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Bounce (musical)
Encyclopedia
Road Show is a musical
with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
and a book by John Weidman
. It tells the story of Addison Mizner
and his brother Wilson Mizner
's adventures across America
from the beginning of the 20th century during the Alaska
n Gold rush
to the Florida
real estate boom in the 1920s.
After a 1999 workshop in New York City
, the musical was produced in Chicago
and Washington, D.C.
in 2003 under the title Bounce, but it did not achieve much success. A revised version of the musical premiered Off-Broadway
in New York in October 2008.
from October through November 1999 under the title Wise Guys. It was directed by Sam Mendes
and starred Nathan Lane
and Victor Garber
as brothers Addison Mizner
and Wilson Mizner
. A legal case involving Scott Rudin
and Weidman and Sondheim held up further production.
Substantially rewritten and retitled Bounce, the show opened on June 20, 2003 at the Goodman Theatre
in Chicago
. The production was directed by Harold Prince, with choreography by Michael Arnold, set design by Eugene Lee
, costume design by Miguel Angel Huidor, and lighting design by Howell Binkley
The cast starred Richard Kind
(Addison Mizner), Howard McGillin
(Wilson Mizner), Jane Powell
(Mama Mizner), Herndon Lackey (Papa Mizner/Businessman/Englishman/Plantation Owner/Armstrong/Real Estate Owner), Gavin Creel
(Hollis Bessemer), and Michele Pawk
(Nellie).
The musical then ran at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
in October and November 2003 with the Chicago cast. It received mixed–to–negative reviews and was not produced in New York. A private reading of Bounce was held at the Public Theater
on February 6, 2006. Playbill reported that Eric Schaeffer directed, with Richard Kind
and Bernadette Peters
among the cast.
A new production of the musical, titled Road Show, rewritten without an intermission and without the leading female character of Nellie (who had been added for 2003 production), opened Off-Broadway
at The Public Theatre's Newman Theater in previews on October 28, 2008, officially opening on November 18, and closing December 28, 2008. John Doyle
was the director and designer, with Michael Cerveris
and Alexander Gemignani
playing brothers Wilson and Addison Mizner respectively, Alma Cuervo as Mama, Claybourne Elder as Hollis, and William Parry as Papa. This production won the 2009 Obie Award
for Music and Lyrics. and the Drama Desk Award
, Outstanding Lyrics (Sondheim).
The title changes reflect the creators' attempts to hone the show's story and themes. "Ideally the title is connected to what we hope the show is about," Weidman says.
The musical opened at the Menier Chocolate Factory
, London in previews on June 24, 2011, officially on July 6 and closes on September 18. John Doyle is the director and designer, with a cast featuring Michael Jibson
, David Bedella
and Jon Robyns
.
After the death of Addison Mizner, people who knew him, including his estranged lover Hollis Bessemer, comment on his life and the way he squandered his talents ("Waste"). Addison's brother Wilson appears and speaks to Addison, who angrily claims that Wilson was the cause of all his failures. Wilson brushes off Addison's anger and reminds him of the days when they were a team. The time shifts to Papa Mizner's death at the beginning of the 20th century. On his deathbed, Papa Mizner charges his sons with the task of using their gifts to shape America ("It's In Your Hands Now"), telling them that there's a "road" for them to follow. Mama Mizner tells the brothers that their family's wealth has been eaten away by Papa's long illness and advises them to seek gold in Alaska
; Addison is reluctant, but goes along with Wilson anyway ("Gold!").
In Alaska, the brothers share a sleeping bag and reminisce about their childhood ("Brotherly Love"). Wilson leaves to get supplies while Addison works the claim; away from Addison, Wilson is lured into a game of poker, which he is initially bad at but masters quickly. Addison comes to find him, and is shocked to discover that his brother has become a gambler. Wilson tries to explain his newfound love of taking risks regardless of what's at stake ("The Game"), and Addison is almost convinced, but when Wilson stakes their gold claim in a poker game and wins the saloon in which the game is taking place, the shade of Papa Mizner appears and tells Addison that this was not what he had in mind for his sons.
