SONDHEIM HITS SHINE THROUGH REVUE'S COCKTAIL CHATTER.

Byline: Reed Johnson Daily News Staff Writer

Ah, the Manhattan skyline. The champagne chilling on ice. The sparkling cocktail party chatter.

The seething resentments, sexual betrayals and near-suicidal disillusionment.

Anyone for Stephen Sondheim?

Yes, comes the emphatic reply from the Colony Studio Theatre, where the all-Sondheim revue, ``Putting It Together,'' is having its belated West Coast premiere. It took Los Angeles four years to land this melancholy tribute to the melancholy composer regarded as Broadway's Mozart. Was it worth the wait?

Generally speaking, yes. Set in an upscale Manhattan apartment (niftily designed by Susan Gratch), ``Putting It Together'' puts us dead-center at a black-tie soiree where things are not as genteel as they seem. The middle-age host (an ironically debonair Doug Carfrae) and hostess (brassy Barbara Passolt) are at each others' throats. The maid (Michelle Duffy) is feeling pleasantly raunchy after a couple of stiff drinks, while the swingin' good-time bachelor (sweet-voiced James Matthew Campbell) hides an aching loneliness.

Presiding over this lost-souls gathering, a goateed gay friend (Todd Nielsen) makes Brechtian asides to the audience and tunefully enjoins us not to talk, pass gas or sing along while the show is in progress (the opening number comes from ``The Frogs'').

So much for formalities.

Story line, however, isn't really the point here. (What's more, the emotional parlor games grow tedious after a while.)

Most of the evening's pleasure lies in spotting familiar songs in zunfamiliar, yet psychologically potent contexts and in watching these bon vivants smile through gritted teeth as they vent their fears, desires and self-deceptions.

Director Nick DeGruccio's smart, sprightly direction pulls the group together nicely, particularly for ensemble numbers like the introductory title tune (from ``Sunday in the Park With George'').

But ``Gun Song'' (from ``Assassins'') misfires badly by contriving to have the party guests pull out revolvers in the heat of verbal battle. Inevitably, too, several solo numbers have trouble competing with our memories of the same songs being performed by Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters and Sondheim's legion of interpreters, in part because the composer is relatively underproduced. A poignant exception is a pair of bittersweet Act 2 confessionals, Campbell's ``Marry Me a Little'' and Passolt's ``Like It Was.''

Sondheim fanatics in L.A. are like junkies: We'll take a hit virtually anywhere we can get one. Through April 13, you'll find the goodies in Silver Lake.

THE FACTS

What: ``Putting It Together.''

Where: Colony Studio Theatre, 1944 Riverside Drive, Silver Lake, between Dodger Stadium and Los Feliz Boulevard.

When: 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday; through April 13.

Tickets: $25 to $27 general admission; $22 students and seniors. Call [phone].

Our rating: Three Stars.

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Photo

Photo: Doug Carfrae, Michelle Duffy, center, and Barbara Passolt take on Stephen Sondheim in ``Putting It Together,'' at the Colony Studio Theatre.