A first-rate summarySide by Side can still captivate and move

REVIEW BY ANDREW MILNER

I n 1975 Stephen Sondheim famously gaveDavid Kernan permission to devise a Londonrevue around his songs with the admonition.

''I can't think of anything more boring exceptpossibly the Book of Kells." Sondheim wasproven wrong when Side by Side by Sondheimbecame a hit on both sides of the Atlantic.Kernan later said it "revolutionized the small-scale musical." It also helped to popularizeSondheim's work.

''Combining excellent performances of excel-lent songs with a crafty title." historian StephenBanfield wrote in Sondheim's BroadwayMusicals (1993), Side by Side by Sondheim "hasprobably done more for his name than any othersingle event in his career."

Three decades after its London premiere, therevue still draws audiences in the colonies.Philadelphia theatregoers seeking relief frombeastly weather this spring were treated to alively production in the 81-seat IndependenceStudio on 3. on the third floor of the venerableWalnut Street Theatre.

L'nder Alan Souza's impressive direction, thethree singers did justice to the material. Sopra-no Kim Carson was utterly winning in such stan-dards as "Another Hundred People," "BroadwayBaby" and "Losing My Mind," bringing downthe house with a nervous delivery of one of thefunniest theatre songs of the past half-century,"The Boy from ..." Denise Whelan caughtDesiree Armfeldt's rueful humor in "You MustMeet My Wife" and, with "I Never Do AnythingTwice," she drew laughter from an understatedrendition of her character's raunchy resume.Her breathless "Getting Married Today" was vir-tually as good as Heather Laws' performanc^ inthe Company Broadway revival.

Ben Dibble more than held his own as thetenor, providing the inherent irony of "MarryMe a Little" and providing a particularly vulner-able "I Remember." His male interpretation of"Could I Leave You?" (Kernan's version in the1976 original drew critical controversy) caughtthe anger of the character; the gender-bendingdidn't jar the 2007 audience.

Those familiar with Side by Sule by Sondheimonly through the RCA recording of the originalcast (Kernan, Millicent Martin and JuliaMcKenzie) would have been surprised to haveseen the narrator of this production, FranFrisco, singing. Frisco lent his solid baritone to"Beautiful Girls" and "Send in the Clowns," andjoined in on several of the ensemble numbers.Though he avoided topical jokes in his narration(unlike Ned Sherrin, the original production'snarrator), he succinctly set up each musicalnumber. In introducing the Andrews Sisters-

style vocal arrangement of "You Could Drive aPerson Crazy," Frisco deadpanned, "For those ofyou too young to remember the AndrewsSisters, think a trio ... all Bette Midler." In set-ting up "Pretty Lady," he described theJapanese locale of Pacific Overtures, noted thatDibble, Carson and Whelan were from Philadel-

phia and concluded, "They are doing theBroadway concept of the Japanese idea of theEnglish Cockney accent under protest."

The evening's only weakness was the"Conversation Piece" medley at the end of ActII. Listening to a recording of "ConversationPiece" by the original Australian cast of Side bySide (it's not on the London east recording),it's apparent that the Walnut Street productionedited several songs out of the medley. Theresulting piece felt too abbreviated and rushedfor a suitable musical finale.

While the theatre space was limited. Souzamade use of the allotted performing area withenergetic choreography for "Everybody SaysDon't" and "You Gotta Get a Gimmick." AndrewThompson's set design was minimal, with just atray of glasses and brandy decanter on eachpiano (one martini shaker was used as percus-sion in "The Little Things You Do Together").The show's major background visuals, both usedto good effect, were stars in a night sky for "I

CONTINUES ON PAGE 48

PHOTO BY MARK GARVIN

At Walnut Street Theatre inPhiladelphia, Side by Side bySondheim was performed by (L-R) Denise Whelan, Kim Carsonand Ben Dibble.

The Sondheim Review 41

A FIRST-RATE SUMMARY: FROM PAGE 41

Remember" and a slide of a stained-glass win-dow for "Getting Married Today."

Mary Folino's costumes were witty, especiallyCarson's horn-rimmed glasses and Dibble'sflamboyant outfit (yes, his trousers were vermil-lion) for "The Boy from ..."