Addison leaves in disgust with his share of Wilson's winnings and travels around the world searching for business opportunities and a sense of purpose ("Addison's Trip"). All of his ventures fail due to bad luck, and he is left with nothing but a collection of souvenirs -- but the souvenirs inspire him to take up architecture (so that he can design a house in which to show them off). Meanwhile, Wilson's businesses in Alaska have failed, and he comes south in the hopes of getting help from Addison. Addison has only just begun to practice as an architect, and Wilson seduces and marries his first client, a rich widow, and fritters away her money on various flashy endeavours, including promoting fixed boxing matches and horse races ("That Was A Year"). Although Wilson's various partners lose out by being associated with him, they remain fond of him because of the verve and energy with which he lives. Even Mama Mizner, who is being looked after by Addison and never receives any visits from Wilson, enjoys reading about Wilson's exploits, saying that she can live through him ("Isn't He Something!"). Only Addison remains uncharmed by Wilson, and when Wilson finally comes back, his resources exhausted, intending to ask Addison for help, he finds that Mama has died in his absence. Addison angrily throws Wilson out of the house.
Later, there is a land boom in Florida ("Land Boom!"). Addison decides to travel to Palm Beach to take advantage of the many rich people settling there who will be needing to have houses built. On the train he meets Hollis Bessemer, with whom he is instantly smitten. Hollis explains his situation: he is the son of a wealthy industrialist, but he has been cut off by his father for refusing to enter the family business. His real passion is art, and although he is not himself talented enough to become an artist, he dreams of creating an artists' colony in Palm Beach with the help of his aunt, who is staying there in a hotel ("Talent").
Hollis and Addison arrive at Palm Beach, and Addison shows Hollis's aunt a plan for a house he proposes to build for her. Impressed, she agrees and offers to sponsor Hollis's artists' colony. However, Hollis and Addison, now lovers, are too busy designing resort homes for the rich ("You") and enjoying each other's company ("The Best Thing That Ever Has Happened") to follow up on Hollis's original plan -- until Wilson arrives at Hollis and Addison's house, destitute and sick ("The Game [Reprise]"). Addison reluctantly takes him in, and when Wilson has recovered he begins to work on Hollis, persuading him to be a patron to his newest scheme: to build a brand-new city in Boca Raton with Wilson as promoter and Addison as chief architect ("Addison's City").
But Wilson's conman instincts resurge, and he promotes the Boca Raton real estate scheme with increasingly extravagant and eventually fraudulent claims, creating a price bubble ("Boca Raton"). Addison goes along with this, and it is Hollis who finally puts a stop to both the real estate scheme. He asks Addison choose between him and Willie, and Addison, brought to a state of desperation by all that has happened, drives Hollis away by telling him that he had never loved him. Addison tells Wilson to get out of his life ("Get Out"), but Wilson responds by saying that Addison doesn't actually want Wilson to go because he loves him too much ("Go"). Addison admits that he does love Wilson, but he still wants him to go. Wilson finally leaves for good.
But not quite, for in the finale (returning to the first scene) all the characters leave the stage except for Wilson and Addison, and Wilson realises that he, too, has died. They bicker halfheartedly but their differences no longer mattering enough to keep them apart. Confronted by their father, they shrug off his criticisms and the brothers set out together on the road to eternity -- or, as Wilson calls it, "the greatest opportunity of all." "Sooner or later," he says "We're bound to get it right."
Act I
Act II
§ In Chicago production, not in Kennedy Center
As presented in 2008 as Road Show, performed in one act
Ben Brantley
, in his New York Times review of the 2003 Kennedy Center production, said "[It] never seems to leave its starting point...Mr. Kind and Mr. McGillin execute this self-introduction [title song] charmingly, translating wryness and ruefulness into a breezy soft-shoe sensibility. But in a sense, when they have finished the song they have already delivered the whole show...Bounce, which features the vibrant Michele Pawk as a zestful gold digger (of both Klondike and jazz-age varieties) and Jane Powell as the Mizners' mother, only rarely kicks into a higher gear than the one that gently propels the opening duet...their trajectory feels as straight and flat as a time line in a history book. The bounce in Bounce is never very high...Much of the music, while whispering of earlier, more flashily complex Sondheim scores, has a conventional surface perkiness that suggests a more old-fashioned, crowd-pleasing kind of show than is this composer's wont. But his extraordinary gift for stealthily weaving dark motifs into a brighter musical fabric is definitely in evidence, mellifluously rendered in the peerless Jonathan Tunick's orchestrations."
