Stephen Sondheim Old Friends - Sondheim / TV / Gielgud

Based on seeing this again on Tuesday, this remains a fantastic show. The fourth row is the perfect place to sit. Very immersive and not so close where you struggle with the stage height.

A perfectly behaved audience too, even if the man next to me was very reluctant to ever clap (I rather suspect that he didn't know what he'd booked for). Just a shame it wasn't fuller. I believe the top level was closed off.

I did get to see Jac Yarrow as well, who was missing for my first visit, so that was a bonus. And I narrowly avoided walking into Bradley Jaden on the way home, who had managed to slip swiftly out.

I am sure I will get back before this closes.

Don’t stress me out like that

Clearly the £30 ticket sale for younger folks hasn't been as successful as they hoped. Shame.

They’ll probably try that next

When the tkts seat you booked has left you in the middle of an otherwise empty row section. At least good leg room.

Upper circle closed but fair number in elsewhere than round me.

Good chance to check out seat options for the new opening night musical opening here year as well.

This was an unexpected joyful evening.
No where near being close to the sondheim fanatic so many board members are and didn't know every song but it's performed full on by extraordinary talents. Some songs and performers worked better at times than others but all had a moment to shine.
It did show for the not full on fans that Stephen wrote some amazing and powerful standards and hearing his classics performed outside of the full show allows them to shine rather get lost a bit on the normal three hours of introspection, misery, betrayal and general downbeat show they would be surrounded by.
While have seen bits of the TV recording seeing this show live takes it to another level, a real electric feeling and showcases the show so much better.

Bernadette was simply stunning.

She fully gives the presence of a broadway star , her comic timing is perfection and her solos emotive. Stunning performance and so glad we got to see her in the west end finally.
Everyone is still bringing their A game to the show , but out of the others Bonnie was the one most of the audience knew which does prove again the names we love and know within the theatre world are not widely known outside it.
A superb group and apart from the wonderful Bernadette it would be hard to praise any other above the rest but it was a change to see Bradley Jaden in a lighter role and actually smiling, only seen him on angry scowling roles before so good to see him singing and not looking like he's about to deck his co performer.
If like me you were on the edge about booking this due to not being a full on sondheim database or you have seen the TV show and think thats it, I can assure you this brings the music and showcases Stephen Sondheim to a new level and should not be missed.

I think a lot of tourists and 'couple of trips a year' punters are put off by the fact that this is a revue rather than a narrative show. People want to come away from the West End having seen a 'proper musical' in their minds I think.

I still need to post my thoughts from seeing this last week but can’t agree enough with interval99’s post - I hadn’t booked before as I’m not hugely familiar with Sondheim’s work and so this show wasn’t particularly on my radar until I kept seeing all the rave reviews on here.

What you’ve said sums it up for me - even though I didn’t know all the songs, even though I’d only heard some of them the once on the TV broadcast of the gala performance, I loved it!

Such a shame people aren’t taking a chance on it and going, but I guess the standard pricing is steep, and people are reluctant to gamble on something unknown when spending their hard-earned money, especially at the moment.

I don't suppose it happens often, but having had to delay the opening slightly, they've ended up opening AND closing (we hope!) on the same nights as Sunset Boulevard.

Could be, although that doesn't explain another well-reviewed show with great word of mouth, Crazy for You,  inability to catch fire. What they do have in common though, is that both skew 50+. Nostalgia apparently isn't enough to sell tickets these days.

I think that really Sondheim, Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga are just not big recognisable names in the UK. It brings all the old theatre-lovers in who know what they're seeing, but that isn't enough to fill a house for nearly four months. It doesn't have a broad public appeal, but it seems to be Cameron Mackintosh's passion project so I imagine he'll keep it open until its expected closing date.

Yes