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NEW YORK — The sweet syncopations of Scott Joplin and the marvelous melodies of Irving Berlin can't bring to life "The Tin Pan Alley Rag," a soggy, inert examination of what made these musical masters tick.
The Roundabout Theatre Company production, which opened Tuesday at its Laura Pels Theatre, is not quite a play and not quite a musical. As concocted by Mark Saltzman, this turgid hybrid revolves around a fictional meeting between the two men. But their coming together doesn't offer much insight into either one, although Saltzman tries to drum up some dramatic conflict in between songs and the superficial presentation of facts from each of their lives.
He pictures Joplin, played by Michael Boatman, as the committed artist, resolutely following his vision whether it brings him commercial rewards or not. That vision is poured into his ragtime opera "Treemonisha" and his vain attempts to get it published.
Berlin, on the other hand, is portrayed as the savvy, super-successful composer attuned to popular culture and what the public will like or dismiss. As portrayed by Michael Therriault, he's a bit of a nudge, but secretly an admirer of Joplin's decision to follow his artistic heart.
The show is peppered with biographical info, often clunkily inserted into the story. The evening opens in Tin Pan Alley, a noisy section of West 28th Street in Manhattan where songwriters auditioned their compositions for music publishers.
Berlin and his gruff, barking publisher (the ever reliable Michael McCormick) are auditioning songwriters, and Joplin shows up, looking for someone to publish "Tremonisha."
It's initially a combative relationship. What finally brings the two men together are the premature deaths of their wives. Dorothy, Berlin's first wife, succumbs to typhoid fever after their honeymoon in Cuba. Joplin's second wife, Freddie, dies of pneumonia — 10 weeks after their wedding. Grief spurs each man on.
There is a relentless quality to the acting, particularly among the supporting players who are loud and surprisingly cartoonish. Yet Therriault manages a moment or two of poignancy when he transforms himself into an elderly Berlin. The transformation is a reminder of the actor's innate physicality, most prominently on display in his portrayal of the Gollum in the ill-fated Toronto and London stage productions of "The Lord of the Rings."
Director Stafford Arima moves the show in fits and starts, its pace hampered by Beowulf Boritt's complicated settings that have to encompass more than a few locales.
The evening's fleeting moments of pleasure are provided by its musical interludes. It's hard not to be uplifted by Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag" or Berlin's "Play a Simple Melody," two songs that at least stylistically link the songwriters.
"Catchy doesn't happen by accident," says Berlin at one point in the show to an aspiring songwriter. Quite true. And it's a quality that has managed to elude this out-of-tune "Tin Pan Alley Rag."
