What do you say, old friend? Ready for some more Sondheim? The music of Broadway's most revered composer is back on Broadway in Manhattan Theatre Club's (in association with Cameron Mackintosh and Daryl Roth) Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends- a musical that celebrates the master himself, with an ensemble cast led by Tony Award winners Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga.
Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends comes to Broadway from London’s West End, and plays Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles before arriving on Broadway.
Old Friends is a great big Broadway show born out of Cameron Mackintosh and Stephen Sondheim’s lifetime of friendship and collaboration. The two of them came up with the idea during the pandemic, drawing on the many shows that they had done together in collaboration with their good friend Julia McKenzie. Once theatres reopened in London and New York in the fall of 2021, Mackintosh was able to visit Sondheim again and this new show remained something they continued to discuss; but, sadly, shortly after, Sondheim passed away in November 2021.
It fell to Mackintosh to pick up where he and Sondheim left off, collating their notes, and structuring the show that would initially become a spectacular star-studded gala at the Sondheim Theatre in London’s West End in May 2022 to celebrate Sondheim’s life and work, and also raise funds for the newly formed Stephen Sondheim Foundation.
Stephen Sondheim is widely acknowledged as the most innovative, most influential, and most important composer and lyricist in modern Broadway history. He is the winner of an Academy Award, numerous Tony Award, multiple Grammy Awards and a Pulitzer Prize. Some of his other accolades include a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Kennedy Center Honors (1993), the National Medal of Arts (1996), the American Academy of Arts and Letters' Gold Medal for Music (2006) and a special Tony Awards for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre (2008).
Stephen Sondheim wrote the music and lyrics for Road Show (2008), Passion (1994), Assassins (1991), Into the Woods (1987), Sunday in the Park with George (1984), Merrily We Roll Along (1981), Sweeney Todd (1979), Pacific Overtures (1976), The Frogs (1974), A Little Night Music (1973), Follies (1971; revised in London, 1987), Company (1970), Anyone Can Whistle (1964) and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962), as well as the lyrics for West Side Story (1957), Gypsy (1959), Do I Hear a Waltz? (1965) and additional lyrics for Candide (1973). Side by Side by Sondheim (1976), Marry Me a Little (1981), You're Gonna Love Tomorrow (1983) and Putting It Together (1993/99) are anthologies of his work, as is the new musical Sondheim on Sondheim.
After an evening of hurt, heart and hilarity, the moving climax is a slideshow of images of Sondheim, who died in 2021, next to his old friends as the cast wails gorgeous arrangements of “Not a Day Goes By” and “Being Alive.” Sondheim and a fantastic company of actors, standing side by side by side.
The producers apparently believe that showstoppers sell a show. But it’s unreasonable to expect cast members, no matter how capable, to deliver one number after another that outshine the iconic performances with which Sondheim-lovers in New York are well-acquainted. And there’s that problem of a lack of context. Too many of these numbers, revved up from nothing, start to make the revue feel like a singing competition. Everybody is supposed to be old friends, no?
| 2023 | West End |
West End |
| 2025 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Sound Design of a Musical | Mick Potter |
| 2025 | Drama League Awards | DISTINGUISHED PERFORMANCE | Beth Leavel |
| 2025 | Drama League Awards | DISTINGUISHED PERFORMANCE | Lea Salonga |
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