A Spoonful of Tuneful

For a song-ologist, you couldn't find a better evening than the treasure trove represented by A Spoonful of Sherman. And although the focus is on the Sherman Brothers of Disney fame (Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), it's fun to dip into the resume of their father, Al Sherman, and even Al's grandson Robbie.

Al was a prolific songwriter of the jazz age, penning songs for Sinatra, Ella, Bing, Billie and dozens of others. The two that delivered the "he wrote that?" vibe were You're Sixteen and You Gotta be a Football Hero. Robbie's contributions come later in the show, a couple of fun tunes from the 2015 musical Love Birds.

In between is a truckload of gems from the brothers, including The Aristocats, It's a Small World After All and Let's Get Together from The Parent Trap, as well as all the songs from Winnie the Pooh. The show is lightly outlined with family anecdotes. Faced with a lit grad and a music grad, both going nowhere, Al lured his sons into the family business by betting them they couldn't write a song that a teenager would spend a quarter on. They did just that, eventually opening up a VERY valuable Disney connection by penning Tall Paul for Mouseketeer Annette Funicello. That connection opened the way to the character-driven movie songs that made the Brothers' career.

The Guggenheim Entertainment cast has the kind of ensemble chemistry that comes from good performers who play together for years. And they have the luxury of a different voice for each type of song. Opera veteran Stephen Guggenheim gets the meaty stuff: Hushabye Mountain, Chim Chim Cheree. Shannon Guggenheim handles the sunshine: Comes A-Long A-Love, The Wonderful Thing about Tiggers, plus the heartbreaking Tell Him Anything, from the 1976 Cinderella musical The Slipper and The Rose (Shannon has a remarkable ability to be emotionally genuine on stage, and this song really brings it out). F. James Raasch handles the comic parts, including an oranguatanish I Wanna Be Like You (the Louis Prima number from The Jungle Book) and What a Comforting Thing to Know, Prince Charming's morbid take on his reservations in the family crypt. Theresa Swain's contribution is to sound precisely like Julie Andrews (and that's saying a lot!) Sadly, Susan Gundunas had to pull things back due to a virus, but even this was kind of entertaining, watching her deploy her usual panache and a Rex Harrison speak-sing to get through the evening.

The ensemble singing and harmonies are beautiful, and the choreography and direction (from Guggenheims Shannon and Scott Evan) are charming without ever getting in the way. Barry Koran did yeoman's work at the piano, deftly ignoring the way the cast kept spinning him around, and even contributing a fun vocal on Crunchy Crackers. If your ears are feeling neglected by today's overproduced schlock, you couldn't find a better form of therapy than this delicious banquet of song.

Through May 12, 3Below Theaters, San Carlos and Second, San Jose. 408/404-7711, 3belowtheaters.com

Michael J. Vaughn is the author of 21 novels. His most song-oriented works are the karaoke novel Outro and the rock-band comedy Slow Children.