This cast seems incapable of grasping his lyrical complexities and the level of sophisticated music, especially when they are in sequined and gaudy outfits going through awkward motions. And Knoll points out his lesser-known works, for laughs.īut it shouldn’t be all Shecky Greene-yucks without the perspective of the man’s greatness. Sondheim’s collaborations with other composers – Jule Styne, Leonard Bernstein, Mary Rodgers, and Richard Rodgers among them – are an important part of the narrative here. (The program originally listed Miller as the narrator). He was a late addition to the cast, hence, the notecards. He provided interesting tidbits about Sondheim’s recurring themes, particularly marriage.
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Veteran pro Alan Knoll is charming and witty as the narrator, knowing how to work a crowd. Or nuggets like how Oscar Hammerstein was a mentor. The sections are tied together by a narrator, who explains a common theme or background about a song. This revue is two hours and 15 minutes, with a 15-minute intermission. The man reinvented the modern musical, and we’re reducing his music to punch lines? That seems the focus here - let’s milk as much for laughs as possible, the bawdier, the better. You need singers at the top of their game, but you also need singers who feel the emotional level of his work. Yes, his music is challenging and complicated. Occasionally, the harmony works, but mostly, we have singers not able to stick the landing, which is criminal with Sondheim. The range of unprepared musical numbers is the most blatant misstep. White, the new associate artistic director, took charge of this runaway train, which seems like an afterthought, and it never felt polished or had much pizzazz the entire runtime. Was there a vision for the production other than let’s slap-some-Sondheim tunes together? Reggie D. Given Sondheim’s penchant for games and puzzles (the film “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” is dedicated to him, and he makes a brief appearance), the mystery is thus: Have these singers ever been in a Sondheim show? Seen one? And the two here are not up to any kind of heavy lifting together for the vocal demands of Sondheim. Perhaps the addition of an older, seasoned vocalist or two would have helped ground it – the revue cast has shifted over the years, and once had a female trio, not duo. Not sure where the disconnect began, especially when you have 28 songs spanning Sondheim’s landmark canon.
Their ‘70s-style Vegas dance moves, designed by Heather Beal, are at different stages and they often appear lazy and repetitive as they ‘do their own thing.’ Think of it less as side by side and more as standing by themselves and not in sync with the others.
Phoenix Best, Paul HeeSang Miller, Saidu Sinlah and Amy Spanger are the quartet of singers that rarely appear as a cohesive unit. That’s particularly disappointing because of The Rep’s previous presentation of its Sondheim masterpieces “Follies,” in 2016 and “Sunday in the Park with George” in 2012. 3, the result was a tepid tribute to one of the greatest composers and lyricists in Broadway history. The Repertory Theatre of St Louis’ production hasn’t jelled yet, and on Feb. A poorly executed musical revue, “Side by Side by Sondheim” is miscast and misguided.
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