Side By Side By Sondheim is an acclaimed tribute to the genius of Stephen Sondheim. This dazzling array of some of Sondheim’s best-known songs features numbers from landmark shows that revolutionised musical theatre with their masterful craft and astounding creativity.
This wonderful show celebrates legendary Sondheim musicals, from the early part of his career, such as West Side Story, Gypsy, Company and A Little Night Music, and features musical theatre standards including Losing My Mind, I’m Still Here, Being Alive and Send In The Clowns.
The original production of Side By Side By Sondheim began in London in 1976 to overwhelming success, where it ran for four years. The Broadway production opened in 1977, and enjoyed an incredible run of 390 performances – largely unprecedented for a simple revue. Side By Side By Sondheim originally premiered in Australia in September 1977 starring Jill Perryman, Geraldene Morrow, Bartholomew John and narrated by John Laws. The show started a trend for sophisticated revues that persists today.
To this day, Side By Side By Sondheim remains one of Sondheim’s most-performed shows.
Our production of Side By Side premiered at The Seymour Centre in April 2011, starring Amelia Cormack, Margi de Ferranti, Enda Markey and Jessica Rowe.
The show will tour in 2012, when Rachael Beck will join the company, replacing Amelia Cormack who is furthering her career in New York.
If you are a venue or promoter and would like more information on this production, please contact us.
For more information, visit the official Side By Side By Sondheim website: www.sidebysidebysondheim.com.au
This is a dream of a show…happy, funny, witty and so compassionate. It makes you feel good!New York Times
The Cast
Rachael Beck
Margi de Ferranti
Enda Markey
Jessica Rowe
The Creative Team
Music & Lyrics – Stephen Sondheim
Music – Leonard Bernstein, Mary Rodgers, Richard Rodgers, Jule Styne
Continuity – Ned Sherrin
Director – Neil Gooding
Musical Director – Craig Renshaw
Musical Staging – Nathan M Wright
Production Photographs – Kurt Sneddon
Reviews
“A ravishing musical retrospective!”
New York Daily News
“This is a dream of a show…happy, funny, witty and so compassionate. It makes you feel good!”
New York Times
“A marvellous celebration of the wit, insight, heart and genius of Sondheim. Not to be missed!”
Arts Hub
“A night spent side-by-side, cheek-by-jowl, with Sondheim, means we’ll be opened to laughter, tears, melancholy, introspection, bitterness, generosity, exuberance and more.”
Australian Stage
Musical Numbers
ACT ONE
Opening: Comedy Tonight/Love Is In The Air
If Momma Was Married
You Must Meet My Wife
The Little Things You Together
Getting Married Today
I Remember
Can That Boy Foxtrot
Company Introduction
Another Hundred People
Barcelona
Being Alive
I Never Do Anything Twice
Follies: Beautiful Girls/Ah Paris/Buddy’s Blues
Broadway Baby
You Could Drive A Person Crazy
ACT TWO
Everybody Says Don’t
Anyone Can Whistle
Send In The Clowns
We’re Gonna Be Alright
A Boy Like That/I Have A Love
The Boy From…
Pretty Lady
You Gotta Get A Gimmick
Losing My Mind
Could I Leave You?
I’m Still Here
The Conversation Piece
Side By Side By Side
Stephen SondheimStephen Sondheim, one of the most influential and accomplished composer/lyricists in Broadway history, was born in New York City and raised in New York and Pennsylvania. As a teenager he met Oscar Hammerstein II, who became Sondheim’s mentor. Sondheim graduated from Williams College, where he received the Hutchinson Prize for Music Composition. After graduation he studied music theory and composition with Milton Babbitt. He worked for a short time in the 1950s as a writer for the television show Topper; his first professional musical theatre job was as the songwriter for the unproduced musical Saturday Night. He wrote the lyrics for West Side Story (1957), Gypsy (1959) and Do I Hear A Waltz? (1965), as well as additional lyrics for Candide (1973). Musicals for which he has written both music and lyrics include A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum (1962), Anyone Can Whistle (1964), Company (1970 – 1971 Tony Award Music and Best Lyrics), Follies (1971 – 1972 Tony Award Score and New York Drama Critics Circle Award; revised in London, 1987), A Little Night Music (1973 – Tony Award Score), The Frogs (1974), Pacific Overtures (1976 – New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award), Sweeney Todd (1979 – Tony Award Score), Merrily We Roll Along (1981), Sunday In The Park With George (1984 – New York Drama Critics Circle Award; 1985 Pulitzer Prize for Drama), Into The Woods (1987 – Tony Award Score), Assassins (1991) and Passion (1994 – Tony Award Score). He composed the songs for the television production Evening Primrose (1966), co-authored the film The Last of Sheila (1973) and provided incidental music for The Girls of Summer (1956), Invitation to a March (1961) and Twigs (1971). Side By Side By Sondheim (1976), Marry Me A Little (1981), You’re Gonna Love Tomorrow (1983; originally presented as A Stephen Sondheim Evening) and Putting It Together (1993) are anthologies of his work. He has written scores for the films Stavisky (1974) and Reds (1981), and composed songs for the film Dick Tracy (1990 – Academy Award for Best Song). He is on the Council of the Dramatist Guild, the national association of playwrights, composers and lyricists, having served as its president from 1973 until 1981, and in 1983 was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 1990 he was appointed the first Visiting Professor of Contemporary Theatre at Oxford University. He was also recipient of a Kennedy Center Honor in 1993.
Produced on Broadway by Harold Prince in association with Ruth Mitchell. Presented by arrangement with Hal Leonard Australia Pty Ltd, exclusive agents for Music Theatre International (NY).
Photographs by Kurt Sneddon, Blueprint Studios.
