B'way Reviews: Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends; BOOP! The Musical

Jasmine Forsberg, Beth Leavel, Bernadette
Peters, Kate Jennings Grant, Bonnie Langford, 
Lea Salonga, Maria Wirries, and
Joanna Riding in
Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends.
Credit: Matthew Murphy

Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends, which began life as a London tribute concert devised by uber-producer Cameron Mackintosh and then restaged for a commercial run in the West End, is so intoxicatingly entertaining, you won’t want to leave the Friedman Theater where Manhattan Theater Club is presenting it. Luckily, audio of Sondheim himself singing rare tunes such as “Love Is in the Air,” cut from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, plays after the curtain calls, sending audiences out on a cloud of Sondheim-created bliss. What precedes are two and a half hours of the greatest highlights from Sondheim’s norm-shattering career with some of the brightest Broadway and London musical stars, staged with smooth-as-silk skill by Matthew Bourne. 

There have been three previous Sondheim anthology shows on Broadway (Side by Side by Sondheim, Putting It Together, and Sondheim by Sondheim), each with their own merits. All three featured relatively small casts from four to eight performers. Old Friends is subtitled “A Great Big Broadway Show” and it certainly lives up to that promise. Nineteen stellar performers are backed by a magnificent orchestra led with verve and precision by music director Annbritt duChateau. 

Jacob Dickey and Bernadette Peters in
Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends.
Credit: Matthew Murphy

With a stunning show like this, a critic’s job becomes especially difficult in choosing which gems to single out. Just over 40 delightful numbers are offered, all staged with imagination and ingenuity by Bourne (Matt Kinley’s versatile scenic design and Jill Parker’s tasteful costumes provide the perfect setting, taking us from the London slums of Sweeney Todd to the Parisian suburbs of Sunday in the Park with George.) The songs range from soulful solos to breathtaking ensemble pieces. 

Legendary leading ladies Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga receive top billing, but the entire company is superlative. As you might expect, Peters packs maximum raw emotion into two famous arias of heartbreak which she has performed on Broadway—“Send in the Clowns” from A Little Night Music and “Losing My Mind” from Follies. But she also gleefully mocks herself, imitating her signature style with “Broadway Baby” which turns into a hilarious “Can you top this” competition with the ladies of the company popping up everywhere. Peters also scores laughs as a fresh-faced, yet cynical Little Red Riding Hood from Into the Woods and the veteran, seen-it-all stripper Mazeppa from Gypsy. Salonga stretches herself admirably, turning in a ravenously wicked Mrs. Lovett, a powerhouse Mama Rose, and delivering piercingly sensitive renditions of “Loving You” from Passion and “Somewhere” from West Side Story.

Jerome Secombe and Lea Salonga in
Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends.
Credit: Matthew Murphy

Beth Leavel’s trademark razor-edge wit surfaces in a devastating “Ladies Who Lunch” from Company. Jeremy Secombe is a particularly frightening and rumbling Sweeney Todd. Bonnie Langford wows us with a memorable “I’m Still Here” from Follies as well as in numerous comedy bits. Additional comic stand-outs are Joanna Riding as the nervous bride from Company and Kate Jennings Grant artfully twisting her tongue with “The Boy From…,” Sondheim’s contribution to The Mad Show. Kevin Earley, Jasmine Forsberg and Kyle Selig delight in juvenile roles.

There’s also Jason Pennycooke’s energetic “Buddy’s Blues,” Gavin Lee’s acidly bitchy “Could I Leave You?,” Jacob Dickey’s lascivious Wolf from Into the Woods, Maria Wirries’ thrilling soprano, Daniel Yearwood’s forceful gang leader of the Sharks and galvanic group numbers such as “A Weekend in the Country” from A Little Night Music and the “Tonight” Quintet from West Side Story.

Bonnie Langford in
Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends.
Credit: Matthew Murphy

My only caveat is the selection of numbers are largely from familiar Sondheim works and there are very few rarities. There is nothing from the challenging Pacific Overtures or Assassins. The only really unusual piece is the title song from Bounce (which later became Road Show), interpolated into Little Red Riding Hood’s “I Know Things Now” from Into the Woods. But I guess the more unusual Sondheim pieces can wait for the next revue celebrating the greatest songwriter Broadway has ever produced. That’s the sole flaw in this otherwise perfect show.

