The old joke about a musical misfire is that you'll come out humming the scenery. That barb can be softened in the case of Road Show, which may leave you humming the lyrics albeit without the melodies on which they ride. It's also an old saw to celebrate Stephen Sondheim's agility with lyrics while mustering but a respectful doff of the hat to his music �" and there is an extraordinary body of work to demolish that notion �" but with Road Show, the nugget of truth that begat the cliche regains its currency.
But if you are a Sondheim believer (apostates may now leave the room), your chance to see Road Show on a stage may not soon come along again. Theatre Rhino is presenting a stripped-down staging of what emerged in 2008 as a stripped-down revision of what had previously been known as Wise Guys, Gold, and Bounce. Even more so amid the aesthetically crude production at the Eureka Theatre, Sondheim's almost maniacal wordplay takes center stage.
Road Show is a biography in brief of Wilson and Addison Mizner, two brothers from the Bay Area with strike-it-rich mentalities that led to numerous picaresque adventures at the turn of the 20th century. Sondheim and librettist John Weidman have made no secret of the difficulty in figuring out not only how to tell the story, but deciding what that story is meant to signify. Themes of ambition, greed, resilience, opportunism, and self-destruction wax and wane in a story that foretells an unhappy end in the opening number.
The writers invoke psychological shorthand to help explain the Mizners' motivations. (Addison craves his mother's approval, but she showers her attention on Wilson.) The story unfolds in vignettes from their lives both together and apart until they join forces for a final show of tragic brotherly love in the midst of a tottering land scheme in Florida.
Bill Fahrner and Rudy Guerrero capably play the brothers' contrasting personalities, with Fahrner creating a pliable and needy Addison and Guerrero playing the fast-talking huckster Wilson. An eclectic ensemble plays the multiple characters who pass through the brothers' lives, from society matrons to prizefighters. Many of the scenes play out with self-aware theatrical artifice, which can be emotionally distancing, but an exception is made for the man who becomes Addison's patron and lover. Michael Doppe brings a welcoming touchstone to reality as Hollis, and at least a few moments of genuine emotional warmth can grow as Addison and Hollis discover love.
That Addison was an acclaimed architect whose flamboyant variations on Spanish themes are still on view in Florida is at odds with the misshapen, roughhewn, and awkward contraption sitting center stage that is adapted to the many settings. Director John Fisher stages the musical in competent fashion, with sporadic touches of whimsy. Musical director Dave Dobrusky provides steady accompaniment at the piano, though the production's vocal components are only passable. Which brings us back to the lyrics. Road Show is a musical with more rhyme than reason.
Road Show will run through Jan. 19 at the Eureka Theatre. Tickets are $15-$30. Call (800) 838-3006 or go to therhino.org.