If your main reason for enjoying musical theater is the performance of the music, then The Boys From Syracuse is a must-see. The 1938 Rodgers & Hart score is attractively sung and played in this new Roundabout production. David Loud conducts a tasteful orchestration by Don Sebesky that keeps the flavor of the original. Jonathan Dokuchitz, Tom Hewitt and Erin Dilly are particularly good vocally, while Lauren Mitchell sings her big number, "Falling in Love With Love," in a lower key than we're used to, making it more conversational but less thrilling. Jackee Harry is excellent as the madam of the brothel, and her additions to the vocal of "Sing For Your Supper" freshen and augment that classic. Toni DiBuono, Chip Zien and Lee Wilkof add humor with their portrayals.
Nicky Silver's new version of George Abbott's script has some fine moments, like the scene of a public execution where onlookers swap showbiz-related one-liners. Silver fleshes out the characters of the two sets of twins, but when he makes one of the leading men a braggart and the other a nebbish he diminishes their appeal. Courtesans are given a prominent role, particularly in the Act Two curtain-raiser, "You Took Advantage of Me," which is an homage to the era when showing off the bodies of showgirls was an important part of Broadway. Rodgers & Hart normally didn't use that device, and this song is borrowed from a different Rodgers & Hart show, but never mind; the number works. So does an early scene where characters pop in and out of doors with comic, split-second timing.
Elsewhere the play unfolds in leisurely fashion, providing smiles and chuckles but no spectacular moments. Scott Ellis' staging of Dokuchitz and Dilly in "This Can't Be Love" is a charming highlight, while Rob Ashford's choreography is attractive but not as dazzling as his work in Thoroughly Modern Millie.
This musicalization of Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors played successfully at Broadway's 1334-seat Alvin Theater in 1938 (even larger than the American Airlines Theater.) In the context of today's culture, however, it feels more like an intimate Off-Broadway attraction.
