By Roy Sander

"Taylor Made: Bob Merrill"

Metropolitan Room  -  October 25, 26, November 2, 9, December 5

If I had been asked a few weeks ago whether a good show could be created from a mix of songs of highly varying quality—some of them mediocre at best—I'm not sure what I would have answered. Having seen Maureen Taylor's program of the songs of Bob Merrill, I can say, perhaps with a little surprise, that the answer is a resounding yes—and not just a good show, but a truly excellent show, and one that is very entertaining.

As most of you know, Bob Merrill worked in two artistic arenas: the field of pop singles, and the more rarified world of Broadway musicals. As evidenced by the selections in this show, his pop songs were good stuff—quite frequently frothy novelty numbers; however, though he wrote a host of wonderful theatre songs, his output in this realm was more uneven. Directed by Peter Napolitano, with musical direction by Matt Castle, the show is superbly crafted, very smartly giving less time to the B-level material and more weight to Merrill's first-class work. "Why do the lesser work at all?" you might ask. For one thing, because these songs are mainly unfamiliar and, so, of interest to anyone with a curiosity about either obscure songs or Bob Merrill's writing. For another, Taylor's interpretations are so insightful and so well realized that she makes it all land. Another factor is the artful programming. For example, the first song, "Travelin'" from Breakfast at Tiffany's, is far from being one of Merrill's proudest accomplishments, but it works marvelously as an opening number. Also, in a few cases, songs are combined into segments that are stronger than some of their individual components.

Among the evening's pop numbers are the infectious "Mambo Italiano," the seductive "Make Yourself Comfortable," the appealing "Candy and Cake," and the catchy "Ooh Bang Jiggly Jang"—the last, complete with sound effects. All of these are given model performances by Taylor and her accompanists (Castle on piano, Joe Brent on guitar, violin and mandolin), and all deserved to be the hit songs they were. We also get a bit of "Arfie, the Doggie in the Window," written by Merrill as a response to his hugely successful "How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?"; it richly deserved not to be the hit it wasn't. But hearing it was fun.

Only a few of the theatre songs are well known: "The Music That Makes Me Dance" (music by Jule Styne) and "Take Me Along" are performed in severely truncated versions, mainly to set up the songs that follow, but Taylor gets to bring tenderness and warmth to ""Look at Him" from New Girl in Town. It may seem perverse not to have given us some of the exceptional songs from Carnival or other blockbusters from Funny Girl; however, Taylor does us a greater service by introducing us to several rarities, and while we can readily see why "I Did It on Rollerskates" was cut from Funny Girl, many of these discoveries are actually quite good—among them, "My Place in the World" from The Prince of Grand Street, "I Met a Man" from Prettybelle, "Kissed on the Eyes" from Hannah, 1939, and "When It Happens to You" from The Red Shoes (music by Julie Styne). Taylor gives all of them their full measure—even those that are performed in abbreviated versions, and a few times during the evening, Castle lends his pleasing baritone to the vocals. 

Finally, there is the remarkable dress Taylor wears for the show. Designed and made by her mother years ago, it is quintessential late-'50s/early-'60s—the period of Merrill's heyday. Like everything else about this enterprise, it reeks quality and class.