Bounce recording: great cast, unclear focus

By Andmv J. Milner

tephen Sondheim first wanted to musicalize the story of Wilson 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 Todd and Passion as one of the few Sondheim musicals he instigated himself. The transcendent moments on this cast recording validate his knack for drawing memorable songs from unlikely sources. The highlight of the score, a simple duet 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, and destined to have a long life outside the musical. There are three trademark 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 his fortune; "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"). And there'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, Bounce might have emerged as a small masterpiece. As it stands now, unfortunately, too many of Bounce's songs remind the listener of earlier Sondheim songs, but without their resonance. "The Game" resembles "Everybody's Got the

Right" from Assassins. The aristocratic chorus for "You" sounds like something from Sunday in the Park ivith George. And the climax of "Addison's City," when the Mizners agree to develop Boca Raton, is reminiscent of the end of "Opening Doors" from Merrily We Roll Along. The title song is relatively uninspired, with a generic melody and lyrics ("You go off the track/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 11 o'clock number "Get Out of 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 threedimensional soliloquy, the real-life figure depicted in "Get Out of My Life" sounds simplistic. During the Chicago tryouts, Sondheim admitted, "I have a feeling that we are not making clear to the audience what the show is about." That remains Bounce's central flaw: We 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 in Guys and Dolls or Hapgood in Anyone Can Whistle, the Mizner brothers don't stand out all that much. The main performers on the album are all excellent and, what's more, vocally interesting. McGillin's winning all-American tenor is the perfect disguise for a con artist. Richard Kind was quick to downplay his singing abilities in interviews during Bounce'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 suggestive of Maria Friedman; she can toss off a profanity during "The Best Thing That Ever Has Happened" which she does twice and entirely in 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 classic movie musicals Royal Wedding and Seven Brides for 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-tuning the show when it closed in Washington, D.C., and any future staging of Bounce will likely have some different material. It's not hard to imagine the show succeeding with 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 Bounce score at this stage is that Sondheim needs to take some more risks. Andrew J. Milner reviews books and CDs for the Philadelphia City Paper; his essay,' Let tlie Pupil Show tJie Master," appeared in Stephen Sondheim: A Casebook.
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