You only have to listen to the first seven minutes or so of A Catered Affair on the PS Classics cast album to get a good idea of the show's strengths as well as its flaws. After a brief orchestral prelude, the CD begins not with a song but with nearly two full minutes of spoken dialogue over music -- and, by the way, there's actually much more dialogue at the start of the show as seen at the Walter Kerr Theater than is included on the recording. This is the first indication that composer-lyricist John Bucchino and book writer/co-star Harvey Fierstein didn't have a firm handle on how to musicalize this story, based on the film written by Gore Vidal and the original teleplay by Paddy Chayefsky, about a lower-middle-class Bronx family's dilemma over whether or not to give their daughter an expensive wedding they really can't afford.
When the first song finally begins, it exhibits a contemporary sound and perspective that seem way out of synch with the story's early-1950s time frame; the incipient bride and groom Janey and Ralph's use of the word "partners" to describe their relationship is a glaring anachronism, and the song's Maltby & Shire-esque, William Finnish rolling accompaniment sounds more '70s or '80s than '50s. Even the two best songs in the show -- "One White Dress" and "Don't Ever Stop Saying I Love You" -- somehow sound too "modern" in a way that's difficult to define.
Another problem: Although Fierstein gives an admirably restrained performance as Uncle Winston, a character he has unwisely reconceived and rewritten as gay, his voice is so unusual that he doesn't blend with the ensemble. Whenever he speaks or sings on the recording (or in the show), A Catered Affair is suddenly all about Winston, which it should not be.
On the plus side, Faith Prince does some of the best work of her career as mom Aggie; and Tom Wopat as hubby Tom proves once again that he's one of Broadway's best actors, whether in a musical or a straight play. Leslie Kritzer has many lovely moments as Janey, but Matt Cavenaugh is given little to do as Ralph, and the talents of Lori Wilner, Heather MacRae, and especially Kristine Zbornik are almost completely wasted in other poorly written roles. Jonathan Tunick's orchestrations are as satisfying as one could expect, given that he's only writing for nine pieces. A Catered Affair has the great virtue of not screaming at the audience in the manner of so many other overblown, overamplified, modern-day musicals, but that virtue is sadly undercut by the show's significant flaws.
