Stephen Schwartz has contributed to the theatrical scores (either music, lyrics or both) for Pippin, The Magic Show, Working, Godspell, The Trip, Personals, Rags, The Baker's Wife, Children of Eden , Captain Louie and the current blockbuster, Wicked, as well as the film scores for Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame , The Prince of Egypt and Gepetto. It's certainly an accomplishment for any composer to have a musical play Broadway let alone having six productions hit the Great White Way, four of which could be considered hits. And, while he has never won the Tony Award for Best Score, his three Oscars, five Grammys and three Drama Desk Awards are nothing to shake a stick at.

Looking at the work of Schwartz, he has written much to be proud of, and a revue of his work would certainly be as welcome as the Fynsworth Ally recording of his music on The Stephen Schwartz Album. But taking his songs, most of which are very plot specific to the musicals they were written for (and believe me, that is a good thing), and attempting to fit them into the context of a new story is probably not a great idea - especially when the songs chosen are familiar enough for an audience to say "Hmmmm, that just doesn't seem right here ..." Changing the lyrics doesn't help, because when it comes right down to it, "The Spark of Creation" (from Children of Eden) and "All Good Gifts" (from Godspell) are not about having babies. Schwartz deserves to have a new musical on the boards, but even someone with his credibility shouldn't get off this easy. If he wants to have a new musical, he should write one.

And that's a shame. Because the concept is a good one. Schwartz's songs have been placed in a book by David Stern, in which one couple is played by three different pairs of actors representing different periods in that couple's life. Dan and Sue are a troubled couple on the brink of divorce when they start looking at old photographs ("snapshots") in the attic, forcing them to remember their youth (as Danny and Susie) and the period before middle-age (as Daniel and Susan), reminding themselves of the good times and the bad times - and in "Sondheimian" fashion, the audience manages to learn "how they got to be here." The book is riddled with cliches and questionable choices (does the whole show have to take place in the attic?), but the concept with an original score could become compelling theatre. When an audience is forced to accept songs that, in some cases they already know, performed by new characters, the emotions and experiences these characters are feeling somehow seem less sincere. The emotions seem borrowed rather than owned. Dan and Sue are a couple that deserve sympathy, but when Children of Eden's "In Whatever Time We Have" is used as a potentially optimistic closing number rather than a couple's decision to face death rather than live without each other, the dramatics of the situation are lost.

That's not to say there aren't excellent moments within the show as written. The use of "Lion Tamer" (from The Magic Show) to showcase young Susie's desire to be recognized by Danny is a strong choice, as is a stunning arrangement of "Meadowlark" ( The Baker's Wife) for the three women to help understand the dynamics behind Sue's possible departure. And "With You" (Pippin) periodically pops up as something Dan almost writes to Sue in yearbooks but ends up changing before she can see it, allowing a nice sense of dramatic relief when the passage is finally said to her face.

Also excellent is the majority of the cast, especially Trevor Southworth and Sarah Shahinian as Daniel and Susie, both of whom provide the material with outstanding voices and necessary sincerity. Mary Jo Mecca as Sue, Stephanie Lynge as Susan, and Kevin Murphy as Danny are all excellent performers who shine in certain moments. Mecca's quality acting serves her well throughout and Lynge soars in "Meadowlark," while Murphy is exceptional in his entire first sequence where the pair meet for the first time. Only Mitchell Greenberg's Dan seems out of place, mainly because he's not much of a singer. His acting is adequate, but rarely when he opens his mouth to sing does it seem like he's capable of doing either. And, while the performers are mostly excellent individually and occasionally excellent as a group, it's not easy to see how they are meant to play the same couple. Of the six, only Mecca and Shahinian have similar enough features to be believable as the same character. Greenberg, Southworth and Murphy have absolutely no similarities whatsoever.

Randy Brenner's direction is mostly haphazard and in several moments rather contrived. He does little to distinguish when the actors are playing Dan and Sue and when they are playing "ensemble bits." This amounts to some confusion in moments, especially when the songs are not character specific for these particular characters. The little choreography there is has been ably supplied by Karl Christian, and Kevin Wallace's musical direction is superb. Robert Fetterman's attic set is attractive and functional, with bits and pieces of stored junk beautifully coming alive as props for individual vignettes. Annmarie Duggan's lighting is perfectly lovely.

If Snapshots is to succeed as a musical on its own, there is a lot of work to be done - more dramatic weight and less contrivance. The use of the songs from Wicked actually detract more than they advance the plot (and it hardly makes sense that a girl dressed in drab jeans and a baseball cap is teaching a guy how to dress in order to be "Popular") and other songs could use a little more editing to make them a bit more believable in the context of this story. Stephen Schwartz is a gifted composer - his work deserves better than this "musical mosaic."

Snapshots was presented by Seaside Music Theater in the Gillespy Theatre at the News-Journal Center and closed on August 19th. Further information regarding SMT's upcoming winter season may be obtained by visiting www.seasidemusictheater.org.

The Cast:
Dan - Mitchell Greenberg* Sue - Mary Jo Mecca*
Daniel - Trevor Southworth*
Susan - Stephanie Lynge*
Danny - Kevin Murphy*
Susie - Sarah Shahinian* * courtesy of Actors' Equity Association

- Matthew MacDermid