Friends have been sending mixed reports on Quantum Theatre's outdoor staging of "Cymbeline," from "it's bright, modernized and lighthearted ... perfect under the moonlight" to "complete phoniness hyped as cutting edge entertainment."

Leave it to Shakespeare or Quantum or both to have people taking sides over a play rarely staged and, except by the Bard-ian scholars, not very well known. And leave it to director Karla Boos to take multiple risks with an already tricky romantic piece, one of those risks being that she assigned six men and one woman to all the roles. Twenty-some roles, in fact.

At Pittsburgh's Mellon Park (between Shadyside and Squirrel Hill), you can find out for yourself if Joel Ripka, Patrick Jordan, David Whalen, Mark Staley, Rick Kemp, Sam Turich and the lone woman, Miki Johnson, are up to the task. "Cymbeline" closes Sunday, and tickets are available by calling 412-394-3353.

Easy rider

In last Friday's story about "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" at Off the Wall Theater, I mentioned that Scott Sortman auditioned to play George while on a break from his cross-country motorcycle trip. What I didn't do was include his brief description of the adventure on two wheels: "Carefree or foolish," he said, "depending on how you look at it."

Born to be wild? That's what the New York-dwelling Sortman is at heart, but the actor also told me he wants to remain in this area a little while longer and audition for roles at the Playhouse, the Public, City Theatre, PICT, etc.

"I like what I see," he said, though it's the hospitality of Off the Wall founders Ginny and Hans Gruenert he's most grateful for. "They made me feel at home right away, and now they're spoiling me."

Musicals at home

n Everything comes up roses Tuesday when the latest recording of "Gypsy," my pick for the greatest musical born in Broadway's golden era, pops up wherever people buy CDs. Now you can hear why theater critics have been raving about the current New York revival starring Patti LuPone, Laura Benanti, Boyd Gaines and Pittsburgh trouper Lenora Nemetz.

Many "Gypsy" recordings preceded this one. First came the definitive original with Ethel Merman (1959), followed by the albums from five other versions: the movie starring Rosalind Russell (1962), the TV remake with Bette Midler (1993) and the stage productions led by Angela Lansbury (1974), Tyne Daly (1989) and Bernadette Peters (2003).

I don't think any recording will ever top Merman's, but the new CD contains something no previous album did. It has material composer Jule Styne and lyricist Stephen Sondheim deleted from the show during its pre-Broadway tryouts in 1959. So in addition to the songs already loved by "Gypsy" fans, the cast performs "Nice, She Ain't," "Momma's Talkin' Soft," "Smile, Girls," "Who Needs Him?," "Mother's Day" and "Three Wishes For Christmas" as bonus tracks.

n For Jerry Herman junkies, Christmas comes a little early this year. The Masterworks Broadway label celebrates one of the American theater's most popular score writers by re-releasing the cast albums from his biggest successes and even his interesting failures.

The remastered collection includes "Mame," "Dear World," "The Grand Tour," "La Cage Aux Folles," "Milk and Honey" and "Jerry Herman's Broadway," plus three separate recordings of the "Hello Dolly!" score - one with Carol Channing, one with Pearl Bailey and one with Mary Martin.

"Dolly" and "Mame" are the two favorites, the mega-hits responsible for turning Herman into the Cole Porter of the '60s, but where is the remastered album from "Mack and Mabel"? That Robert Preston-Bernadette Peters vehicle was a flop in 1974, yet its score lives on and is treasured by Herman worshipers who believe the show deserves a resurrection in New York. Give one of the songs a listen ("Time Heals Everything" or "I Won't Send Roses"), and you'll think it does, too.

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