Randy Newman’s “Harps and Angels”

Standing, l-r, Ryder Bach, Storm Large, and Michael McKean; seated: Adriane Lenox, Matthew Saldivar, and Katey Sagal. Photo by Craig Schwartz

Musical revues can seem like an easy way out if theaters present them and offer little more than a collection of unrelated songs. After all, if you go a step better, and dish up a “Dreamgirls” or “Jersey Boys,” you’ve got some strong material and a storyline in which the viewer can emotionally invest.

“Harps and Angels,” conceived by Jack Viertel, who gave us “Smokey Joe’s Café,” and director Jerry Zaks, whose many credits include “A Cage aux Folles” and “The House of Blue Leaves,” have culled two acts worth of material from singer-songwriter and composer Randy Newman’s 40-plus year career. Sure, everyone knows “I Love L.A.” and “Short People,” but Newman has always been a deft, crafty, impish, and intelligent wordsmith and tunesmith. What this show accomplishes is this: It reminds us of just what a talented artist we’ve had in our midst all of these years.

Backed by an energetic onstage ensemble tucked above and behind the stage rather than underneath it somewhere, the show features a cast of six – Ryder Bach, Storm Large, Adriane Lenox, Michael McKean, Katey Sagal, and Matthew Saldivar – that sings and at the same time creates affecting or amusing vignettes out of the songs.

These work to varying degrees, but they do work, in part because the Taper always goes first class with its sound, lighting, and scenic design, and also, in this case, with its projection design as well. Via some film clips, Newman himself pops in and out of the show, and so gives the impression that he is its guiding light.

I’ve already suggested “Harps and Angels” to a songwriter friend of mine, who’s been writing tunes almost as long as Newman has, because – as the saying goes – you can always learn something new from a master. It takes an acute sensibility to capture all those nuances that Newman does, and to cover so much musical ground so very, very well. We can all learn from watching and listening, and I think we will all be entertained at the same time.

Randy Newman’s Harps and Angels is onstage through Dec. 22 at the Mark Taper Forum, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown Los Angeles in the Music Center. Tickets, $20 to $80. Call (213) 628-2772 or go to CenterTheatreGroup.org. ER

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