The Memory Show

Last night at Barrington Stage in Pittsfield we saw a most unusual piece of musical theatre: The Memory Show. The book and lyrics are by Sara Cooper and the music is by Zach Redler. It is billed as a comic tragedy and is difficult to categorize. There are funny moments, a lot of sadness, and a bitter reality about the horrors of Alzheimer's disease.

The writer of the book, and possibly the composer, seem to have gone through the role of care-taker for a parent suffering from this disease. The accuracy of description of the disease as the mother goes down the inevitable slide into insanity rings very true to anyone who has experienced this trauma.

I have watched several of my friends live through the drama of Alzheimer's and I, myself, have acted as a care-taker to someone suffering through sixteen years of Parkinson's disease, which has many of the same debilitating symptoms as Alzheimer's. Trust me, there are very few comic moments happening during the course of either disease. It seems an odd subject to set to music unless one is writing a tragic opera.

The play with music; one can hardly call it a musical comedy, is in one act of about ninety minutes. It begins with the mother making fun of some of her mental problems when she is still aware of what is happening to her. As the play continues the humor becomes darker and darker and the ending is as tragic as any opera I have ever seen.

The two women who played the roles of the mother and the daughter invested an enormous amount of talent and energy into their parts. By the end of the play they were both in tears. They are Leslie Kritzer and Catherine Cox.

The music was of an odd 'stream of conciousness' variety which eventually, to me at least, became annoying. Today, when talking to my good friend, Nancy Ford, who is an experienced composer for the musical theatre, she said that many of today's young composers are trying to write like Stephen Sondheim. Unfortunately, only Stephen Sondheim has the genius to do that. I felt the play could have stood on its own merits as a straight drama.

Barrington Stage this season has both thrilled and disappointed me. Their Sweeney Todd was fabulous; Freud's Last Session, which I had seen last season, held less impact on a second viewing that it did at first. Pool Boy was a fun romp through life among the rich and theoretically famous. Art, bored me to tears. Absurd Person Singular had a funny second act; acts one and three were much less amusing.

Julie Boyd is a fine director and it may be when others take her place at the directorial helm, things don't work as well. I hope that next season fares better than this one.

William Finn heads the workshop which produces new musicals like this one. He teaches at NYU. The products of the workshop seem to have a common theme and flavor. 'Clever' is the word that springs to mind. I think more variety of style would produce a more interesting group of songs and shows.

But this is only my opinion. We are lucky to have Barrington Stage in the area. I hope that it pulls itself together and has a great season next summer.