Brantley in his review of the 2008 production, praised Ceveris and Gemignani, and noted that the songs were "often brisk, forward-moving songs – with unusually simple and straightforward lyrics". He further wrote that the musical is a "trimmed-down, toughened-up and seriously darkened new edition of the musical formerly known as Bounce ... the show’s greatest interest for fans of Mr. Sondheim lies in seeing how what was once meant to be light and buoyant fare has been reshaped into something more somber. The great living master of the American musical has returned to the shadows where, artistically at least, he has always felt most at home."
.
An original cast recording of the 2008 Public Theater production was made by PS Classics
and Nonesuch Records, and was released on June 30, 2009.
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
and a book by John Weidman
John Weidman
John Weidman is an American librettist. He is the son of librettist and novelist Jerome Weidman.He has written the books for a wide variety of stage musicals, three in collaboration with Stephen Sondheim: Pacific Overtures, Assassins, and Road Show...
. It tells the story of Addison Mizner
Addison Mizner
Addison Cairns Mizner was an American resort architect whose Mediterranean Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival style interpretations left an indelible stamp on South Florida, where it continues to inspire architects and land developers. In the 1920s Mizner was the best-known and most-discussed...
and his brother Wilson Mizner
Wilson Mizner
Wilson Mizner was an American playwright, raconteur, and entrepreneur. His best-known plays are The Deep Purple, produced in 1910, and The Greyhound, produced in 1912...
's adventures across America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
from the beginning of the 20th century during the Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
n Gold rush
Gold rush
A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area that has had a dramatic discovery of gold. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.In the 19th and early...
to the Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
real estate boom in the 1920s.
After a 1999 workshop in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, the musical was produced in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
in 2003 under the title Bounce, but it did not achieve much success. A revised version of the musical premiered Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
in New York in October 2008.
Production history
The musical premiered at the New York Theatre WorkshopNew York Theatre Workshop
__notoc__New York Theatre Workshop is an Off-Broadway theatre noted for its productions of new works. Located at 79 East 4th Street between Second Avenue and the Bowery in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, it houses a 198-seat theatre for its mainstage productions, and a...
from October through November 1999 under the title Wise Guys. It was directed by Sam Mendes
Sam Mendes
Samuel Alexander "Sam" Mendes, CBE is an English stage and film director. He is best known for his Academy Award-winning work on his debut film American Beauty and his dark re-inventions of the stage musicals Cabaret , Oliver! , Company and Gypsy . He's currently working on the 23rd James Bond...
and starred Nathan Lane
Nathan Lane
Nathan Lane is an American actor of stage and screen. He is best known for his roles as Mendy in The Lisbon Traviata, Albert in The Birdcage, Max Bialystock in the musical The Producers, Ernie Smuntz in MouseHunt, Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls, Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to...
and Victor Garber
Victor Garber
Victor Joseph Garber is a Canadian film, stage and television actor and singer. Garber is known for playing Jesus in Godspell, Jack Bristow in the television series Alias, Max in Lend Me a Tenor, and Thomas Andrews in James Cameron's Titanic.-Early life:Born in London, Ontario, Canada, Garber is...
as brothers Addison Mizner
Addison Mizner
Addison Cairns Mizner was an American resort architect whose Mediterranean Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival style interpretations left an indelible stamp on South Florida, where it continues to inspire architects and land developers. In the 1920s Mizner was the best-known and most-discussed...
and Wilson Mizner
Wilson Mizner
Wilson Mizner was an American playwright, raconteur, and entrepreneur. His best-known plays are The Deep Purple, produced in 1910, and The Greyhound, produced in 1912...
