Cinderella - 1966 - West End Articles Page 9

South Coast Repertory kicks off the 2009-10 Season with Putting It Together, a compilation of Stephen Sondheim songs, that the composer put together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, creating a narrative set at a cocktail party in an elegant Manhattan condo. The non-traditional musical, led by Broadway and television star Harry Groener, has a cast of five (a glamorous but slightly jaded couple, a starry-eyed younger couple and a savvy observer) who sing more than 30 songs that reflect their lives, lifestyles and moods of the moment. Some of the songs will be familiar, some less so, a few were even cut from their original musical scores, but they are all sophisticated, smart and drop-dead droll. All, in other words, Sondheim.

The Apple Tree book, music & lyrics by Sheldon Harnick & Jerry Bock additional book by Jerome Coopersmith directed by Gary Lamb (I), William A. Reilly (II), Matthew J. Williamson (III) choreography by Gary Lamb and Bradley Michael Crown City Theatre @St. Matthew's Church on Camarillo in NoHo through July 27

Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick's 1966 charmer is given a sublime revival with Kristin Chenoweth, Brian d'Arcy James and Marc Kudisch all in scrumptious form.

Broadway favorite and Tony winner Bernadette Peters ('Annie Get Your Gun,' 'Song and Dance') will guest-star on NBC's 'Will & Grace' (Thursdays, 8-8:30 p.m. ET) in the series' next-to-last episode on May 11.

A new book--The Performing Set--will pay tribute to the theatrical world of William and Jean Eckart, an overlooked husband and wife team of stage designers and producers who worked on Broadway during the golden age of the musical

A Weekly Column on theater in the Baltimore/Washington area.