Sondheim on Sondheim

Tonight, I had the pleasure of seeing Sondheim on Sondheim, the first collaboration betweenthe KeyBank Broadway Series and Great Lakes Theater.  There wasn't a Broadway Buzz pre-show talk today, but there was one available to view online before the performance.

I loved this show!   I have been a fan of Stephan Sondheim's work for about 15 years.  You don't have to a be familiar with his work to enjoy the show, but it certainly helps.  My favorite Sondheim musicals are Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.

The show stars a small cast of 8 versatile actors, and Stephan Sondheim himself as video clips projected on a massive picture frame on the stage.  The small orchestra is located behind this picture frame.   Each actor slips into and out of roles from the various Sondheim productions, performing defining musical numbers.  

This show feels like a massive DVD special features and commentary of Stephan Sondheim's body of work (and I adore DVD special features).  You learn a lot about his creative process, and see the various revisions that the shows underwent.  For example, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum had two previous opening numbers before Comedy Tonight made the show famous.  The show actually had bombed with the previous songs as lead ins to the show.  Both of these numbers are performed before you get to see Comedy Tonight.

Stephan Sondheim plays a sort of peanut gallery to his own work.  He makes comments to the actors on stage, and they react to him and vice versa.  The opening number is a surprising medley of various songs, that are strung together in unexpected ways.  You'd have to see it to believe it.   I definitely recommend seeing this show.