Review Roundup: Lea Salonga and Bernadette Peters Open STEPHEN SONDHEIM'S OLD FRIENDS in London

Following the unforgettable all-star gala performance to celebrate the life and work of the great Stephen Sondheim at the theatre named after him in May 2022, Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends, devised and produced by Cameron Mackintosh, will play until 6 January 2024 at the Gielgud Theatre with many of that Gala cast.

Old Friends all-star cast includes Bernadette Peters who is appearing in a West End run for the first time in her legendary career and Lea Salonga who is appearing for the first time in 27 years. Co-stars include several of the fabulous Gala company, including Christine Allado, Janie Dee, Bonnie Langford and Jeremy Secomb, joining them will be Beatrice Penny-Touré, Joanna Riding, and Jac Yarrow.

What did the critics think?

Photo Credit: Danny Kaan

Aliya Al-Hassan, BroadwayWorld: Bernadette Peters takes over Judi Dench’s role in the concert with a heartbreaking, stripped back rendition of “Send In The Clowns”. She also holds the audience in the palm of her hand with a highly emotional version of “Losing My Mind” from Follies, which captures Sondheim's skill at character introspection so beautifully.

Clive Davis, The Times: Sondheim may have acquired the reputation of being the high priest of well-heeled Manhattan angst, but this show offers a reminder of what fun company he can be too. The irreplaceable Janie Dee reprised the pert bossa nova parody The Boy From . . . , Joanna Riding was memorably flustered on Getting Married Today, and the sight of Damian Humbley, Gavin Lee and Jason Pennycooke upstaging each other with feather dusters on Everybody Ought to Have a Maid was an absolute joy. If you care about musical theatre, you cannot miss this show.

Sarah Crompton, WhatsOnStage: Lea Salonga’s pure voice brings resonance to “Loving You” from Passion, and Bonnie Langford wrests every ounce of humour out of Follies’ “I’m Still Here”, that great tribute to theatrical resilience which mirrors her own trooping career. Janie Dee, meanwhile, walks off with several shows in “The Boy From..”, her eyes flashing with understanding as her lips wrangle the unpronounceable words. Jason Pennycooke lends remarkable energy to “Buddy’s Blues”. But the younger singers shine as well, with Christine Allado, Beatrice Penny-Touré and Bradley Jaden all exceptional in a notably strong ensemble.

Claire Armitstead, The Guardian: One could quibble with some of the selections: why so much from Gypsy and West Side Story when he only wrote the lyrics? The answer, of course, is to reel in very different generations of fans. That’s show business, a love of which animates the ensemble numbers, against a multi-dimensional design by Matt Kinley (set) and George Reeve (projection) and Warren Letton (lighting), which segues from New York skyline to Parisian waterside and miniature burlesque theatre. There are enough high points along the way to suggest that perhaps it is best enjoyed as a pointillist painting, “made of flecks of light and dark and parasols”.

Helen Hawkins, The Arts Desk: What’s especially gratifying is to see the range of the performers, from Sondheim veterans Joanna Riding and Janie Dee, the latter a returnee from the 2002 gala, to newer Sondheim singers such as the rich-voiced Christine Allado and Bradley Jaden, a deliciously seductive Wolf to Peters' Red Riding Hood (pictured right). We also get to see Jeremy Secomb, the great Sweeney Todd from the Tooting pie-shop production, which Sondheim visited (and got spattered with stage blood), and the dynamic Jason Pennycooke, a seasoned musicals man who was a fine Lafayette in Hamilton.

James Edge, West End Best Friend: The evening flows effortlessly between numbers and musicals alike, including all of his great shows such as Sunday in the Park with George, Company, Into the Woods, Gypsy, Follies, West Side Story , Merrily We Roll Along and (a real crowd favourite on the night) Sweeney Todd, where Jeremy Secomb and Lea Salonga are delectable as Todd and Lovett, making us think….. we know the show is currently playing in Broadway, but we NEED the Demon Barber to come back to a West End stage very soon. Secomb would make a stupendous Sweeney.

Greg Stewart, Theatre Weekly: It is in reality, a concert, pulling together some 40 odd of Sondheim’s greatest songs, but it is remarkably well put together, easily transitioning from soaring ballads (Loving You) to fast paced comedy numbers (Getting Married Today) with barely a beat in between. And while we might go from Company to Sunday in the Park With George without any form of link, other segments of the show linger longer on particular shows, such as Into The Woods and Sweeney Todd.

Marianka Swain, The Telegraph: One night just wasn’t enough. Happily, Cameron Mackintosh’s all-star revue tribute to the late Stephen Sondheim, a one-off event in 2022, has returned for a full run. Gone are celebrity cameos (Judi Dench, Damian Lewis), but in their place is a slicker and a more evidently company endeavour, with noted stage names generously trading the spotlight.

Matt Wolf, London Theatre: To answer that question, Old Friends really is bliss. It’s less a reprise of the one-off gala concert that caused a sensation some 18 months ago than a deepening of material. The director-choreographer Matthew Bourne, working with Britain’s leading Sondheimian, Julia McKenzie, has given this cavalcade of song a fluidity matched only by the elegance of the design and the astonishing clarity of conductor Alfonso Casado Trigo and his orchestra. (The Merrily We Roll Along entr’acte is itself nearly worth the price of admission.)

Nick Curtis, Evening Standard: There’s undeniable emotional force in seeing such experienced interpreters of Sondheim pay tribute, but it’s refreshing too when newcomers like the charismatic Bradley Jaden and the captivating Beatrice Penny-Touré take the focus.

Average Rating: 89.0%

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