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Opera company closes out the season on a lighter note

 
Putting It Together’s five-member cast includes, from left, Paula Broadwater, Peter Kendall Clark, Clayton Brown, Kaitlyn Costello and Tripp Fountain.
Putting It Together’s five-member cast includes, from left, Paula Broadwater, Peter Kendall Clark, Clayton Brown, Kaitlyn Costello and Tripp Fountain.
Published June 28, 2015

ST. PETERSBURG — Putting It Together, a revue of Stephen Sondheim songs loosely arranged around a Manhattan couple's cocktail party, aims to please devotees of the composer.

The show, a sequel to the 1976 Side by Side by Sondheim, ran on Broadway in 1999 starring Carol Burnett and has retained relevance as a charming vehicle to showcase some of Sondheim's lesser-known numbers. A production that opened Friday at the Palladium, with which the St. Petersburg Opera Company closed out its ninth season, does the work justice.

It's true, some of the songs in Putting It Together differ strikingly (and sometimes jarringly) from the original context in the musicals from which they were drawn. The menace in Pretty Women when sung by serial murderer Sweeney Todd does not exactly translate to the small talk of a couple of guys on a couch. Not Getting Married Today made more sense when sung by a panic-stricken young bride in Company than the bitter reminiscences of a woman married 25 years.

But the fact that this could even be done at all, let alone three times (after the composer's previous revues Side by Side and Marry Me a Little), is a tribute to Sondheim, who himself called Putting It Together "pleasant but awkward."

A cast of five in Friday's production, directed by Crystal Manich, brought varying talents to the stage. Peter Kendall Clark, whose character is known only as "the husband" in the older couple, is the seasoned opera veteran of the group, and it shows. Paula Broadwater, who plays his wife, capitalized on a long background in musicals to own this stage. Her acid rendition of The Ladies Who Lunch (from Company) was the night's star turn, which roused a crowd of opera buffs to loud cheers and sustained applause.

Broadwater and Clark also combined nicely in Country House, a commentary on a dreary marriage that sets the tone for the show. Mezzo-soprano Kait-lyn Costello plays the younger woman with spice and humor, handling several solo numbers with ease. (She also has serious dance chops, to the point where it was impossible to watch anyone else, even in songs involving the whole cast.)

Tripp Fountain, who plays her romantic counterpart, might not have the same operatic heft as others in the cast. Still, he handles the role of the younger man with tenderness and a vocal sweetness.

The second act features more brooding, as the plot takes the couples into the darker side of intimacy. As the alcohol flows, the husband muses on past choices (The Road You Didn't Take) while the younger man warily negotiates commitment (Marry Me a Little).

A bystander "Observer" narrates the show and moves it along from one theme to the next. Clayton Brown, who brings a lengthy resume in both opera and musicals to the show, gets the evening off to a good start with Invocation and Instructions to the Audience (from The Frogs). Brown plays the observer with just the right amount of sardonic wit and a hammy, self-deprecating approachability.

As with everything at the Palladium (which has no pit), the orchestra is an actor in the show. It's a trade-off the St. Petersburg Opera has decided to own, and they pull it off as well as can be done.

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Performers have to work a little harder to be understood when standing on the back tier of the stage. On the other hand, being able to hear the orchestra clearly is not a bad thing. Maestro Mark Sforzini is a marvel to watch, waving the baton with one hand while playing keyboard with the other.

A light crowd showed up opening night. Looking at the empty seats afterward, it was hard to avoid the conclusion that those who stayed home had missed out.

Contact Andrew Meacham at ameacham@tampabay.com or (727)892-2248. Follow @torch437.