March 10, 2005
article written by Kerry Corrigan
Apparently there are a whole bunch of musicals produced every year that we never hear of — shows that close early, making little splash, or no splash at all. some may have deserved to end their runs as soon as they did; others probably could have found an audience eventually, and may yet some day.
Sharron Matthews and George Masswohl felt that there was enough good music in these lesser known musicals to craft a grab-bag of songs for an evening’s entertainment, and they were right.
What You Don’t Know, in a short, week-long run in the Stage Write series at Aquarius, is an infectious collection of unreleased songs, each painting a visual picture.
“Exploring the nether regions of musical theatre,” the duo, accompanied onstage on a baby grand by Music Director John Hughes, posses the strong voices absolutely essential to deliver the ballads and comedic tunes.
From the opening number “Freaks,” from the play of the same name, the duet were confident and polished, melding their voices beautifully. The next song, “Two of a Kind,” described them perfectly.
Masswohl and Mattthews are a married couple who met in 1985 working on the first season of Hamilton’s New Faces, which was a local endeavour that introduced young kids to the demands of professional theatre.
They’re both familiar to Aquarius audiences. She was the Narrator of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; he was Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music, as well as Lennie in Of Mice and Men.
They bridge the songs with playful repartee that borders on a mutual appreciation society, often sounding more scripted than off-the-cuff. Still, burns and Allen weren’t built in a day, and odds are that if these two keep it up, the banter will become more easy-going and less ingratiating.
Matthews’ signature is her breezy, sparkling approach, which works well in this setting. Masswohl, meanwhile, has matured into a formidable, leading man type and, with that rich voice, his limits are boundless. they each add the pizazz needed to present these mostly unknown works.
The one exception to the “little-known” criteria is a selection from Wicked, the prequel to The Wizard of Oz which is making so much noise in T.O. right now. (The only number from the whole evening that I recognized was the wonderful “Alone in the Universe,” having been lucky enough to catch a smashing production of Suessical at Waterdown High School last weekend.)
Other than those, plays like The Wild Party and She Loves Me might only be recognizable to Broadway aficionados. But songs like “I hate Musicals”—“if I wanted helicopters, I’d go to an airport”—and “Ilona”,” while not familiar, still stuck in the mind.
Having only snippets of shows can get a little frustrating; one of Matthews’s best songs, from a show called Is There Life After Highschool?, made one want to know more about the character.
They don’t aim their mark too high, just at a congenial night cabaret-style entertainment that suits the venue. And maybe it will prod one of the local musical theatre groups to take a chance on a new work, rather than re-treading the tried and true ad infinitum.