BWW Reviews: SIDE BY SIDE BY SONDHEIM, Brockley Jack Theatre, September 11 2015
Forty years on from its first run, Side by Side by Sondheim is revived in the intimate Brockley Jack Studio (until 26 September) and one can only wonder why other great names of musical theatre are not afforded the same treatment. It's a stroll, sometimes more of a trot, through the back catalogue of one of Broadway's biggest names of the 20th century - not quite a "Greatest Hits" nor a thorough retrospective (nothing from Sweeney Todd, written four years after this show was compiled, nor Sunday In The Park With George), more a sampling of the music and lyrics - and a springboard to an evening with youtube.
Stuart Pedlar was assistant MD in 1975, and he's back as our guide, introducing the songs with just enough context and playing the piano with aplomb (even if he does have to squint a bit at the music!) He is joined by three singers who, in contrasting styles, deliver such a varied set of songs with great skill.
Marianne Benedict has the belt and the sass, and does terrible things with a trumpet in Gypsy's "You Gotta Get A Gimmick". Grant McConvey could easily have been outgunned by the women, but holds his own and then some, particularly impressive on the cringeworthy "You Must Meet My Wife" from A Little Night Music. What Sarah Redmond lacks in vocal power, she more than makes up for in wit, especially on The Boy From... (think Gilbert and Sullivan parodying The Girl From Ipanema as played by Anthony Perkins and you're halfway there).
There's plenty of classics too - the ticket price is worth "Losing My Mind" alone and there's "Send In The Clowns" too and a simply magnificent "I'm Still Here", all sung, thrillingly close up, without mics. (And, though there isn't much of it, Leonard Bernstein's music in West Side Story is spinetingling at this distance.)
Naturally, it helps if you're a fan of the great man, but you don't have to be - if you've any ear for music or any appreciation of the power of language, you will enjoy this show. But if you're a fan - like me - you'll LOVE it!
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