Theater review
Old friends
Two hours and 35 minutes, with an intermediate. At the Samuel J. Friedman Theater, 261 West 47th Street.
When Bernadette Peters elegantly opens his umbrella in the new Stephen Sondheim magazine “Old Friends”, he is becoming Dot, Georges Seurat’s muse that played in “Sunday in the Park with George”.
But it could also be used as a shield against a typhoon of tears, so it reveals that the audience is to see the Broadway legend in the tables in that loved one, even if only for a moment.
That exuberant and emotional song of the entire company, called “Sunday”, is one of the 42 numbers in “Old Friends”, a supremely entertaining and completely divine celebration of the Legacy of Sondheim created by producer Jactotothotothemon Jactotototothemon Jactototheremon Jactototheremonemon.
It is a rare and special experience to see the artists of the caliber of Peters and co -star reads lounge backed by a sensational orchestra of 14 pieces in an intimate room that sets only 600.
That the glorious sound wall is a massive selection of the dead shows of the composer that includes “A Little Night Music”, “Sweeney Todd”, “Company”, “Follies” and “Into The Woods” makes the close limits even more exciting for fans.
And, I suspect, the concert will also absorb many Sondheim neophytes who do not know Bobby of the baker’s wife.
The heir atmosphere is different, more animated than usual, perhaps because it comes from London, where musical performances are larger.
For this piece, directed with Flair by Matthew Bourne, I like that. Taxes of Sondheim, so they tend towards grandiosis and mat. But “old friends”, in addition to making your rímel run, explode for joy and humor.
Peters, for example, is a riot like “hitting it with a trumpet!” Stripper Mazeppa of “Gypsy” and when she goes down there is the hood of Little Red for “Be things now” by “Into the Woods”.
Same as a skillfully, the winner of Tony breaks us with two soft songs that has sung many times on Broadway, “losing my mind” and “sends the clowns.” Peters played Sally in “Follies” and Desiree in “Night Music” on Broadway more than a decade ago, but the meaning and power have only deepened.
Peters and Salonga, with such powerful pipes that a carlarm in New Haven sounds, 17 other actors join. All of them, splendid.
Very fun for musical geeks is to have the opportunity to see the West End players of the program, many of whom are making their Broadway debuts after long London races.
Joanna Riding Masters the panic blows of a nervous girlfriend in “I’m not going to marry today”, and Jeremy Secomm is the Sweeney of your dreams, or rather, nightmares.
Bonnie Langford, another British, excited that the challenging anthem “I’m still here” Follies “cost me. This is, after all, the second time he is on his leg on Broadway since he did his first reverence when he was a girl in “Gypsy” with Angela Lansbury in 1974. And he is still here!
However, it is not just Britannia that governs. Yanks also pull their weight.
Beth Read turns an acidic and more fun attack “Ladies that lunch.” And I was beaten by the strong and luxurious baritone of Jacob Dickey as the Big Bad Wolf in “Hello, girl”. I had seen it before now, but I hope to do it very soon.
If Peters’s most forceful numbers are infused with intense pain and desire, Salonga, known for his clean and dramatic song in “Miss Saigon” and “Les miserable”, surprises us with strange comedy and her shots of waitresses.
I would immediately clarify it for an intriguing Mrs. Lovett or Pit Bull Madam Rose. “The worst cakes in London” and “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” are great swings for this actress, but beat both outside the Friedman. More Eponine-and is the tortured “love you” of “passion.”
After a night of pain, heart and hilarity, the climax in motion is a presentation of slides of image of Sondheim, who died in 2021, along with his old friends while the cast cries beautiful arrangements of “is not a day” and “being alive.”
Sondheim and a fantastic actors company, standing next to each other.