Old Friends beautifully displays some of the most complex and intricate musical hits of Broadway history. At the other extreme of the entertainment spectrum, BOOP! The Musical is a silly, goofy mess but it’s a fun, silly, goofy mess. This should come as no surprise since this zany show is derived from a series of 1930s cartoons (or shorts as Betty labels them). Bob Martin’s book is as flimsy as any of the nutjob ten-minute animated works created by Max Fleischer. This part is kinda surprising since he co-authored such clever tuners as The Drowsy Chaperone and The Prom. Fortunately, imaginative director-choreographer Jerry Mitchell is at the helm, a dazzling Jasmine Amy Rogers is giving flesh to the beloved pen-and-ink title character, and she is supported by a dynamite ensemble.

Jasmine Amy Rogers (c.) and cast in
BOOP! The Musical.
Credit: Matthew Murphy and
Evan Zimmerman

The show begins promisingly enough with an inspired number “A Little Versatility” (David Foster’s music and Susan Birkenhead’s lyrics are catchy and sparkly throughout). We see Betty (the bubbly Rogers) assuming a variety of guises from cowgirl to pilot filming her shorts in a black-and-white universe (David Rockwell’s funhouse sets and Gregg Barnes’ splashy costumes are on target). The number, stunningly choreographed by Mitchell, introduces us to the daring, perky Betty and climaxes with an terrific tap extravaganza. We are in Betty’s cuckoo world and loving it, but no sooner do we get accustomed to this delightfully bizarre environment than Betty is thrust into the “real” world and much of the show’s zany spark is lost.

In Martin’s scenario, Betty seeks fulfillment beyond two dimensions and a monochromatic color scheme. She makes the journey to 2025 NYC via a Rube Goldberg-inspired transdimensional device invented by her eccentric Grampy (Stephen DeRosa in a riotously off-kilter turn). Much of the humor is derived from Betty’s fish-out-of-water status as she charms contemporary Gotham, falls in love (natch), inspires a young fan, espouses comfortable liberal platitudes, and lifts the roof with a “Defying Gravity”-type “I want” song “Something to Shout About,” guaranteed to induce a standing ovation. 

Aubie Merrylees, Jasmine Amy Rogers,
Ricky Schroeder, and Colin Bradbury
in BOOP! The Musical.
Credit: Matthew Murphy and
Evan Zimmerman

Individual moments and numbers are enjoyable, but the whole show does’t fit together. But it doesn’t matter. All BOOP! asks you to do is sit back, have a laugh and don’t think too hard. Among the pleasurable moments is a clever Act Two opener with the cast in costumes half in black and white, and half in color, so that we are both the real and animated worlds (more kudos to Gregg Barnes.) Another fun sequence is a cute duet for Grampy and his long-lost love Valentina, a retired astrophysicist (don’t ask), backed up by three costumed sports mascots (again, don’t ask). The reliable Faith Prince is a sexy and sage Valentina and the funny mascots are Ryah Nixon, Christian Probst, and Morgan McGhee who also garners laughs as a super-peppy newscaster. Erich Bergen scores slime points as a creepy politician, Angelica Hale shows precocious talent as Betty’s protege, Ainsley Melham handles the love interest role with verve, and puppeteer Phillip Huber brings Betty’s beloved dog Pudgy to adorable life. Anastacia McCleskey contributes a powerful voice as a political campaigner and Aubie Merrylees and Ricky Schroeder deliver appropriately cartoonish caricatures as two of Betty's movie workers.

 

The company of BOOP! The Musical.
Credit: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman

But the magnetic star and main support of BOOP! is the charismatic Rogers. Not only does deliver the goods song and dance-wise, but she manages to make a credible woman with hopes, ambitions and goals from slight material. She zestfully displays Betty’s intoxicating flapper-inspired, giddy love of life and gives it a modern twist. She and director-choreographer Mitchell carbonate BOOP! with a fizzy, sugary pop flavor, inviting all to have a generous swig.

Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends: April 8—June 15. Manhattan Theater Club at the Samuel J. Friedman Theater, 261 W. 47th St., NYC. Running time: two hours and 30 mins. including intermission. telecharge.com.

BOOP! The Musical: Opened April 5 for an open run. Broadhurst Theater, 235 W. 44th St., NYC. Running time: two hours and 20 mins. including intermission. telecharge.com.