I really loved this revival of Rodgers & Hammerstein rarity Allegro. It’s not an unarguable classic like their South Pacific, or as rock-ribbed in structure as their Oklahoma! or Carousel. It’s weirder, and in some ways more ambitious, than any of those – already enough to gain it a place in my heart. On top of that, director John Doyle’s stripped-bare production reveals its considerable virtues, and, for me anyway, secures its place in the R&H canon.

Allegro’s head is in the future, while its heart is securely in the past. The only other musical theatre composer of the 1940s that was in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s league was Kurt Weill (one could even argue that he was doing better work than them, but that’s an argument for another time). Allegro can definitely be seen as their attempt to out-Weill Weill, all presentational style and big ideas.

The story of Allegro follows the story of one Joe Taylor, Jr. (the seriously handsome Claybourne Elder) from cradle to early manhood in the early years of the 20th Century. His story is even more conservative than Oklahoma! and Carousel – which were the two big R&H hits immediately preceding Allegro – detailing the inexorable pull of small-town virtues over the fast-paced “allegro” of the big city.

One of the most successful American plays of all time, Our Town, utilized much the same combination of presentational aesthetics and small-town subject matter. Indeed, Rodgers and Hammerstein may have had Our Town in mind when writing Allegro. However, there’s an element of unsentimental objectivity about small-town America that is absent in the more sentimental Allegro.

For these reasons and more, Doyle’s minimalist take on Allegro hits all the right notes. His gimmick of having actors play musical instruments has been seen before, in productions where it was both effective (Sweeney Todd) and ineffective (Company). It is more effective here than ever before, as the cast plays such homey instruments as guitars, fiddles, mandolins, banjos and upright pianos. This turns Allegro‘s conservatism into a virtue, fully owning the sentimentality and turning the folksiness all the way up. What may have once seemed like merely an intellectual exercise now actively pulls on the heartstrings. Highly recommended.

For tickets, click here.

To learn about Jonathan Warman’s directing work, see jonathanwarman.com.