. A legal case involving Scott Rudin
Scott Rudin
Scott Rudin is an American film producer and a theatrical producer.-Early life and work:Scott Rudin was born in New York City, NY, on July 14, 1958, and raised in the town of Baldwin on Long Island. At the age of sixteen, he started working as an assistant to theatre producer Kermit Bloomgarden...
and Weidman and Sondheim held up further production.
Substantially rewritten and retitled Bounce, the show opened on June 20, 2003 at the Goodman Theatre
Goodman Theatre
The Goodman Theatre is a professional theater company located in Chicago's Loop. A major part of Chicago theatre, it is the city's oldest currently active nonprofit theater organization...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. The production was directed by Harold Prince, with choreography by Michael Arnold, set design by Eugene Lee
Eugene Lee (designer)
Eugene Lee was born in Beloit, Wisconsin, 1939. He attended Beloit Memorial High School. He has been resident designer at Trinity Rep since 1967. He has BFA degrees from the Art Institute of Chicago and Carnegie Mellon University, an MFA from Yale Drama School and three honorary Ph.Ds. Mr...
, costume design by Miguel Angel Huidor, and lighting design by Howell Binkley
Howell Binkley
Howell Binkley is a professional lighting designer in New York City. He received the 2006 Tony Award for Best Lighting Design of a musical for Jersey Boys....
The cast starred Richard Kind
Richard Kind
Richard John Kind is an American actor known for his roles in the sitcoms Mad About You and Spin City .- Early life :...
(Addison Mizner), Howard McGillin
Howard McGillin
Howard McGillin is a Tony-nominated stage, screen and television actor, perhaps best-known for being the world's longest running Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera....
(Wilson Mizner), Jane Powell
Jane Powell
Jane Powell is an American singer, dancer and actress.After rising to fame as a singer in her home state of Oregon, Powell was signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer while still in her teens...
(Mama Mizner), Herndon Lackey (Papa Mizner/Businessman/Englishman/Plantation Owner/Armstrong/Real Estate Owner), Gavin Creel
Gavin Creel
Gavin James Creel is an American actor, singer and song writer.Born in Findlay, Ohio, Creel received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in musical theatre at the University of Michigan in 1998. Creel, who is openly gay, is a regular on the LGBT RFamilyVacations cruise with Rosie O'Donnell...
(Hollis Bessemer), and Michele Pawk
Michele Pawk
Michele Pawk is an American actress and singer.-Biography:Born in Butler, Pennsylvania, Pawk attended Allegheny College and the College Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, after which she spent a year working in a musical revue at Disney World...
(Nellie).
The musical then ran at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
in October and November 2003 with the Chicago cast. It received mixed–to–negative reviews and was not produced in New York. A private reading of Bounce was held at the Public Theater
Public Theater
The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as The Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers. It is headquartered at 425 Lafayette Street in the former Astor Library in the East Village...
on February 6, 2006. Playbill reported that Eric Schaeffer directed, with Richard Kind
Richard Kind
Richard John Kind is an American actor known for his roles in the sitcoms Mad About You and Spin City .- Early life :...
and Bernadette Peters
Bernadette Peters
Bernadette Peters is an American actress, singer and children's book author from Ozone Park, Queens, New York. Over the course of a career that has spanned five decades, she has starred in musical theatre, films and television, as well as performing in solo concerts and recordings...
among the cast.
A new production of the musical, titled Road Show, rewritten without an intermission and without the leading female character of Nellie (who had been added for 2003 production), opened Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
at The Public Theatre's Newman Theater in previews on October 28, 2008, officially opening on November 18, and closing December 28, 2008. John Doyle
John Doyle (director)
John Doyle is a Tony Award winning Scottish stage director for musicals and plays, as well as operas. He has served as artistic director at several regional theatres in the United Kingdom, where he has staged more than 200 professional productions during his career spanning 30...
was the director and designer, with Michael Cerveris
Michael Cerveris
Michael Cerveris is an American singer, guitarist and actor. He has performed in many stage musicals and plays, including in several Stephen Sondheim musicals: Assassins, Sweeney Todd, Road Show, and Passion...
and Alexander Gemignani
Alexander Gemignani
Alexander Cesare Gemignani is a Broadway actor and tenor. Gemignani was raised in Tenafly, New Jersey and is a graduate of the University of Michigan's Musical Theater Department...
playing brothers Wilson and Addison Mizner respectively, Alma Cuervo as Mama, Claybourne Elder as Hollis, and William Parry as Papa. This production won the 2009 Obie Award
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
for Music and Lyrics. and the Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
, Outstanding Lyrics (Sondheim).
