MARRY ME A LITTLE

Songs for Lonely Hearts
Romance not quite requited in 'Marry Me a Little'

IT'S AMAZING what you can reap from a crop of failures. We're not even talking flops here. These songs were axed before they could flop. Most either were cut before their shows made it to Broadway or were written for musicals witnessed only by prospective investors or out-of-town audiences.

But considering that the songwriter was Stephen Sondheim we shouldn't be surprised that "Marry Me a Little," a pastiche of romantic refugees from projects as diverse as the movie "Dick Tracy" and a still-born musical "Saturday Night," should comprise such an engaging portrait of missed-opportunity ennui.

It doesn't hurt, of course, that in the crisp new production at Queens Theatre in the Park. Sally Mayes plays the "her" and Brent Barrect the "him."

But what's most amazing about "Marry Me a Little" is that the individual songs were never intended to be sung altogether. It just goes to show the universality of romantic love as a theme in popular music. Even for Sondheim. (n the case of "Marry Me ;i Little." the songs are contained in a subset theme of romance not quite requited.

There is no book to "Marry Me a Little," nor even a line of dialogue. Yet the plot, as basic as boy meets girl, or in this case, boy doesn't quite get around to meeting girl, is probably more explicit than could ever have been scripted.

All we need to see is the nameless "she" dropping a piece of her mail in the elevator — in the hallway of Mark Bishop's middle-class-appointed set — as she rides up with the guy who lives directly above her in a New York City apartment building. (It may be in Brooklyn as we surmised from the Flatbush references in the song "Saturday Night.")

After a Saturday evening of unfulfilled anguish, when "he" finally resolves to meet her, he cops out by slipping the lost and lonely piece of mail under her door instead of ringing the doorbell.

That's what makes "Marry Me a Little" such an exquisitely unrequited jewel. We keep expecting this match to be consummated. And yet the denouement, while somewhat anticlimactic, is no less satisfying. After aJl, there is another day. Another chance for errant mail to be recovered.

In this new version, director Rob Urbinati has received permission from Craig Lucas and Sondheim to add four new songs, not available in 1980 when the original revue was assembled: "Rich and Happy" from "Merrily We Roll Along"; "What Can You Lose?" and "Live Alone and Like It" from "Dick Tracy." and "What More Do [ Need" from "Saturday Night." Dropped from thescore are "Silly People" and "A Moment With You." While I can't judge the decisions that excised these songs, I can say that after barely an hour of this utterly affecting and athletic "Marry Me A Little, “ I was hungry for more.
The production could easily sustain another half-hour of romantic ennui.

By Steve Parks, NewsDay

Residents of Queens and Long Island and all other New Yorkers currently have a chance to enjoy an ingenious take on the traditional musical revue. Usually in such shows the performers are given minimal props such as bar stools to belt out a medley of songs.

Not so in the handsome Queens Theatre in the Park. . .

A well-furnished modern New York apartment set gives the show the flavor of a musical book show--complete with costume changes. As is quickly apparent, the apartment is really two identical apartments in which two lonely New York singles spin out their dreams and fantasies through an assemblage of twenty-one -- (four of them added by director Rob Urbinati to the 1980 version) -- Stephen Sondheim tunes.

The songs were rescued by Lucas from the cutting room floor where material which for one reason or another doesn't make it into a show usually lays fallow. While they may not be familiar, they have a pleasantly familiar Sondheim ring -- especially in the witty and often bittersweet lyrics. Some date back to 1954; some were written for Follies ; others for shows that never came off. Within the structure of connecting the songs as a chronicle of two people missing-taking-missing opportunities for love happily ever after Marry Me a Little's intermission less hour and fifteen minutes adds up to a splendidly unified sum of its twenty-one parts.

Not the least of the evening's success is of course due to the starring duo, Sally Mayes and Brent Barrett, both of whom come to this gig with solid Broadway and Off-Broadway credentials. While both performers do justice to the materials, Barrett is the star of the proceedings. Besides a terrific voice and leading man good looks, he has the easy grace and flexibility of a dancer which the spacious set allows him to fully exploit. His solo number, "Uptown, Downtown" is a true standout but by no means the only one. "Bang". . ."Marry Me a ittle". . .""Happily Ever After". . ."Rich and Happy" are particularly noteworthy. The finale, with each wearing half of one pair of pajamas, ties things up perfectly.

Those of you who live in Manhattan and consider the bridges and tunnels leading to Queens an insurmountable Maginot Line should use this show as an opportunity to explore a borough that has a lot more to offer than decently priced apartments and pockets of lovely homes. The complex to which the theater belongs, includes a museum, sports facilities--and right nearby in Flushing and Jackson Heights are some of the best (and best-priced)ethnic EATS to be had anywhere in New York.

A CurtainUp Review