Theater: Better Than The Producers

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The dual narrative strands, beautifully woven by director Daisy Prince, add a layer of irony and melancholy to what otherwise might have seemed a pretty routine story. Jamie (Norbert Leo Butz) is a Jewish writer on the rise; Kathleen (Lauren Kennedy) is an Irish-Catholic actress whose career never takes off. There are clever interludes--an audition in which we hear Kathleen's inner turmoil, set to the melody of the song she's performing--and unabashedly romantic ones, like a mock Russian folktale that Jamie sings to his beloved on her birthday. The show is too sketchy in spots, particularly in its portrayal of Kathleen. But Brown's music (lushly orchestrated with Brown himself on piano) is the least arid and most accessible of the scores turned out by his generation of Sondheim disciples. This is smart, lyric-driven music that doesn't abandon melody or variety. One number rocks; another harks back to '30s Tin Pan Alley. And a wistful, turn-of-the-century-style waltz sends you out of the theater with a lovely, warmhearted souvenir. Most of the souvenirs at The Producers cost 20 bucks.