The title changes reflect the creators' attempts to hone the show's story and themes. "Ideally the title is connected to what we hope the show is about," Weidman says.
The musical opened at the Menier Chocolate Factory
Menier Chocolate Factory
The Menier Chocolate Factory is an award-winning 180 seat fringe studio theatre, restaurant and gallery. It is located in a former 1870s Menier Chocolate Company factory in Southwark Street, a major street in the London Borough of Southwark, central south London, England. The theatre stages plays...
, London in previews on June 24, 2011, officially on July 6 and closes on September 18. John Doyle is the director and designer, with a cast featuring Michael Jibson
Michael Jibson
Michael Jibson is an English actor born in 1980, Hull, East Yorkshire, England. He is married to the stage actress Caroline Sheen. His father, Tim Jibson, was the programme director of KCFM in Hull. His brother is the actor Paul Jibson...
, David Bedella
David Bedella
David Bedella is an American TV and musical stage actor, perhaps best known for his Olivier award winning role in the controversial Jerry Springer - The Opera...
and Jon Robyns
Jon Robyns
Jon Robyns is a British stage actor, who is perhaps best known for playing the roles of Princeton and Rod in Avenue Q the musical in London's West End. He left the show in December 2007, and appeared as Marius in the London production of Les Misérables.-Early life:Robyns grew up in Liverpool,...
.
Plot
(Note: The synopsis here, including the musical numbers, reflects the 2008 production)After the death of Addison Mizner, people who knew him, including his estranged lover Hollis Bessemer, comment on his life and the way he squandered his talents ("Waste"). Addison's brother Wilson appears and speaks to Addison, who angrily claims that Wilson was the cause of all his failures. Wilson brushes off Addison's anger and reminds him of the days when they were a team. The time shifts to Papa Mizner's death at the beginning of the 20th century. On his deathbed, Papa Mizner charges his sons with the task of using their gifts to shape America ("It's In Your Hands Now"), telling them that there's a "road" for them to follow. Mama Mizner tells the brothers that their family's wealth has been eaten away by Papa's long illness and advises them to seek gold in Alaska
Gold rush
A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area that has had a dramatic discovery of gold. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.In the 19th and early...
; Addison is reluctant, but goes along with Wilson anyway ("Gold!").
In Alaska, the brothers share a sleeping bag and reminisce about their childhood ("Brotherly Love"). Wilson leaves to get supplies while Addison works the claim; away from Addison, Wilson is lured into a game of poker, which he is initially bad at but masters quickly. Addison comes to find him, and is shocked to discover that his brother has become a gambler. Wilson tries to explain his newfound love of taking risks regardless of what's at stake ("The Game"), and Addison is almost convinced, but when Wilson stakes their gold claim in a poker game and wins the saloon in which the game is taking place, the shade of Papa Mizner appears and tells Addison that this was not what he had in mind for his sons.
Addison leaves in disgust with his share of Wilson's winnings and travels around the world searching for business opportunities and a sense of purpose ("Addison's Trip"). All of his ventures fail due to bad luck, and he is left with nothing but a collection of souvenirs -- but the souvenirs inspire him to take up architecture (so that he can design a house in which to show them off). Meanwhile, Wilson's businesses in Alaska have failed, and he comes south in the hopes of getting help from Addison. Addison has only just begun to practice as an architect, and Wilson seduces and marries his first client, a rich widow, and fritters away her money on various flashy endeavours, including promoting fixed boxing matches and horse races ("That Was A Year"). Although Wilson's various partners lose out by being associated with him, they remain fond of him because of the verve and energy with which he lives. Even Mama Mizner, who is being looked after by Addison and never receives any visits from Wilson, enjoys reading about Wilson's exploits, saying that she can live through him ("Isn't He Something!"). Only Addison remains uncharmed by Wilson, and when Wilson finally comes back, his resources exhausted, intending to ask Addison for help, he finds that Mama has died in his absence. Addison angrily throws Wilson out of the house.
