PIANO BAR
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The story is the songs themselves. Mellow, tart, and supple numbers by composer Rob Fremont and lyricist Doris Willens help to connect the couples, sometimes mechanically, often seemingly inevitably. The other denizens of Sweet Sue’s are Joe the bartender (Tom Colby); Julie (Lucinda Johnston), a lady with man trouble; Walt (Michael Maraz), a commodities trader down on funds and separated from his wife; Debbie (Kristin Finger), a greeting-card writer who’s sick of sentiment; and Ned (David G. Peryam), who specializes in restaurant supplies and urban alienation.
The 19 songs chart their crises. Ned complains of people who pigeonhole others and of phony acquaintances he has to suck up to. Debbie laments how the New York fantasy doesn’t fit her life-style. In “Alas, Alack” Walt inventories his urban disillusionments. Julie complains about the lies men feed her.
Last and best, musical director Seward gives his lounge star Johnny Prince a refreshingly unsmarmy conviviality. And Seward’s piano supports the singers as sympathetically as his character serves these love hunters.
