Marry Me A Little, being presented at Diversionary Theatre, is a Stephen Sondheim musical revue that features many of the composer’s unknown musical gems that have been cut from several of his shows. Some of those shows are well known (Follies and Company) and some are not (Saturday Night).
Playwright and performer Craig Lucas and director Norman Rene conceived the show back in 1980. Since then it has been reworked by a handful of companies most notably the Celebration Theatre in Los Angeles and most recently at The New Rep in Watertown, Mass.
Both of these theaters, with permission from Sondheim, have taken the concept of the revue and given it a little gender-bending twist. Diversionary’s production, under the adept direction of James Vasquez, does the same thing but takes it a step further.
The show is entirely sung and takes place in two separate New York apartments in the same building. Its inhabitants ponder and deal with what it’s like to be alone and imagine what life would be like if they weren’t alone, until they eventually meet and fall in love; all of this being done in song only.
Vasquez has taken the show and has fashioned the Lucas and Rene love story set to music to be done three ways; man-to-man, woman-to-woman and man-to-woman giving audiences three different ways to experience the production. On opening night the Diversionary audience was offered the woman-to-woman and man-to-man versions of the show, but it was clear that one version worked better than the other, which is not to say that both didn’t have promising moments.
Sondheim’s music is haunting, beautiful, challenging and, yes, even infuriating at times. Finding anyone who can easily sing his music and have his lyrics delightfully trip off their tongue is not an easy task. Thankfully Vasquez has assembled a cast of fine singers.
Jacob Caltrider and Stewart Calhoun, as the men, come ahead in this production mainly because the music suits them better vocally than it does for Sarah Errington and Mitzi Michaels who play the women. The timbre and tone of the songs, when sung by the men, are more lush and their vocal blending is more pleasing to the ear. Subtle points and flirtatious nuances that are lost in the performances of the women are found with the men giving their performances a more well rounded, completed feel.
Calhoun playfully flits about the stage singing “Boy Can That Boy Foxtrot” but it’s his sweet and hopeful version of “Marry Me A Little” that stands out. Caltrider, whose vocals are put to the test here, knows how to act his way through a Sondheim song and still make the music enjoyable to hear; his take on “Happily Ever After” is heartbreaking. Errington and Michaels score with their version of the song “Pour Le Sport” and Errington’s “There Won’t Be Trumpet’s” makes you wonder why the song was ever cut from the score of Anyone Can Whistle.
All in all Vasquez, along with music director Tony Houck, have assembled a strong enjoyable evening of obscure Sondheim material and the decision to take the shows original concept and give it a gay theme does work. Sondheim fanatics will delight in hearing songs that are rarely done, unless you live in New York City where these lost gems are heard regularly in the city’s many cabarets.
Vasquez, no stranger to Diversionary audiences, has quickly become one of San Diego’s most sought after directors and it’s very clear why; he is able to make an artistic choice and stick with it. It’s that kind of creative brashness and outside of the box thinking that has gotten his work noticed both in town and out of town. (San Diego audiences may have to get used to sharing Vasquez’s talents with other coasts, but thankfully San Diego will always be his main hub.)
So much Sondheim is being done here in San Diego that one might think missing one performance here or there would be OK, but that’s not the case. Do yourself a favor, lose yourself in his work and see as much of it as you can. Both musically and lyrically no one compares to him and Diversionary’s Marry Me A Little is a fine example of that.
Marry Me A Little runs through Sept. 29. Tickets are available at Diversionary Theatre box office, 619-220-6830, or online at diversionary.org
