Stephen Sondheim Old Friends - Sondheim / TV / Gielgud

I absolutely loved this show, have seen it twice and want to go back before it closes, but I remember when they announced the long run (following the one night only concert) I was really shocked, as I just didn't see how it would have broad enough appeal to enough people. Yes, the audience there is great, as it's full of genuine musical theatre lovers, but your average man/woman on the street I doubt will have heard of either of the leads.

I think a show like Old Friends is basically mounted as a tribute and as one which will primarily appeal to Sondheim fans, of which there are many in the UK, although there is always hope that it will appeal to wider audiences, for educational as well as commercial purposes. I think the UK Sondheim fans would have heard of Ms. Peters, via recordings, etc. I don't think Bernadette was selected to appeal to a wider range of the UK public and to bring in the crowds, but rather due to her important connection to the history. I was unaware of any connection of Ms. Salonga to the history. Bernadette, on the other hand, serves as a kind of imprimatur for the show.

I saw Old Friends on a recent visit to London, and I loved it, even more than I thought I would. I watched the BBC production of the show on a friend's iPlayer, and I liked that as well, but not as much as the current show. I was going to see the show at the Gielgud again but just didn't have time.

The first show I ever saw on Broadway as a kid was A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, toward the end of its original run. I'll never forget the experience. I also saw Sunday in the Park with George (original) and Sweeney Todd on Broadway (original as well as NYC Opera productions), but apart from that, I've seen most of my Sondheim in London, where his work is beloved and done so well: Pacific Overtures (ENO), Sweeney Todd (Julia McKenzie), Follies (Shaftesbury), Follies (NT), Company (Donmar), Company (Gielgud); Road Show (Chocolate Factory), The Frogs (Lost Musicals), A Funny Thing (Chichester), A Funny Thing (NT), A Little Night Music (NT), Merrily We Roll Along (Pinter).

Some more trivia:

Bernadette Peters lives up the street from me, and I've seen her walking her dog.
One of my favorite Sondheim songs is "Impossible," from A Funny Thing, but it wasn't used in the film and (to my knowledge) never makes its way into the Sondheim revues. It's a great song. Another lesser-known but beautiful Sondheim song is "Goodbye for Now," which he wrote for the film Reds.

Go for Bradley! 

Sorry but that makes no sense.

It’s cheaper to have an empty theatre than pay the wages of a company and crew, and FOH staff for a show that is losing money.

any ideas what this filler is? otherwise all feels like conjecture 

I've heard from a reliable source that the U.S. cast of Old Friends will consist of Americans.

Could not disagree more.

Hard disagree.

I like Sondheim, but I do think he escapes criticism that others get.

For me, as much as I'd like to see some of the cast, I'm just not a fan of concerts/revues of musical theatre songs. I like seeing them in the context of the full show.

Theatre for me is the piece as a whole. Story, music, acting, sets and costumes etc etc.

Ironically 90% of the time when I fall in love with an MT song performed out of context, whenever I hear it in the context of the show I’m almost always so underwhelmed. So much happens before and after that it just feels like another ‘moment’. In fact to add on to this, I saw Sunset Boulevard recently and Nicole performing ‘As if We Never Said Goodbye’ was incredible but I remember thinking ”this whole dramatic song for THAT??“. The reason for her singing that song felt so benign compared to the actual song/performance.

I think Sondheim is by far the best musical theatre composer of all time and none even come close. However, I still acknowledge that the general population and even some musical theatre fans do not respond to his music the same way I do lol, so I'm happy for people to say that as I notice it myself with my own friends and family lol.

Nope. Not liking SS doesn’t automatically make you a yob, just as liking Dirty Dancing doesn’t either. If you want to start generalising like that we can say that all Sondheim fans are all up themselves, theatre snobs and paid up members of the black polo neck brigade. Which they’re not.