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- … [Read more...] about Being Alive: A Sondheim Celebration
Stephen Sondheim
A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music Stephen Sondheim (Music & Lyrics); Hugh Wheeler (Book) South Bay Musical Theatre In a rich, reverberating blend of harmonies, an elaborately attired quintet sings snippets of fuller songs soon to come of the on-again, off-again love affairs and marriages we are about to witness: “Unpack the luggage, la-la-la; pack the luggage, la-la-la.” ... … [Read more...] about A Little Night Music
Sunday in the Park with George
Sunday in the Park with George Stephen Sondheim (Music & Lyrics); James Lapine (Book) Los Altos Stage Company “Order.” “Design.” “Tension.” “Composition.” “Balance.” “Light.” As each word is announced by the artist whose science of painting is guided by these exacting principles, the members of his most famous composition move into place, aided by his … [Read more...] about Sunday in the Park with George
Merrily We Roll Along
Merrily We Roll Along Stephen Sondheim (Music & Lyrics); George Furth (Book) Based on the Original Play by George S. Kaufman & Moss Hart 42nd Street Moon 6 a.m., October 1957, on a rooftop of a New York apartment building, two friends look to the sky, searching for the world’s first orbiting satellite. Frank has just been released from the Army and is about … [Read more...] about Merrily We Roll Along
“Passion”
PassionStephen Sondheim (Music & Lyrics); James Lapine (Book)Custom Made Theatre CompanyJuliana Lustenader & John MelisTwo voices intertwine as their beautifully sung notes erotically embrace in an opening song that mirrors the locked eyes, the probing hands, and the lip-to-lip brushes of two lovers singing “Happiness” in duet:“I’ve never known what love was ...But now, … [Read more...] about “Passion”
“A Little Night Music”
A Little Night MusicStephen Sondheim (Music & Lyrics); Hugh Wheeler (Book)Lamplighters Music Theatre Amy Bouchard, Jonathan Smucker, Elana Cowen & Chris UzelacSwaying and circling, circling and swaying, a quintet sings in a lush blend of harmonies snippets of fuller songs soon to come while also providing us metaphors in movement and in words of the on-again, off-again … [Read more...] about “A Little Night Music”
“Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet StreetStephen Sondheim (Music & Lyrics); Hugh Wheeler (Book)Hillbarn TheatreHeather Orth & Keith PintoOne lone, frozen figure stares blankly forward, singing with almost no emotion those words so well-known to Sondheim lovers everywhere:“Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd.His skin was pale and his eye was odd.He shaved the faces of … [Read more...] about “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
“West Side Story”
West Side StoryArthur Laurents (Book); Leonard Bernstein (Music); Stephen Sondheim (Lyrics)Hillbarn TheatreJeffrey Brian Adams & Ana Paula Malagón With a cast of thirty and an orchestra of fourteen, Hillbarn Theatre kicks off its seventy-eighth consecutive season with a West Side Story that proves that the sixty-plus-year-old musical is as current, relevant, … [Read more...] about “West Side Story”
“Sunday in the Park with George”
Sunday in the Park with GeorgeStephen Sondheim (Music & Lyrics); James Lapine (Book)San Francisco PlayhouseJohn Bambery as George“Order.”“Design.”“Tension.”“Composition.”“Balance.”“Light.”As each word is announced by the artist whose science of painting is guided by these exacting principles, the members of his most famous composition move into place, aided by his … [Read more...] about “Sunday in the Park with George”
“Saturday Night”
Saturday NightJulius J. Epstein (Book); Stephen Sondheim (Music & Lyrics)42nd Street MoonThe Cast of Saturday NightWhile it is not that unusual to hear about a first-born baby arriving late, forty-three years is probably some kind of a Guinness world record. That is exactly how long it took Stephen Sondheim’s first musical, Saturday Night, to receive its first … [Read more...] about “Saturday Night”
“Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet StreetStephen Sondheim (Music & Lyrics); Hugh Wheeler (Book)The StageNoel Anthony The Stage takes the Sondheim favorite, Sweeney Todd, that has graced Broadway three times, the West End four, and grand opera stages in at least ten countries worldwide and strips the musical down to a bare minimum of cast, set, and orchestra, putting … [Read more...] about “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
“Sondheim on Sondheim”
Sondheim on SondheimStephen Sondheim (Music & Lyrics); James Lapine (Conceiver)3 Below Theatres & Lounge Conceived by James Lapine and running in limited run on Broadway in 2010, Sondheim on Sondheim features not over fifty of the Great One’s songs from nineteen of his shows, but the musical review is also interspersed throughout with perfectly timed (to … [Read more...] about “Sondheim on Sondheim”
“Into the Woods”
Into the WoodsStephen Sondheim (Music & Lyrics); James Lapine (Book)SHN & Fiasco TheatreThe Cast of "Into the Woods"As the audience meander into their seats, actors in various smocks of muslin white wander about, too -- waving at arrivals, coming down to say hello, and generally chatting with themselves and whomever. In a cross between what could be a bunch of … [Read more...] about “Into the Woods”
“Assassins”
AssassinsStephen Sondheim (Music & Lyrics); John Weidman (Book)Bay Area MusicalsWith a white-painted face and its black-encircled eyes and lips blood-red, a big-smiling clown -- more demon than not -- steps forward, luring in one-by-one a bizarre collection of passers-by to his side. In an upbeat, tempting voice, this Proprietor cajoles, “Hey pal, I mean you ... You … [Read more...] about “Assassins”
“Assassins”
AssassinsStephen Sondheim (Music & Lyrics); John Weidman (Book)Los Altos Stage Company Todd Wright, Connor Smith, Anthony Stephens, Chase Campbell, Alea Selburn, Philomena Block, Andy Cooperfauss, and Drew Benjamin JonesOne of the more controversial musicals ever to be staged, one that companies prolific in producing Stephen Sondheim works often avoid producing, is … [Read more...] about “Assassins”