Later, there is a land boom in Florida ("Land Boom!"). Addison decides to travel to Palm Beach to take advantage of the many rich people settling there who will be needing to have houses built. On the train he meets Hollis Bessemer, with whom he is instantly smitten. Hollis explains his situation: he is the son of a wealthy industrialist, but he has been cut off by his father for refusing to enter the family business. His real passion is art, and although he is not himself talented enough to become an artist, he dreams of creating an artists' colony in Palm Beach with the help of his aunt, who is staying there in a hotel ("Talent").
Hollis and Addison arrive at Palm Beach, and Addison shows Hollis's aunt a plan for a house he proposes to build for her. Impressed, she agrees and offers to sponsor Hollis's artists' colony. However, Hollis and Addison, now lovers, are too busy designing resort homes for the rich ("You") and enjoying each other's company ("The Best Thing That Ever Has Happened") to follow up on Hollis's original plan -- until Wilson arrives at Hollis and Addison's house, destitute and sick ("The Game [Reprise]"). Addison reluctantly takes him in, and when Wilson has recovered he begins to work on Hollis, persuading him to be a patron to his newest scheme: to build a brand-new city in Boca Raton with Wilson as promoter and Addison as chief architect ("Addison's City").
But Wilson's conman instincts resurge, and he promotes the Boca Raton real estate scheme with increasingly extravagant and eventually fraudulent claims, creating a price bubble ("Boca Raton"). Addison goes along with this, and it is Hollis who finally puts a stop to both the real estate scheme. He asks Addison choose between him and Willie, and Addison, brought to a state of desperation by all that has happened, drives Hollis away by telling him that he had never loved him. Addison tells Wilson to get out of his life ("Get Out"), but Wilson responds by saying that Addison doesn't actually want Wilson to go because he loves him too much ("Go"). Addison admits that he does love Wilson, but he still wants him to go. Wilson finally leaves for good.
But not quite, for in the finale (returning to the first scene) all the characters leave the stage except for Wilson and Addison, and Wilson realises that he, too, has died. They bicker halfheartedly but their differences no longer mattering enough to keep them apart. Confronted by their father, they shrug off his criticisms and the brothers set out together on the road to eternity -- or, as Wilson calls it, "the greatest opportunity of all." "Sooner or later," he says "We're bound to get it right."
Musical numbers
As presented in 2003 as Bounce, Kennedy CenterAct I
- Bounce – Wilson, Addison
- Opportunity – Papa, Mama
- Gold! – Prospector, Wilson, Mama, Addison, Alaskans
- Gold! (Reprise) –
- What's Your Rush? – Nellie
- The Game – Wilson
- Next to You – Addison, Wilson, Mama
- Addison's Trip (Around the World) – Addison, Salesman, Guatemalans, Servants
- The Best Thing That Ever Happened – Wilson, Nellie
- I Love This Town - Wilson, Nellie, Addison and Company
- Alaska – Mrs. Yerkes, Wilson §
- New York Sequence - Wilson, Nellie, Reporters, Photographer, Ketchel, Armstong, Jockey, Gamblers, Policeman, Wilson's Women §
- Isn't He Something? – Mama
- Bounce (Reprise) – Addison
Act II
- The Game – Addison, Nellie, Wilson, Promoter
- Talent – Hollis
- You – Addison, Hollis, Aristocrats
- Addison's City – Hollis, Wilson, Nellie, Addison
- Get Rich Quick - Company
- Boca Raton – Boca Girl, Sportsmen, Fashion Models, Yachtsmen, Caruso, Salvador Dali, Wilson, Addison, Nellie, Hollis, Prospector, Varmints, Bobby Jones, Mae West, Princess Ghika, Chorus §
- Last Fight – Addison, Wilson
- Bounce (Reprise) – Wilson, Addison
§ In Chicago production, not in Kennedy Center
As presented in 2008 as Road Show, performed in one act
- Waste – Full Company
- It's in Your Hands Now – Papa
- Gold! – Full Company
- Brotherly Love – Addison, Wilson
- The Game – Wilson
