SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM

ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

sondheim

Tonight we attended the opening performance of SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM, an 8-person revue of songs with lyrics and music by Stephen Sondheim.

The eight triple-threats in the cast are formidable talents, and all I need to do is list their names alphabetically: Bryce Baxter, Aria Braxwell, Emily Fink, Clara Harris, Phillip Johnson-Richardson, Alex Stone, Karen Whittaker and Gabe Wrobel.

To single out any one of these eight young artists would be unfair, for, I assure you, they sing, dance and act with elegant flair and pizzazz through a swiftly moving two-hour long show that includes dozens of songs from just about every Sondheim show one ever heard of plus a few others previously unknown to this listener.

Stephen Goers is the gifted pianist and music director, and he keeps the music underpinning the eight on stage. Katie Johannigman provides the imaginative choreography. Aubrey Berg helms the production with his usual firm hand and fertile inventiveness. No set to speak of, but fine mood-setting lighting by Nicholas Smith.

But then there is The Video. At first it malfunctioned on opening night and then it became an obstructive element that competed visually and aurally with what was happening on stage. Unrelentingly up front and center, Stephen Sondheim mixing trivial comments with pretentious posturing, threatened to ruin the show for many  of us.

My suggestion would be to can the video and let the marvelous music and lyrics of the unpleasant Sondheim be sung by the very attractive and personable young cast.

More performances follow this weekend in the Cohen Family Studio Theater at CCM.

Rafael de Acha            http://www.RafaelMusicNotes.com     10/6/17

Published by ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

Rafael de Acha has enjoyed a distinguished career in the arts as a performer, stage director, producer, and educator. He was born and grew up in Cuba. At the age of 17 he moved to the United States to study Drama at the University of Minnesota, and later Languages at L.A. City College, Music at the Juilliard School of Music, at the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music, and at the New England Conservatory of Music, from which he received the Master's degree. He has taught courses on the History of Music at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music and at Florida International University, and contributed writings and reviews to Seen and Heard International (www.seenandheard-international.com ) and to this blog. He co-founded the award-winning New Theatre in Coral Gables, Florida, where he produced and staged twenty seasons of classical and contemporary theater, including fifty world premieres of plays that went on to have international and national productions on and off Broadway, including Ana in the Tropics by Nilo Cruz (Pulitzer Prize for Drama 2002 and Tony Nomination 2003.) In 2006 he was presented with a citation from The Dade County Cultural Affairs Council for “trailblazing contributions to the arts in South Florida.”