The great thing about Sondheim (well, one of the great things) is how well his songs work out of their original context, especially when placed in conversation with other Sondheim songs.
Fred Anzevino, the founder of the Theo Ubique Theatre , has long been one of the best directors in town when it comes to identifying young talent and then setting them up to do their best. I’ve been watching him do precisely that for years, but his production of the so-called Sondheim Tribute Revue is really Anzevino at his best.
A word about this show. For a limited time, the Sondheim estate has been granting permission to theaters to create their own customizable revue of the late, great one’s incomparable catalog. There are certain parameters: Sondheim had to have written both music and lyrics , no more than three songs can be from one show, no spoken material from any of the musicals is permitted and you can’t come out in full slasher-barber garb since no show-specific costumes are allowed.
But that still gives you 15 great musicals from “Saturday Night” to “Road Show” . I cannot image a more fun assignment than picking which songs. Up until now, audiences basically have been restricted to hearing the pre-determined selections present in “Side by Side by Sondheim,” which came out in 1976, thus missing some of the most productive years, or the better “Sondheim on Sondheim” from 2010, a show that intersperses interviews with the songwriter between his songs, but that’s not licensable .
So Anzevino had a bevy of great choices, although he had to keep the relative youth of his cast in mind. He made some great selections, including “Unworthy of Your Love,” “Not a Day Goes By,” “Could I Leave You?, “No One Has Ever Loved Me” and, my personal favorite, “The Best Thing That Ever Has Happened.” Between all these songs, the cast talk about their own Sondheim journey.
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