Review: Story's gaps make this lost treasure challenging

TheatreZone’s goal is to produce the “lost treasures of Broadway” — those shows that, for whatever reason, slipped under the radar and didn’t gain major popularity.

The company’s current production, “They’re Playing Our Song,” sounds perfectly tailored for that mission statement: a musical comedy by master of the genre Neil Simon, music by Marvin Hamlisch, and lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager.

But sometimes the mystique behind something lost and buried is out of proportion to what’s actually there, and for all its can’t-miss elements, this show still feels like it was an early practice run for its three talented collaborators.

Painfully self-referential, “They’re Playing Our Song” pairs award-winning songwriter Vernon Gersch with up-and-coming lyricist Sonia Walsk. Sonia is “ditzy,” she’s “kooky,” she’s “flaky,” and all those other cringe-worthy descriptions of her character’s stereotypical prototype.

Vernon is neurotic, straitlaced, tightly wound — the classic foil for the lovable-screwball character. You’ve seen this story in dozens of plays and films, and it’s done so often because it frequently works. Opposites do attract, and there’s something inherently fun about watching two of them do their reluctant dance of attraction.

But this show doesn’t lay enough groundwork to make you understand why these two are drawn together. Sonia is, well, just too weird at first. She’s beyond kooky, bordering on certifiable. She’s manic. She has a mind-bogglingly codependent, on-again-off-again relationship, and she wears nothing but pilfered costumes from friends’ productions.

On top of all that, Vernon doesn’t even really like her lyrics, selecting only one song from the presumed pile she’s submitted to him.

It’s baffling why he continues to work with the perpetually late, unprofessional Sonia, let alone become attracted to her. Except that, as he points out at their first meeting, she’s pretty.

Vernon is no prize. He’s cripplingly neurotic, he condescends and he’s constantly insulting Sonia in snide — albeit quite funny — comments.

Director Mark Danni has cast two actors who — like the show itself, actually — shine brilliantly in moments, and fall flat in others.

As Vernon Gersch, Jim Badger has an entertaining under-the-breath, off-the-cuff delivery of some wonderful vintage Neil Simon lines: “I was going to take a Valium but I couldn’t get my teeth unclenched.”

But as funny as his delivery often is — and it can be quite hilarious — it grows old after too many repetitions, begging for a varied inflection. In places he seems to be struggling for the line, his delayed timing snagging the already long show.

As madcap Sonia, Susan Nock gives her all — and then some — to creating the quirky, spunky lyricist. She’s not given too many levels to work with, although in Act Two she inexplicably morphs into a much more grounded Sonia — though still unable to cut loose her ex.

The show’s music is familiar — the ballad “I Still Believe in Love” was covered by everyone from Helen Reddy to Lea Salonga, with Johnny Mathis performing the “hit” version during its original Broadway run. And the title song is a mainstay of cabaret and concert acts.

Badger and Nock do a credible job with the music, though Badger’s voice is a bit thready and shy on range and power. And a couple of the songs, like “Workin’ It Out,” seem too low for Nock’s pretty voice.

The set is minimal, but effective, with only a few set pieces serving to create the ambience, a piano rightly dominating the stage. A live five-piece orchestra ably backs the actors, with guitar and wind instruments lending a unique complexity.

A few kinks are still being worked out — like temperamental microphones, which are overkill in a 250-seat house only seven rows deep. They unfortunately sacrifice the house’s intimacy.

First produced in 1979, the show has clearly been updated, with cell phones and modern references. But you have to wonder about a production whose cast of eight includes six actors who portray the voices in the lead characters’ heads. They’re given little to do beyond serve as a sort of Greek chorus, and while it’s a cute conceit and the actors —especially the three men — sell it like gangbusters, they serve little purpose but to dress up what’s basically a two-person show.

The biggest problem with the play is the enormous leaps of logic it requires from the audience. Act One encompasses merely a few days of the duo’s acquaintanceship, culminating head-spinningly in their moving in together. But Act Two whizzes through months and months of their roller-coaster relationship, with neither act showing us enough of why these two are drawn together.

“We’re always talking about our relationship,” Vernon complains. “Why can’t we just have a relationship?” Audiences might mutter an “Amen, brother” to his very valid question.

If You Go

What: “They’re Playing Our Song”

Where: G&L Theatre at the Community School of Naples, 13275 Livingston Road

When: 8 p.m. tonight; 2 p.m. Sunday

Admission: $35

Information: 239-451-0215; www.TheatreZone.net