STEPHEN SONDHEIM'S OLD FRIENDS
Gielgud Theatre
Date: 14 December 2023 (Thursday), 7:30pm
Seats: Circle E 15-16?
(Seen with Bri!)
Notes: I had heard so many good things about this show! I din't know when or if I was going to be able to go because of work and Christmas coming up, but then Bri messaged me to say that she had seen Today Tix having a 24 hour sale and she picked up a pair of tickets for £15 each, which is a total steal! It was a Thursday but that is manageable for sometimes. So I got up extra early and caught the train to work and then left as early as I could manage to get into the city!
We met at Fortnum and Masons as Bri needed some things, so we tried to get dinner there (they do lovely bagels and such - except they close that counter at 5pm!). Instead we wandered in the direction of the theatre on the hunt for something not crazy junk food and nice and fast. We ended up at Whole Foods where we got a slice of pizza each and some madeleines for interval sweets, which turned out to be perfect for eating as we walked over to the Gielgud.
Our seats were upstairs in the Circle but had a quite good view as that theatre has a lovely rake. I don't think I would have liked to be further back, especially because this show has no set changes and minimal costumes. It is a review style show which was set up to honour the work of Stephen Sondheim and was put on for a few gala performances. It did really well and then the passing of Sondheim meant that they decided to bring it back, with some amazing cast members! More on them later.
Because there is a lot of Sondheim shows, this features music from all of them - Sunday in the Park with George, Company, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd, Merrily We Roll Along, West Side Story, Gypsy, plus more. I am familiar with the main music from almost all of those shows, even for the ones I haven't seen, and of course I am very familiar with some of them; Company, Sweeney, and Into the Woods in particular. It was interesting to hear the music from a beautiful on stage orchestra out of context from the shows and to hear which ones they chose.
Each show had at least a few numbers and some got entire sets, with some basic costuming and staging. But while the music is of course a big draw, the actors are the real deal and were an incredible part of this show.
The 'chorus' featured a lot of actors I've seen before, most of whom got starring moments and their own feature songs. Christina Allado got to be Anita in West Side Story (who I've seen in Prince of Egypt), Damian Humbley had some stand out songs, and then there was Bradley Jaden. His starring song was as the Wolf in Into the Woods, opposite the Red Riding Hood of Bernadette Peters. It was a great interpretation and he was gorgeous! Jeremy Secomb also had a starring turn as Sweeney Todd opposite Lea Salonga's Mrs Lovett. I also didn't realise ahead of time that Bonnie Langford was in this! She is an absolute British icon and still an incredible singer and dancer (I wish I could do the splits at all, let alone at 59!) and she was a part of the trio for You Could Drive a Person Crazy.
But of course, the two big performers are absolutely insane. Lea Salonga hasn't performed on the West End in about 20 years but is a big name on Broadway and was first discovered here in London. She had about half of the big songs, including A Little Priest, Children Will Listen, and Everything's Coming Up Roses. Her voice was powerful and resonant and she delivered every song beautifully! My favourite was definitely her Mrs Lovett
And, for the first time, making her West End debut at age 75 and an absolute icon, Bernadette Peters. She dances so well, sings amazingly, with her highlights including I Know Things Now, Broadway Baby, Old Friends. It was also very clear that she was indeed an old friend of Stephen Sondheim's - at one point they had a video reel and she was clearly moved by it. She had worked on many shows with Sondheim and they clearly knew each other well.
I feel so grateful to have seen Bernadette, after seeing the legend Patti Lupone in Company previously. Two Broadway legends ticked off, plus Lea (who is on her way to becoming one), and a West End one too in Bonnie Langford! And to see it with my oldest friend was purely a bonus.
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