There’s one thing guaranteed to strike fear into the hardiest of theatre workers. Forget first night nerves, harsh reviews and the fear of the ‘Scottish play’ – the stage mother will bring most people out in a cold sweat. Anyone watching Mamma Rose will soon understand why, a chilling determination to ensure their child shines…
We are gathered here today to celebrate the 35th birthday of Bobby the eternal bachelor. Or his he? Does he really want to get married or is being single his default state? While his friends are all married, to various degrees of unhappiness, Bobby remains resolutely single. Sondheim’s Company has always given directors a quandary…
Beware the quiet ones. The most chilling and dark murderers tend to be those you would never suspect and, in Jonathan Kent’s sublime revival of Sondheim’s Gothic opera, Sweeney Todd, the demon barber journeys from the everyday to maniacal with alarming quiet. Sondheim’s darkest musical takes a look at a wronged barber who quietly plots…
To paraphrase the Michael Crawford show, Some Brothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em. For a show that is already on its fourth title, I’m not suggesting Road Show changes its name again but it certainly sums up life for Addison Mizner. Stephen Sondheim’s latest show has had a lengthy gestation period. Various versions have appeared since 1999…
After the glut of Sondheim stagings, concerts and celebrations to mark his 80th birthday last year, Southwark Playhouse has waited until the glut died down to produce Company as their first ever musical. It’s an inspired setting as the bare brick of London Bridge railway arches easily conveys Manhattan loft living. Company really works well…
The second of the Donmar Warehouse’s concert celebrations for Sondheim’s 80th birthday turns attention to his 1970 score Company. This one was a hit for the Donmar back in 1995 and as with last weeks Merrily We Roll Along features many of the cast of that production. Also like Merrily Company is not your traditional linear…
Stephen Sondheim’s birthday celebrations continue with the much-anticipated Donmar Warehouse concert revivals of two of their many associations with the composer. Next week sees two concert performances of Company but first up it’s the turn of Merrily We Roll Along. For many this is one of Sondheim’s ‘problem’ scores, closing on Broadway just 16 performances…
So the London love affair with Stephen Sondheim continues, with a gloriously ravishing prom dedicated to the Maestro. Tickets were snapped up within a couple of hours of going on sale and queues for day prom tickets began in the early hours of the morning so there was a huge sense of anticipation in the…