Sondheim at New Rep

--Victoria Petrosino, New Rep Reviewer

New Rep’s production of “Marry Me a Little” provides an intimate glance into the private lives and elaborate dreams of a series of NYC apartment-dwellers.  The show features songs cut from other Stephen Sondheim productions woven into a charming musical.  Traditionally staged to tell the story of two NYC individuals at home on a Saturday night, New Rep widens the appeal to illustrate four individuals for all combinations of passions and disappointments.  The effort is particularly successful in adding some weight to the diminutive 75 minute production.

Scenic designer Erik Diaz envisions an ambitious set with four separate apartments, a fire escape with city views, and two smaller brick-walled rooms for the pianists.  Each apartment is elaborately decorated and helps to provide a few much-needed clues about the occupant, since the dialogue-free play yields little actual story.  For the most part, each character remains in the separate apartment (even while singing duets), highlighting that although several share the same longings, they are separated by timidity or circumstance.  Small moments of intimacy come from knocking on the walls or stomping on the floor to quiet the neighbors.

The live music (Erica Spyres also plays the violin) and apartment scenes create a cozy environment for the audience.  We watch the characters arrive home, unpack groceries, drink wine, get ready for bed, and leave again the next day.  The coziness partially offsets the lack of a story, but for me, the production overall lacked substance.  The music was excellent, the singers were all talented, but the impression left by each song was too fleeting.  Maybe that is the beauty of the production.  Each character leaves an ephemeral impression in the life of another.