- Addison's Trip – Full Company
- That Was a Year – Full Company
- Isn't He Something! – Mama
- Land Boom! – Real Estate Agent
- Talent – Hollis
- You – Full Company
- The Best Thing That Ever Has Happened – Addison, Hollis
- The Game (Reprise) – Wilson
- Addison's City – Addison, Hollis, Wilson
- Boca Raton – Full Company
- Get Out – Addison
- Go – Wilson
- Finale – Addison, Wilson
Critical response
Referring to the 2003 Bounce productions, theatertermania.com wrote, "A brace of mixed-to-negative reviews has all but assured that this production of Bounce will not be coming to New York." The New York Times noted in an article in November 2003 that "the show, which received lukewarm reviews in two tryout runs, is not coming to Broadway anytime soon."Ben Brantley
Ben Brantley
Benjamin D. "Ben" Brantley is an American journalist and the chief theater critic of The New York Times.-Life and career:...
, in his New York Times review of the 2003 Kennedy Center production, said "[It] never seems to leave its starting point...Mr. Kind and Mr. McGillin execute this self-introduction [title song] charmingly, translating wryness and ruefulness into a breezy soft-shoe sensibility. But in a sense, when they have finished the song they have already delivered the whole show...Bounce, which features the vibrant Michele Pawk as a zestful gold digger (of both Klondike and jazz-age varieties) and Jane Powell as the Mizners' mother, only rarely kicks into a higher gear than the one that gently propels the opening duet...their trajectory feels as straight and flat as a time line in a history book. The bounce in Bounce is never very high...Much of the music, while whispering of earlier, more flashily complex Sondheim scores, has a conventional surface perkiness that suggests a more old-fashioned, crowd-pleasing kind of show than is this composer's wont. But his extraordinary gift for stealthily weaving dark motifs into a brighter musical fabric is definitely in evidence, mellifluously rendered in the peerless Jonathan Tunick's orchestrations."
Brantley in his review of the 2008 production, praised Ceveris and Gemignani, and noted that the songs were "often brisk, forward-moving songs – with unusually simple and straightforward lyrics". He further wrote that the musical is a "trimmed-down, toughened-up and seriously darkened new edition of the musical formerly known as Bounce ... the show’s greatest interest for fans of Mr. Sondheim lies in seeing how what was once meant to be light and buoyant fare has been reshaped into something more somber. The great living master of the American musical has returned to the shadows where, artistically at least, he has always felt most at home."
Recordings
An original cast recording of the 2003 version (then titled Bounce) was released on May 4, 2004 by Nonesuch RecordsNonesuch Records
Nonesuch Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Bros. Records.-Company history:Nonesuch was founded in 1964 by Jac Holzman to produce "fine records at the same price as a trade paperback", which would be half the price of a normal LP...
.
An original cast recording of the 2008 Public Theater production was made by PS Classics
PS Classics
PS Classics is a record label that specializes in musical theatre and standard vocals. Founded in 2000 by Grammy-nominated freelance producer Tommy Krasker and singer/actor Philip Chaffin, their releases have been critically acclaimed for their meticulous sonic detail and high-quality packaging and...
and Nonesuch Records, and was released on June 30, 2009.
External links
- 2003 Interview with Richard Kind and Howard McGillin
- 2004 Interview with Stephen Sondheim, John Weidman, and Jonathan Tunick
- 2003 Story about recording the original cast CD
- Bounce on The Stephen Sondheim Reference Guide
- talkinbroadway.co review, November 2, 2003
- Interview with Sondheim, August 12, 2008
- Description of the sets, costumes and lights for the Chicago production.
- Alisa Roost Road Show. Theatre Journal Review.