Special note should be made of pianistsHeidi Hayes and Mark Yurkanin (also the show'smusic and vocal director) for their virtuosoaccompaniments; they also got into the spirit of"Beautiful Girls" by putting on feathered head-dresses. The pianists offered an inside musicaljoke during "You Gotta Get a Gimmick" —

underneath the "classical" strip section theyplayed the waltz from Carousel, which was beingproduced on the main Walnut stage two floorsbelow during Side by Side's run.

All in all, the Walnut Street production was afirst-rate summary of the first half ofSondheim's Broadway career. For many of us,the original Side by Side by Sondheim was ourintroduction to his work. All of these years (andSondheim shows) later, it still has the power tocaptivate and move an audience. |TSR|

ANDREW MILNER reviews books and CDs for the

Philadelphia City Paper.

SOMETHING FAMILIAR/PECULIAR: FROM PAGE 46

characterizing April in "Barcelona" with Harveyand West Side Story's Anita in 'A Boy Like That"and Maria in "I Have a Love" with Walker. Bestamort£ her solo songs was "Another HundredPeople." in which she captured just the rightblend of exhilaration and urban stress, and a"Broadway Baby" as it might be sung by a eagernewcomer rather than by an aging Follies girl.

Side By Side featured a rotating series ofcelebrity guest narrators, among them BBCjournalist Angela Rippon. At the performanceon May 23, 2007, the good-humored Rippon wasgame for anything the direction might requireof her. She donned a clerical collar to play aminister during "Not Getting Married Today";she wielded a cocktail shaker as a makeshiftmaraca in "The Boy From ..."; and she con-tributed a quick buck and wing during thefinale.

Nevertheless, many Sondheim fans mighthave wished that Rippon had taken a differentapproach to her narration. Rather than commu-nicating admiration for the composer andencouraging the spectators to share it, Ripponinstead frequently adopted an air of wry, faintlymocking bewilderment, as if she (and the audi-ence) could not help but find Sondheim tooerudite and clever for comfort. This narrativestyle — which unfortunately reflected Chissickand Cooper's staging — too frequently under-cut both the material and the performers' bestefforts to do it justice. |TSR|

CHRISTOPHER WEIMER is an associate professor at

Oklahoma State University, where he teaches

courses in literature. Western humanities and

Spanish.

SHEER FRESHNESS: FROM PAGE 47

"hard to see the light now." For Cook, thesemust be unremitting truths.

She is even more varied in the course of thefinal half-dozen or so numbers — among themher scat version of "Lover Come Back to Me,"from Romberg and Hammcrstein's The NewMoon, and the resonance she brings to therecitative of "I Wish I Could Forget You" fromSondheim's Passion. The lovely Follies' waltz"One More Kiss" is paired with "Goodbye forNow," from Sondheim's score for Reds.

For the contemporary undertones of thelyrics of "No More" from Into the Woods (incor-rectly identified in the notes as being from TheFrogs), Cook's voice rises with unrestrained pas-sion and intensity as she sings, "No moregiants, waging war. Can't we just pursue ourlives with our children and our wives?"

What remains is the last track. There are fewmoments in musical theatre more chilling,

enveloping and uplifting than "Make OurGarden Grow" from Ccmdide. In a subtle act ofgenerosity, Cook invites the listener to witnesssomething of a torch-passing. She sings the firststanza, beautifully conveying in reverberatingtones the song's inherent optimism. Then shesteps aside for the sparkling, fresh voice of lyricsoprano Kelli O'Hara. It is pure, albeit brief,bliss. Joined thereafter for a few bars by tenorSebastian Arcelus and the New York VirtuosoSingers, O'Hara brings us full circle. As theopening song notes, "something's coming" —O'Hara and her counterparts in the newBroadway generation.

One thing is indisputable: The stillenthralling, still exemplary Barbara Cook — asmuch as anyone - sets the standard. |TSR|

MICHAEL J. BANDLER of Silver Springs, Md., writes

regularly on the arts, entertainment and literature

for several magazines and newspapers.

48 The Sondheim Review