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Theatre Eddys

San Francisco Bay Area Theater Reviews

Being Alive: A Sondheim Celebration

June 10, 2024 by Eddie Reynolds Leave a Comment

Anne Tolpegin, Sleiman Alahmadieh, Solona Husband, Noel Anthony Escobar, Nick Nakashima & Melissa WolfKlain)

When he was just fourteen and called by Robert Kelley to come and play the piano for a local theatre’s rehearsal session, could then young William Liberatore ever imagine that nearly five decades later in 2024 he would be opening his fiftieth show as music director with that same company, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley – a show he and Kelley, the company’s founder and now- Artistic Director after fifty years (now retired) had conceived together over the past two years?  During those years, the two colleagues had collaborated in producing eighteen of Stephen Sondheim’s twenty musicals along with three of his five revues – Sondheim being the most produced composer of TheatreWorks’ 54-year history.  What better credential to give the two dear friends to cull through the 334 available songs of one of America’s greatest – if not the greatest – musical composers to celebrate his legacy in a newly conceived review.

Melissa WolfKlain, Nick Nakashima, Solona Husband, Noel Anthony Escobar, Anne Tolpegin, & Sleiman Alahmadieh)

Rather than just stage a collection of 36 songs selected from twenty-one musicals and reviews, Kelley and Liberatore took a quote from the great master, “The only reason to write is from love,” and to use those chosen gems – many known worldwide and others quite obscure – to chronicle the progression of three sets of relationships through the stages of falling in, out, and in again of love.  The TheatreWorks Silicon Valley world premiere directed by Kelley on stage and by Liberatore in music, Being Alive: A Sondheim Celebration, boldly and beautifully offers exciting, insightful, funny, and emotionally powerful new interpretations and meanings to the songs included – all sung and brought to life by an exceptionally talented cast of six stellar actors.

Please continue to Talkin’Broadway for the rest of my review.

Rating: 5 E

A Theatre Eddys Best Bet Production

Being Alive: A Sondheim Celebration continues in world premiere production by TheatreWorks Silicon Valley at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro Street, Mountain View, CA.  Tickets are available online at www.theatreworks.org or by phone at 877-662-8978 or by email at boxoffice@theatreworks.org

Photo Credits: Kevin Berne

Rating: 5 E, Best Bet Tags: Stephen Sondheim, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Musical, world premiere

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Eddie is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association and the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle.

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Theatre Critic for the Greater San Francisco Bay Area, writing 150+ reviews annually for Theatre Eddys and Talkin' Broadway (San Jose/Silicon Valley). Read More

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