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ON THE RECORD: Songs from an Unmade Bed and An International Annie Get Your Gun
By Steven Suskin
02 Apr 2006
This week’s column discusses Michael Winther’s solo show Songs from an Unmade Bed and a combined, international Annie Get Your Gun.
SONGS FROM AN UNMADE BED [Ghostlight 7915584409]
There is little question that Michael Winther is a talented and versatile actor. His Broadway roles range from Tom Stoppard’s Artist Descending a Staircase to the revivals of Damn Yankees and 1776. He is a frequent participant in various musical events around town. He also spent a couple of years in Forever Plaid, playing the show in Washington, Miami, San Diego, Tokyo and elsewhere. (Winther/Sparky and Greg Jbara/Smudge made an especially droll pair.)
Songs from an Unmade Bed, which was produced in May 2005 at the New York Theatre Workshop, was a one-man affair. It required an actor who could sing 18 songs that ran the gamut of emotions, and who could hold the stage for an entire evening (of little more than an hour). Winther was not only capable of the singing requirements; his winning sense of humor and friendly, sympathetic manner provided key support to the material, keeping the hero likable and intensely human. There is an Everyman aspect to the material – I suppose you could say the show is about a typical New Yorker trying to cope with contemporary life – and Winther, from the very beginning of the piece, was a friend to the audience. (While this might seem basic, Songs from an Unmade Bed would have a very different effect with a leading man who projected a persona that was conceited, obnoxious or phony.)
The songs come from the pencil of lyricist Mark Campbell, who has done an admirable job of maintaining interest with a variety of variations on the show’s single theme. (Some of the rhymes are a bit questionable, but on reflection they seem to be the lyricist playfully commenting on the specific moment.) Campbell certainly knows what he is doing, and one anticipates that he will reappear on the scene. Director David Schweizer also did a fine job; the show seems almost to be a three-way collaboration between Campbell, Schweizer and Winther.
The musical contributions are somewhat more questionable. The band of three is more than fine; led by Kimberly Grigsby, of The Full Monty and Caroline, or Change, they are a prime asset. (There is a highly humorous cello solo, on the song “He Plays the Cello,” from David Kotay.) But Campbell chose to plant his 18 songs with 18 different composers. This might well be a fine idea; if each composer buys 25 tickets for friends, relatives and the like, you are well on your way. And it provides the show with one of several gimmicks, which presumably helped attract the first-rate production at NYTW. But the music is understandably disjointed. No style is apparent, no song seems to stand out (at least to me). Every once in a while — from several of the composers — you hear a section that seems to want to sound like Adam Guettel, but it never sustains itself to song length. I suppose some listeners will eagerly separate the songs by composer and make comparisons. I enjoy Songs from an Unmade Bed, it makes a pleasing CD and spotlights the ingratiating Winther; but I can’t say that the music is up to the rest of the enterprise. Continued...
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