A Pirate Productions production
Written by Stephen Sondheim.
Additional music by Leonard Bernstein, Mary Rogers, Richard Rogers and Julie Styne.
Directed by Alison Kingsbury.
Musical direction by Philip Dutton.
Performed 28–31 January 2009 at the Château de Bettembourg, Luxembourg
Pirate Productions is proud to have presented the revue Side by Side by Sondheim, a biographical compilation of the best numbers by the maestro of Broadway, Stephen Sondheim.
With songs such as Broadway Baby, Send in the Clowns, In Buddy’s Eyes and many more, the musical entertainment tells the story of Sondheim’s musical genius throughout his extensive career.
Preview from station.lu
For an evening of Broadway musical entertainment, the Chateau de Bettembourg is the place to be this week.
Pirate Productions are putting on a revue of the works of Stephen Sondheim, who wrote the lyrics, and also the music, for many shows including “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”, “Company”, “Follies”, “Sweeney Todd”, as well as the lyrics for “West Side Story” and “Gypsy”, and others.
Directed by Allison Kingsbury – her expertise in choreography in evidence throughout – and with Musical Director Philip Dutton, the revue features just six characters on stage.
With a total of over 25 songs being performed (most productions have around 14, but this is a revue, after all), narrator David Mittel, although softly spoken at the start, explains the works of Sondheim to the audience seated at tables of eight in the hall, as well as the background and settings of many of the songs being performed.
From the opening song when the five other singers make their separate entrances, the audience is transported into another world, a magical world of musical theatre. While it is the wonderful and powerful singing of Jennifer Aniston – lookalike Maiken Thamdrup which stands out from the very start, it is very much a team/troupe effort with all six on stage contributing throughout the entire show.
Ciara Barker and Dominque Vitali shared a “perfect relationship” in Act I, and Fran Potasnik is definitely “not getting married” and incredibly manages not to fluff her words in a superb solo rendition of one of Sondheim’s most difficult songs; she also draws the most laughs of the evening. Neil Johnson very much enjoys “Being Alive” and gels many of the songs together with a solid performance. But it is Ciara Barker’s magnificent rendition of one of the slower songs in the revue, “Send in the Clowns”, in Act II which steals the show, with more than just a little help from the accompanying tinkling on the ivories! Listening to that song being sung by Ciara is worth the entry ticket alone…
Jackie Fleiming and Mick Swithinbank make an appearance at the very end, but throughout the performance they can been heard but not seen – their grand pianos are positioned at either side of the stage to allow the singers space to sing and interact. The costumes are contemporary and the set design consists appropriately of benches in Grand Central Station and Central Park, as well as a skyscraper city backdrop.