The Transport Group has had great success matching shows with unusual settings — placing the basketball musical “Lysistrata Jones” in an actual gym, letting the gay-male bitch-a-thon “The Boys in the Band” play out in a Chelsea penthouse and putting the hookup musical “Hello Again” in a SoHo loft.
And sometimes the Transport Group goes out on a limb with the piece itself, as with its new “The Memory Show” — an intimate chamber musical about a woman and her mother, who has early-onset Alzheimer’s.
You’ve got to admire the ambition to tackle such a difficult subject, but seriousness of intent doesn’t automatically translate into worth, and this is a lackluster evening.
Director Joe Calarco’s biggest assets are his cast. The everreliable Leslie Kritzer (“Sondheim on Sondheim,” “A Catered Affair”) gives Daughter — the characters aren’t named — a sense of grounded, grudging affection. At 31, this young woman has had her share of failed relationships and unfulfilling jobs. Moving back home to look after her ailing mom, she finds renewed purpose.
And she needs it: “My mother’s always been a pain in the ass,” she says. “But now she has an excuse.”
As Mother, the wiry, intense Catherine Cox doesn’t soften the edges and try to make her character more likable. This is what losing your marbles looks like, and it ain’t fun.
But the women lack actual personalities other than “mean old one” and “prickly young one.”
We know that they’re Jewish and from Brooklyn, and the late father’s shadow looms over the family. But book writer Sara Cooper doesn’t develop their background.
This haziness is reinforced by Zach Redler’s monotonous music. It’s as if the young composer grafted the same one-size-fits-all melody to all of Cooper’s lyrics. A new song starts, and you feel as if you’ve already heard it minutes before.
Some numbers stand out for the wrong reasons, including one in which Daughter addresses a bathroom fixture:
“The two of us, toilet/Not so good/You flush away your problems/And I would if I could.”
After much pushing and pulling, Mother offers a revelation that sheds some light on her behavior. It seems like a last-ditch effort to give us something to remember.