Disappointing Sondheim

Good talents terribly misused in familiar musical

Side By Side By Sondheim, currently on offer in the CanStage's Bluma Appel Theatre, is a musical potpourri made up of 30 or so of Stephen Sondheim's songs. Some of these songs he composed entirely; in some cases he collaborated with others. Some are great; some are less so and some should never have been resuscitated.
The format of this show was created almost 30 years ago... a lot of songs with some commentary inserted here and there to remind us of the space and time that Sondheim occupied during his key creative moments.
So far, so good. However, Director Eda Holmes, who I thought did such excellent jobs of directing Helen's Necklace and The Gwendolyn Poems, seems to have stepped into unfamiliar water with this musical. She has forced her performers to wander around the stage, leaning on posts, wrapping themselves in feather boas and assuming awkward and unmotivated postures without any connection to the lyrics being sung. Some of their movement is downright distracting.
The performers themselves are almost always on top of their songs. Not surprisingly, Mary Ann McDonald is a perfect 10. She brings the house down with her rendition of "I Never Do Anything Twice", which I imagine is as new to others as it is to me, but I would love to see again. She also succeeds beautifully with the dramatic monologue "I'm Still Here".
Julain Molnar, whom I last recall from Larry's Party, is not quite a 10. She is probably a comfortable eight because from time to time she wanders into a rather shrill register. I liked her best in "The Boy From..." and she holds her own in the delightful duet with Mary Ann, "Can That Boy Foxtrot".
Jay Turvey and Dan Chameroy complete the cast. Jay has the stronger voice of the two, at least as evidenced in this production. His best number for me is "Being Alive". Dan's best number is "Anyone Can Whistle", although he tackles manfully a handful of other little known Sondheim pieces. Perhaps Dan has been given an unfair number of songs that should never have been brought into the show because we don't really hear them in their original context.
The musical accompaniment is provided by two accomplished pianists, musical director Paul Sportelli and Ryan De Souza, playing 'Side by Side' in their on-stage cubby hole.
John Thompson's set fills up the stage, which is about all one can say for it. They would have been wiser to cut down the size of the proscenium arch so that the performances could be more intimate. After all, this show is really a concert more than a musical. The members of today's audience who were present when those songs first appeared years ago can close their eyes and recreate the original sets in their imagination.
This is a disappointing production, because it has misused some very good talents by loading them with unnecessary choreography.

Side By Side By Sondheim plays at the CanStage Bluma Appel Theatre until December 18, 2004. Tickets are available by phoning 416.368.3110.

Publication Date: 2004-12-05
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=4699