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.

B'way Update: BOOP! Sets Dates and Theater; West Bank Cafe to Close

BOOP! The Betty Boop Musical has announced dates and a theater for its Broadway run after a hit engagement in Chicago. The tuner about the 1930s cartoon character will begin previews March 11 at the Broadhurst Theater in advance of an April 5 opening. Other cartoon, comic book or comic strip characters to serve as the basis of Broadway or Off-Broadway musicals include Little Orphan Annie, Li'l Abner, Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang, Superman, Donnesbury, Spider-Man, Spongebob Squarepants, and the Addams Family. 

Boop! features a book by Bob Martin (The Drowsy Chaperone), music by David Foster, lyrics by Susan Birkenhead (Jelly's Last Jam), and direction and choreography by Tony winner Jerry Mitchell (Kinky Boots). Complete Broadway casting will be announced at a later date.

BOOP! The Betty Boop Musical in
Chicago

West Bank Cafe to Close: The West Bank Cafe, and its Laurie Beechman cabaret theater, located at W. 42nd Street and Ninth Ave., will close its doors in August. The venue was popular with theatergoers and theater professionals due to its fine food, affordable prices and convenient location to Broadway and Theater Row. Just last week, I had an after-theater meal there last week after attending Ain't Done Bad at the Signature Theater Center. The number of elegant, affordable places for a nice meal before or after the theater is dwindling. All too often I am forced to grab a slice of pizza before a curtain.

The West Bank opened in 1978 and its basement Laurie Beechman Theater opened in 1983. The Beechman, named for the late singer and actress, played host to many cabaret artists including Joan Rivers who would would try out new material there. She played her last performance before her death in 2014 at the Beechman. A young Lewis Black was named playwright-in-residence. Howard Stern broadcast his third annual birthday radio show from the theater. Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller and Bruce Willis were among the West Bank regulars. T

"Due to the high cost of conducting business and the continuing fallout from the pandemic, we can no longer afford to remain open," owner Steve Olsen stated. "We are forever eternally grateful for the support we have received from our Hell's Kitchen and theatre communities throughout our illustrious 46-year history on Theatre Row, and for the personal relationships and shared history we have forged with our customers and friends."

The popular West Bank Cafe will
close its doors in August.

B'way Update: The Cottage, Jerry Mitchell Is Busy, Betty Boop, La La, etc.

Eric McCormack will return to Broadway 
this summer in The Cottage.

A new comedy entitled The Cottage will play the Hayes Theater on Broadway this summer. Inspired by the light comedies of Noel Coward, the play by Sandy Rustin will be directed by Tony winner Jason Alexander (Seinfeld, Jerome Robbins' Broadway) and star Emmy winner Eric McCormack (Will and Grace, The Music Man 2000 revival, Gore Vidal's The Best Man), and Tony nominees Laura Bell Bundy (Legally Blonde) and Lili Cooper (Tootsie, Spongebob Squarepants). Previews begin July 7 prior to a July 24 opening. Set in the English countryside in 1923, the plot concerns Sylvia Van Kipness who decides to reveal her love affair to her husband and her lover's wife. The play had a developmental workshop at Manhattan Theatre Club in 2017 and regional productions including The Barter Theater in Abington, Va., and Queens Theater in the Park.