Sondheim on Sondheim

Roundabout Theater's tribute to the legendary composer and lyricist was, like most musicals, rich with music and emotion and thin on editing and momentum. Nearly 3 hours is way to long to string together different songs from different musicals, even if they are very well performed. The excellent cast did they best they could to glue together this fragmented piece of media. They sang their hearts out and acted out the little vignettes with passion. But for all their best efforts, it just seemed amateur and forced.

Part of this show is pieces of a documentary shown on a giant, scrabble like screen on stage. The screen was made of 10 smaller screens and throughout the production these screens would form different formations. Sondheim's bits of wisdom were great- and it would have made for a good TV opportunity. Stringing together these filmed moments with live performances of various songs just didn't work for me- or at least, it worked for the first 2/3 of the show, but after that I was tired of the conceit. With a big chunk of editing and less screen footage this could be a good show, but it won't save it from the fact that it's not a musical but an anthology.