REVIEW: Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends, Gielgud Theatre
A slick and sophisticated tribute to the late great composer that is brimming with female talent
Sondheim revues are not news to anyone. They’ve been performed for decades on both sides of the Atlantic in an attempt to somehow concentrate the brilliance of the titanic composer into two acts. Old Friends is Cameron Mackintosh’s third entry into the fray, conceptualised with Sondheim himself a year or so before his death in November 2021. According to Mackintosh’s programme notes, the two of them had discussed the idea of this new revue during COVID lockdowns, and together they had created most of a setlist before Sondheim passed away. Its first iteration was in May 2022 at the Sondheim Theatre and was widely regarded as the theatrical event of the year, dripping as it was with musical theatre royalty. Following a TV broadcast at Christmas, Mackintosh is reviving the live show just down the road at the Gielgud, describing it as “one last great hurrah for my old friend, containing many of the greatest songs ever written for the musical theatre.”
With such a catalogue of material to choose from, Mackintosh (along with collaborators Matthew Bourne and Julia McKenzie) was bound to upset someone with his final selection. But he scores high with the big hits: Company, Into The Woods and Follies all get sections of their own, and there are four stellar numbers from Sweeney Todd that are arguably worth the price of the ticket alone. It’s hard to pick a standout number among such an embarrassment of riches, although the Act One finale — Sunday — is a strong contender, sung with such warmth and accompanied with such tenderness by the orchestra (under the baton of Alfonso Casado Trigo). It’s a testament to Sondheim’s genius that a standalone song about an artist painting on the weekend can leave you so emotionally wrung out without a single reference to a person’s feelings.
The initial appeal for Old Friends — apart from its self-definition as the British Sondheim memorial — was the fact that it was choc-full of celebrities. However, the constellation of stars patting each other on the back at the original seemed to err on the self-congratulatory, rather than celebratory. There are fewer big names at the Gielgud, and this is undoubtedly to its benefit, but Mackintosh gets a lot of mileage out of his two leading ladies, Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga. The tearjerkers are reserved for these two: Loving You, Losing My Mind, Send in the Clowns and Children Will Listen are all theirs for the belting. While Salonga delivers all the emotional heft that made her famous in these ballads, Peters actually does her best work in some unexpected deadpan comedy in You Gotta Get a Gimmick.
Although Old Friends boasts some terrific male performances, with particular nods to Damian Umbleby, Gavin Lee and the golden-voiced Jeremy Secomb, this production refreshingly champions older women. The diva kick-line in Broadway Baby is as cringe-inducing as it was on TV, but alongside Salonga and Peters Clare Burt, Bonnie Langford and Joanna Riding all sing for their lives, leaving the earnest youngsters on the margins, despite their unquestionable talent. Compared to the full-blooded renditions of I’m Still Here and Everything’s Coming Up Roses, Jac Yarrow’s rendition of Waiting for the Girls Upstairs is charming but ultimately a bit flimsy.
The photo montage at the end of Act Two is a touching reminder of how much Sondheim was cherished by the theatre community, who were drawn to his warmth and wit like moths to a flame. Although the inclusion of snapshots of Mackintosh holidaying with Sondheim feels somewhat gratuitous, Old Friends at the Gielgud suffers less than its predecessor from the heavy-handed presence of its producer and allows the music to speak. Just as it should.