sonia. Often known for stealing the show, these six spent the evening listlessly trotting on and off the stage. Limited creativity was taken with the ensemble, for example in the show's title production number where Vernon sings, "That couple half out the door/ Is comin' back to hear more of my music", and it literally featured a couple halfway in the wings, stopping, and turning around (presumably to hear more).

Christopher Leavy captains yet another successful mini orchestra and Linda's C. Shorrock brought some great costume pieces to the stage, particularly Vernon's wardrobe, but also went in another direction for some choices that seemed peculiar; the male chorus in green t-shirts during "Right", and Sonia's low cut negligee late in Act Two. The flood of lighting washing out the stage was unexciting and sloppy. Lighting instruments were unfocused and spilled onto the walls of the house and in areas that were not part of the scene. No lighting designer was billed in the program.

Perhaps the weakest technical element was Cathy Colangelo's set design. Choosing to divide the stage in half was unfortunate, especially when the entirety of downstage left was reserved as the recording studio, a location that only gets used a few times. The other areas felt cramped, and leave no room for the kitschy choreography. The production would have worked much better without 70% of the set. Large window frames, a shelf of anachronistic nicknacks, and unsightly handpainted murals of the New York skyline should have been cut during rehearsals.

While in the lobby during intermission I heard someone on the payroll ask a patron, "It's nice to see us do a book musical once and a while, right?" The Winter Park Playhouse prides itself on being Orlando's only professional theatre company devoted to Musical Theatre. Tragically, Winter Park Playhouse is only interested in putting on musical revues that attract an audience of Baby Boomers. I wish Winter Park Playhouse would stop pandering to one specific demographic, and start mounting fully conceived musical productions that would attract a broader audience. The Playhouse is a charming location where intimate musicals like FALSETTOS, AVENUE Q, and LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS would all thrive in. At this rate Winter Park Playhouse should just take out the theatre seats, install tables with folding chairs, and have the evening catered by PRATO.

Visit the Winter Park Playhouse's website for tickets. THEY'RE PLAYING OUR SONG runs through October 4th

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