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| Harvey Evans, Mary Small, Robert Spenser, Dixie Carter, Jerry Lanning. |
An intimate six-character musical that many considered a
derivative of the successful Stephen Sondheim-Hal Prince show Company, but without that classic’s
finesse and genius. In Sextet, the
characters are guests at a dinner party given by two gay men, Kenneth (Harvey
Evans) and David (Robert Spencer). There are David’s stereotypical widowed
Jewish mother, Fay (Mary Small), her salesman date, Paul (John Newton), David’s straight,
ex-college roommate, Leonard (Jerry Lanning), and Leonard’s wife, Ann (Dixie Carter, who would
have a successful career, including the TV series, “Designing Women”). As the
evening progresses, the various sexual attitudes and feelings among the six are
gradually disclosed.
“In the end,” Martin Gottfried commented, “they discover . .
. that they’re stuck with who they are.” He also described how the show’s nonlinear
construction allowed it to layer and mix the dialogue. “One character talks to
a second, who responds to a third who reacts to a fourth.”
In turning thumbs down Clive Barnes remarked that the show suffered from a dearth
of humor and, while pleasantly modest, a “faintly familiar” score. He cited a
scene touched on by several others as the show’s funniest, when the square
salesman smokes a joint and blows smoke rings with it. Edith Oliver called it a “frail little musical,” and Douglas Watt regarded it “more with pity than outright displeasure.” Richard Watts, however, called it “amiable and quite agreeable,” while Gottfried, the most positive reviewer, was captivated what he considered a “clever and
straight and musical and funny and unusual and fine show.”
Like others, Barnes picked Carter as the standout performer:
“I liked best Dixie Carter as Ann, because she looks pretty, plays a trumpet
and does a Grouch Marx impersonation.”
