(l-r) Paul Heesang Miller, Saidu Sinlah, Phoenix Best, and Amy Spanger, in the Rep’s “Side By Side By Sondheim.” Photo credit: Phillip Hamer Photography. Courtesy of the Repertory Theater of St. Louis
– By Cate Marquis –
The Repertory Theater of St. Louis stepped into the new year by delving into Sondheim with “Side By Side By Sondheim,” a revue of Stephen Sondheim works. The Rep had originally planned to stage a different Sondheim revue, “Putting it Together: A Sondheim Review,” but later replaced it with this one. “Side By Side By Sondheim” runs Jan. 29-Feb. 19 at COCA’s Catherine Berges Theater in University City.
So what’s the difference? Both shows, “Side By Side By Sondheim” and “Putting it Together: A Sondheim Review,” are musical revues of Sondheim music and lyrics but the one the Rep finally landed on,”Side By Side By Sondheim,” is a earlier revue, from the 1970s, and hence was created before later familiar Sondheim musicals such as “Sweeney Todd.” That actually means it goes over some less familiar territory for hidden or forgotten gems, while adding a little early biographic information. The songs may be less familiar but they are by no means less interesting – in fact, the pieces are surprisingly good and particularly interesting lyrically especially, and the show is structured well to these gems put in context. As someone who is more lukewarm on Sondheim songs than his many fans (I respect his work intellectually and appreciate his genius but necessarily don’t love them), it was surprising to find this show as entertaining and intriguing as it was.
“Side By Side By Sondheim” opens with the song that kicks off “A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum,” “Comedy Tonight,” which immediately alerts us this is going to be a show that goes to the funny side of Sondheim. But it also goes “backstage” and delves deeper, with the narrator explaining that this was not the originally opening song, with the sweeter “Love Is In the Air” from the same show as Sondheim’s first choice before it was decided to go with something more direct. “Side By Side By Sondheim” leans towards the witty and the backstory, with doses of the poignant, with some rarely heard songs, rather than sentimental and well-worn crowd favorites (although there are a few), in honoring Sondheim’s genius.
The show had a small cast: a narrator, two pianist at separate pianos, and four singer/dancers, two men and two women. The cast was diverse, which added a nice touch. The revue was presented with minimal staging, with raised areas on either side where pianos were placed. Changing images of Sondheim himself and scenes from shows were projected on a screen at the back of the stage.
On the press opening night, Feb. 3, the role of Narrator was played by Alan Knoll, with the role of Man, usually played by one performer, shared by Paul Heesang Miller and Saidu Sinlah. The two women’s roles, only called Woman 1 and Woman 2, were played by Amy Spanger and Phoenix Best. The on-stage pianists were Kris Pineda and Stephen A. Eros. The show was directed by Reggie D. White, with musical direction by Tre’von Griffith.
The show alternates between the narrator telling tales in light-hearted manner about Sondheim’s work and life to set up the dancer/singers, and the dancer/singers presenting selections from well-loved shows like “West Side Story” and “Gypsy,” along side less familiar ones like “Anyone Can Whistle” and “Pacific Overture.” The show groups the songs by themes, to illustrate Sondheim’s artistry and wit in exploring complex relationship and feelings through creative lyrics. Because this show was written in the mid-1970s, it does not include his later works but there is plenty of good material to mine for this revue.
The show usually has only four cast members, the narrator, two pianists, and three performers – giving it a perhaps tongue in cheek one-two-three structure. The change to its cast structure on opening night, with Alan Knoll as Narrator, took place sometime after the program was printed, as the program lists Paul Heesang Miller in the role of Narrator and Saidu Sinlah in the role of Man.
Whatever happened, bringing in Knoll as Narrator was a wonderful choice. Knoll was (pardon the pun) was very droll, and frankly rather stole the show. Having Paul Heesang Miller and Saidu Sinlah split the role of Man seems to have enhanced the song and dance portions by allowing choreography with two couples.
The Narrator acted more as a master of ceremonies than anything, warming up the audience, introducing the cast and the songs, while adding interesting tidbits of Sondheim’s history and lore, sprinkled with jokes and quips, like a “friend of Judy” comment when talking about someone else named Judy. Alan Knoll smoothly charmed the audience and created a warm, intimate feel to the evening, while keeping it light and entertaining.
The show grouped Sondheim songs by themes, such as “married love,” rather than time period or show, but generally with a tongue-in-cheek twist. While talking about how often Sondheim wrote about love and marriage, we were led to expect something sentimental but instead got songs of battlling couple sometimes dripping with irony. The Narrator set up each section, and the four singer/dancers performed the songs.
While the show’s content was entertaining and Alan Knoll as the narrator especially so, the production itself was less satisfying. The staging of shows, the creative sets and costumes, are always among the highlights of any Rep show but “Side By Side By Sondheim” looks rather hurriedly put together, with costumes that looked like the performers grabbed something off the wardrobe rack and choreography that seemed not well thought-out, and even improvised. That may have been the intent, that off-handedness, but with this show as a late substitute for a different one made it impossible not to wonder.
Paul Heesang Miller, Saidu Sinlah, Amy Spanger and Phoenix Best all performed well with the dancing portions, with Miller adding some acrobatic flourishes, but the choreography looked off-hand and improvised rather than carefully planned. Miller, Sindlah and Best also did well singing but Amy Spanger seemed to be struggling vocally at times, and even her spoken dialog sounded a bit garbled, as if she had visited the dentist that day. That may well have been the case or some other temporary problem that would not be an issue at other performances, but it made the show seem a little off. There were odd costume glitches too, with shoes mismatched to outfits, giving the show a thrown-together, hurried feeling that was unsettling and, given the Rep’s high standards, surprising. Again, that lack of polish may have been some intentional choice, but one had to make one wonder.
Still, the show itself was a good choice, something light and entertaining with a cabaret feeling. It was refreshing to hearing these songs that are not the showstoppers, and particularly rarely-heard but good songs from shows that didn’t make it (even if the songs themselves were great). Having those hidden gems mixed in with familiar Sondheim standards like “Comedy Tonight” balanced the show, and grouping them to illustrate something about Sondheim himself added depth and intriguing insights. Still, we got some of those old favorites from “West Side Story” and others but it was nice that the show leaned into humor rather than sentiment, while still offering a warm homage to Sondheim’s musical genius.
The Rep’s “Side By Side By Sondheim” is on stage at COCA’s Catherine Berges Theater in University City through Feb. 19.
© Cate Marquis
