SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM

SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM, Squabbalogic Independent Musical Theatre at the Reginald Theatre, Seymour Centre, 1-18 October 2014. Photography by Michael Francis; above: Dean Vince, Debora Krizak, Blake Erickson, Rob Johnson and Phillip Lowe; (right) Phillip Lowe

Sondheim on Sondheim could be the ultimate treat for musical theatre lovers.

Chock-full of previously unheard songs, in-jokes, name-that-musical moments and a mother lode of recognizable tunes, those not familiar with the finer details of Sondheim’s life and legacy may find themselves uncomfortably out of their depth.

Created by long-time (and arguably, best) Sondheim collaborator James Lapine, and narrated by Sondheim himself via a series of pre-recorded interviews and YouTube clips, the show premiered on Broadway in 2010 and comes to Australia for the first time via Squabbalogic, who brought us The Drowsy Chaperone earlier this year.

Much of the same team appear here, including singer and choreographer Monique Salle and husband and wife team Jay (director) and Jessica (sound design) James-Moody. There is also a a bevy of new talent, including Debora Krizak, recently nominated for a Helpmann Award for her role in Sweet Charity, Blake Erickson, Rob Johnson, Louise Kelly, Phillip Lowe, Christy Sullivan and Dean Vince.

With Sondheim beaming benevolently over us from the giant screen overhead, and backed by Jay James-Moody’s set of towering piles of crumpled sheet music, we trace Sondheim’s life and career, from his first musical featuring the short and sweet I’ll Meet You At The Donut, to his friendship with librettist Oscar Hammerstein II and via some of his best work including A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Gypsy, Company, Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd and A Little Night Music.

Lapine chooses not to tell Sondheim’s story chronologically, describing it instead as a “collage of his life in which who he is and how he got there comes in to focus”. Whether by design or happy accident, this leads to some insightful and often very funny contrasts between songs, and if perhaps some of them don’t quite follow on from what came before – extremely difficult given Sondheim preferred to write for a specific character with a specific back story, which isn’t given here – we forgive the performers instantly, such is their exuberance and enthusiasm.

Highlights include the frenetic Franklin Shepard, Inc. and Opening Doors from Merrily We Roll Along, and a spine-tingling Sunday from Sunday in the Park with George. While every member of the ensemble is excellent, particular credit must go to Debora Krizak, who has the audience in stitches one moment with a riotous version of Ah, But Underneath from Follies, and almost in tears the next with the melancholy Send in the Clowns from A Little Night Music.

The question remains however: has Squabbalogic cast too shallow a net by programming Sondheim on Sondheim? On opening night, the attending mix of family, friends and Sondheim devotees squealed with laughter. But whether the rest of the audience, who may have only a passing interest in the man and his musicals, will follow suit remains to be seen. For all those devout worshippers who can recite the words to every Sondheim number ever written, one suspects there will be many left in the dark by all the fuss.