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Review by Paul Nelson |
What by now is a hoary old chestnut, Side By Side By Sondheim, a compilation of songs by Stephen Sondheim, has new life breathed into it by director Robert McWhir at the Landor Theatre, Landor Road, Clapham North.
The theatre is primarily a musical venue, most of the in-house productions are musicals, some having been rooted out from God knows where, some popular, some curiosities.
The popularity of Sondheim should make this a healthy run. It has been directed with care and flair and a certain amount of idiosyncrasy, all of which have helped the revival to become a memorable one.
What might seem, in prospect, to be outrageous breaks from tradition, the song Could I Leave You being sung by a male for instance, have turned the show round and created a vehicle for which many entertainers would kill.
Naturally, the cast, nearly all new to me, grasp their opportunity and do what good casts of musical theatre do best, they shine. Debbie Chapman makes a resounding hit out of Barcelona with Robert Irons, as well as in the excerpt from West Side Story - A Boy Like That/I Have a Love, and makes a wistful wannabe out of Broadway Baby, from Follies.
Robert
Irons (pictured left), the only male member of the company, has to stand up
for his sex against formidable odds. He does so superbly with a knowing and
crisp delivery and with a different leading lady for almost every number.
He has a natural charm and a pedigree of past musical successes which stands
him in good stead. He acquits himself with startling clarity in Buddy's Blues
and the aforementioned Could I Leave You, both from Follies, as well as in
the songs from Company, The Little Things You Do Together and Barcelona.
Dian Perry, an authentic American, returns to the Landor where she last appeared in another Sondheim musical, Assassins, showing massive confidence. With Robert, she performs You Must Meet My Wife, from A Little Night Music, along with a splendid solo rendering of Send in the Clowns from the same show. Her drunken version of I'm Still Here, again a brilliant innovation from McWhir, was a showstopper anyway. Dian Perry makes sure that happens again.
A little known song from the film The Seven Per Cent Solution, I Never Do Anything Twice, is a sure bet in the hands of Airlie Scott. It is a moment to savour and she makes the moment, and the number, her own. She also has the very tender ballad Anyone Can Whistle, the title song from another little-known Sondheim show.
The
petite Tracy Wiles (pictured right) completes the cast. Knocking out the audience
on several occasions this little ball of energy blazes like a supernova with
the fast patter song Getting Married Today, kills the audience with a very
funny The Boy From … and finally lacerates them with the very moving
Losing My Mind from Follies.
The evening is a fair trip through the annals of Sondheim shows and there are many moments which stand out with startling clarity, bringing the audience to almost a frenzy of appreciation. But the evening's comedy is gleefully capped by the three strippers from Gypsy, played by Tracy, Debbie and Airlie, as they tear up the house with You Gotta Get a Gimmick.
For producer Linda Edwards this is yet another feather in her cap which by now is beginning to resemble a Red Indian's headdress. The idea, which she and Robert McWhir dreamed up over a cup of tea (ahem) facing the prospect of an empty theatre, has paid off.
Side By Side By Sondheim, with Debbie Chapman, Robert Irons, Dian Perry, Airlie Scott and Tracy Wiles. Musical Director Robert Chalmers. Directed by Robert McWhir. Produced by Linda Edwards. Landor Theatre, Landor Road, Clapham North. London SW9. 020 7737 7276.
