8/2/2019 Bounce cast album

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Bounce recording: great cast, unclear focusB y Andmv J . Milner

Stephen Sondheim first wanted

to musicalize the storyofWilson and Addison Mizner in

the 1950s — one early attempt at a

song for a Mizner musical, "Afternoon

in Benecia," appears on bootleg

Sondheim demo recordings — and

Bounce joins Sweeney T o d d and Passion

as one of the few Sondheim musicals

he instigated himself. The transcen-

dent moments on this cast recording

validate his knack for drawing memo-

rable songs from unlikely sources.

The highlight of the score, a simpleduet between Wilson Mizner (Howard

McGillin) and his lover, Nellie

(Michele Pawk), "The Best Thing That

Ever Has Happened," is one of

Sondheim's all-time purest ballads,

an d destined to have a long life out-

side the musical. There are three trade-

mark Sondheim ensemble numbers

neatly summarizing plot and character:

"Addison's Trip," in which the

younger Mizner (Richard Kind)crosses

the globe in vain attempts to make hisfortune; "I Love This Town," in which

Wilson uses Nellie's money to make a

name for himself in New York; and

"Boca Raton," in which the Mizners

promote the Florida town during the

1920s land boom. "Next to You"is a

charming trio with the brothers and

their mother (Jane Powell), including

some of the shows better lyrics ("Next

to you/Moonlight on the snow was

unexciting/Next to you/The moon is

just an accident of lighting"). Andthere's a bonus track of a marvelous

cut song on the CD,Addison's "A

Little House for Mama."

Had the rest of the score had

remained at this level, Bounc e might

have emerged as a small masterpiece.

As it stands now, unfortunately, too

m any of Bounce 's songs remind the lis-

tener of earlier Sondheim songs, but

without their resonance. "The Game"

resembles "Everybody'sGot the

Right" from Assass ins . The aristocratic

chorus for "You" sounds like some-

thing from Sunday in the Park ivith

George. And the climax of "Addison'sCity," when the Mizners agree to

develop Boca Raton, is reminiscent of

the end of "Opening Doors" from

Merrily W e Roll Alon g . The title song is

relatively uninspired, with a generic

melody and lyrics ("You go off the

t rack/Don' t look back/Thaf s the

thing that counts/You hit a few

bumps/You make a few gaffes/You

leam how to bounce") bringing to

mind Merrily 's title song. And

Addison's 11o'clock number "Get Outof My Life," in which Addison finally

tells off Wilson, is weak compared to

other Sondheim breakdowns as

"Rose's Turn," "Franklin Shepard,

Inc." and "Live, Laugh, Love." While

"No More," sung by Grimm-inspired

characters in Into the Woods is a three-

dimensional soliloquy, the real-life fig-

ure depicted in "Get Out of My Life"

sounds simplistic.

During the Chicago tryouts,

Sondheim admitted, "I have a feelingthat we are not making clear to the

audience what the show is about."

That remains Bounce 's central flaw: W e

still don't understand why the

Mizners fascinated Sondheim for a

half-century. The dialogue and lyrics

tell us how remarkable Wilson and

Addison are, when the onstage action

should be showing that to us.

Compared to such classic Broadway

con artists as Professor Harold Hill,

Bialystock and Bloom, the gamblers inG u y s and Dolls or Hapgood in Anyone

C an Whistle, the Mizner brothers don't

stand out all that much.

Th e main performers on the

album are all excellent and, what's

more, vocally interesting. McGillin's

winning all-American tenor is the per-

fect disguise for a con artist. Richard

Kind was quick to downplay his

singing abilities in interviews during

Bounc e ' s run. but his delivery ronvevs

the exasperation that Addison Mizner

would have felt towards Wilson. A

smoother singing style would have

been contradictory to the role.Pawk acquits herself well as

McGillin's love interest, with an

appropriately world-weary voice sug-

gestive of Maria Friedman; she can

toss off a profanity during "The Best

Thing That Ever Has Happened" —

which she does twice and entirelyin

character. Gavin Creel, as Addison's

gay lover, Hollis Bessemer, has a good

song of defiance, 'Talent," but his

duet with Kind ("You") is too short.

Powell, who starred in the classicmovie musicals Royal Wedding and

Seven Brides fo r Seven Brothers, is in fine

form as the Mizners' sweet mother

("Isn't He Something?"). The show

loses emotional counterbalance when

her character dies at the end of the

first act.

None of the above criticism

regarding this cast album should be

considered binding on the show.

Sondheim, librettist John Weidman

and Harold Prince were still fine-tun-ing the show when it closed in

Washington, D.C., and any future

staging of Bounc e will likely have

some different material. It's not hard

to imagine the show succeedingwith

a sharper song or two and a better

definition of the main characters.

"Without a risk," goes one lyric, "the

world seems pretty tame." Perhaps

the worst that can be said about the

Bounc e score at this stage is that

Sondheim needs to take some morerisks. ©

Andrew J . Milner reviews b o o k s a n d CD s f o rthe PhiladelphiaCity Paper;his essay,' Lett l i e Pupil Show t J i e Master," a p p e a r e d inStephen Sondheim: A Casebook.

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