Review: It's Only Life (Union Theatre)

In comparison not only to Stephen Sondheim, who is referenced several times in the course of this show, but also William Finn, Jason Robert Brown and Maltby and Shire – the contemporaries whose work his songs most resemble – American composer and lyricist John Bucchino isn't terribly well known in this country. This charming musical revue – conceived by Bucchino and original director Daisy Prince – really makes one wonder why.

These songs are well-crafted, witty and heartfelt. Bucchino writes about many aspects of modern life with a particular emphasis on romance and heartbreak. His lyrics are incisive – 'Who made the rule that two is better than one? / I bet that fool is alone by a phone, coming undone' is one delicious example, and the tunes sometimes go in directions one may not expect.

The male singing parts are particularly challenging and rangy, although the cast here manage them superbly, making them sound pretty effortless. Casting director Jane Deitch has done a fine job of matching five talents who work gloriously as an ensemble but also prove impressive soloists. Noel Sullivan combines an innate likability with a stratospheric belt while Jordan Shaw makes something deeply moving out of his heartbroken ballad "If I Say I'm Over You". Newcomers Will Carey and Sammy Graham display lovely voices and prodigious comic chops (Carey's cheeky, slightly manic "On My Bedside Table" break-up song is a particular gem). If Jennifer Harding, a terrific actor-singer, seems most at home with the material that is probably because she is Canadian and the whole sound and feel of the score is so North American; one of the few missteps in Tania Azevedo's bracing production is the decision to have the other performers retain their native British accents: it doesn't always quite work. Nonetheless it is a pleasure to hear voices of this calibre acoustically, under Nick Barstow's excellent musical direction.

Bucchino's work has a specifically American urban sensibility with an emphasis on self-analysis and occasional lapses into sentimentality that may not be to everybody's taste, but they are fine examples of complex modern theatrical songwriting. For me the storytelling numbers are more successful than the self-absorbed ones: Harding exquisitely delivers a quietly upsetting tale of broken strangers connecting then ending up in very different places in the gorgeous "Sweet Dreams".

Bucchino's compositions may not have the melodic facility of, say, Stephen Schwartz but on the evidence of the songs here, he writes cascading, haunting flights of longing and regret that are often refreshingly inventive. Interestingly, Bucchino has only one Broadway score to his credit – 2008's short-lived A Catered Affair.

If Justin Williams' eye-popping set – a white apartment caught mid-explosion with splashes of candy colour and objects bursting through walls and at odd angles – is a marvel, its Play School -on-acid aesthetic does occasionally feel at odds with the thematic darkness of some of the writing.

A programme note claims that the songs are linked but in all honesty I couldn't detect much of a through-line. This isn't actually a problem as the songs and their interpreters here are so engaging. It may only be life, but it is an evening of considerable delight. Well worth a look.