“Sondheim’s Old Friends,” now playing at the Ahmanson Theatre in its pre-Broadway run, will make you want to get up and sing and dance with the marvelous cast on stage. This is the third Sondheim-Cameron Mackintosh collaboration, and it is truly a meeting of the titans. Mackintosh had his first major hit with “Side by Side by Sondheim” in 1976, which predated “Cats.” He went on to produce “Putting it Together” in 1992 and now he has gifted us with “Sondheim’s Old Friends.” He and Sondheim, close friends, conceived this idea during the COVID-19 lockdown, talking often, discussing what they wanted to feature and what songs to include. Unlike the previous two productions, there would be no plot and no narrator tying everything together. This time the music would speak for itself, and it does, loud and clear.
Sadly, Sondheim passed away before the show was little more than a concept, but Mackintosh, a true believer, has come up with an amazing array of songs performed by a very talented cast, headlined by Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga.
Sondheim got his start at the ripe old age of 27 writing the lyrics for “West Side Story,” and Lea Salonga’s solo of “Somewhere” will send shivers. But his goal was to write the words and music and almost got that chance with “Gypsy” when Ethel Merman, its star, demanded someone more experienced for the music. Still, his lyrics for that show are amazingly smart, sharp, pungent and funny. Lea Salonga, once again, brings down the house with her rendition of “Everything’s Coming Up Roses.”
“Sondheim’s Old Friends” has an interesting and engaging structure. Performed on an essentially bare stage with risers on the right and left delineated by streamers of light and a small orchestra upstage. Even if the songs are unfamiliar to you, and some will be, they are choreographed and staged as little plays unto themselves. If you’ve never seen “Into the Woods” (and I haven’t), you will still recognize its fairy tale structure and story. “Agony” is a tale unto itself about the frustrating quest of two entitled princes longing for their lady loves (Cinderella and Rapunzel), just out of reach as Cinderella’s fella holds tightly to her glittery shoe and Rapunzel’s suitor can’t quite reach her tresses. In “I Know Things Now” and “Hello, Little Girls,” Bernadette Peters is a fetching Red Riding Hood wary of and then wooed by the unctuous, handsomely evil wolf sung by Jacob Dickey.
I had completely forgotten Sondheim’s early musical, “A Little Night Music,” based on the Ingmar Bergman movie, “Smiles of a Summer Night.” But I was transported to long-ago memories as the cast sang a clever ode to the pitfalls of “A Weekend in the Country.” It highlighted the complicated relationships the characters had with one another, but especially with the owners of the country chateau to which they were invited. It leads directly to said chateau and into Bernadette Peters singing “Send in the Clowns” as the melancholy dirge about bad timing and lost love that it is. That song has been covered so many times, most memorably, I think, by Judy Collins, that it was nice to be reminded where it came from. Although Peters has lost some of her range and her edges are occasionally rough, she makes up for it all in her amazing, poignant and dramatic delivery.
I could go on and on, parsing each and every wonderful song, but it would be better for you to see this fantastic production. Most are from shows you might recognize like “Company” and “Into the Woods.” We are treated to a veritable “Reader’s Digest” condensed version of “Sweeney Todd” that highlights the dark humor of Mrs. Lovett, the worst pie maker in London, and the steadfast murderous vengeance of Sweeney Todd, all sung stunningly by Jeremy Secomb and Lea Salonga.
Beth Leavel channels her best Elaine Stritch in a stringent delivery of “Ladies Who Lunch,” and Bonnie Langford belts that formidable number, “I’m Still Here” from “Follies” that documents the ups and downs of a life in the theater, but really, any life lived for passion.
By taking all of these songs, some from shows that are famous and others that aren’t, most notably, the hilarious “The Boy From,” a collaboration with Mary Rogers (the daughter of Richard) for the off-Broadway show “The Mad Show,” Cameron Mackintosh hasn’t just created an ode to Sondheim but also a love letter to musical theater. And he’s done it without plot or narration. The songs speak, or rather sing for themselves and immerse you in the messages that each puts forward, whether of love lost and/or found, cynicism, joy, sadness and regret.
Directed seamlessly by Mathew Bourne, who redefined ballet with his “Swan Lake,” and choreographed by Stephen Mear, whose dance numbers seem effortless (they’re not) and contribute greatly to how the production flows. So great is the direction and choreography that it seems invisible but, like the music, it will carry you away.
It is a very large cast of 15 extraordinarily talented singers and dancers, all with multiple Broadway and West End credits under their belts. There isn’t space to mention them all, but they all deserve mention.
My advice? Get tickets while you can to this limited pre-Broadway run.
Now playing through March 9 at the Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles. Check with Audience Services (213-628-2772) for matinees and performance times.
