SIDE BY SIDE BY SONDHEIM to 14 July 2007.
SIDE BY SIDE BY SONDHEIM
music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.
The Venue, 5 Leicester Place, Leicester Square, London. WC2H 7BP.
Mon to Sat 8pm. Mat Wed and Sat 3pm.
Runs 2 hrs 25 mins One interval.
Tickets: 0870 899 3335.
Review: Geoff Ambler 1 May 2007.
Three is Company, Side by Side by Side.
As a Sondheim fan there was always a good chance I was going to enjoy this show. Side by Side is a cabaret evening chock full of Sondheim classics and songs saved from obscurity and being a cabaret it should have been unencumbered by plot. Sondheim however packs so much narrative into each number that even when the individual songs are heard out of context there is still enough story for Director Hannah Chissick to work directorial magic with and she does so, with tremendous effect.
The cast of three, who’ll get to work with some of the best music in musical theatre, eight nights a week for the next few months, are Alasdair Harvey, Abbie Osmon and Josie Walker. In addition to this outstanding trio a narrator slips in, between groups of songs and provides the background and a smattering of Sondheim history throughout the show. There are four narrators lined up for the run, Barry Cryer, Les Dennis, Angela Rippon and Christopher Cazenove, who read from the book for us on opening night.
While the song list is drawn from Sondheims early work it was a great period and songs from Follies and Company feature heavily. Alasdair, Abbie and Josie both play their roles and sing with every bit of talent and emotion at their disposal.
In Getting Married Today we are first exposed to Josie Walkers absolute skill with the songs rapid lyrics and consummate understanding of her craft. Time and time again through the evening she delights, whether in Sondheims masterpiece solo, Send in the Clowns, which leaves tears streaming down her cheeks and tissues being searched for in the audience; her West Side Story duet, with Abbie Osman, them both performing the piece without the audience having the benefit of context, to rapturous effect; to the humour in The Boy From… again showing her verbal dexterity and comic skills. Josie’s final solo, I’m Still Here is worth going to see the show for on its own.
Even next to Josie, Alasdair Harvey and Abbie Osmon are no supporting cast. They both provide complimentary and contrasting performances and enjoy their own Sondheim masterpieces, particularly Abbie’s inspired Losing My Mind, where anger and despair take over from the traditional madness in a new take on perfection and Alasdair’s ever present humour and his finale, Could I Leave You? from a male perspective delivers more brilliance.
As I said at the start, there was always a good chance a Sondheim fan was going to have a good night at The Venue and I had a great one. The simple set, great choreography and even the lighting all add to the delight this show evokes and Hannah Chissick proves again she really does know how to ‘do’ Sondheim.
Alasdair Harvey, Abbie Osman, Josie Walker.
Narrators: Barry Cryer/Les Dennis/ Angela Rippon/Christopher Cazenove.
Director: Hannah Chissick.
Designer: Bob Bailey.
Lighting: Robert A Jones.
Musical Director: Michael Haslam.
Associate director/Choreographer: Adam Cooper.
2007-05-06 11:24:16