Venue: C Chambers St
The downstairs theatre is the perfect setting for this concatenation of a number of songs from different Stephen Sondheim musicals into a single setting. The show started about fifteen minutes late but finished on time, so expect a running time of about 75 minutes. The Setting is a cocktail party where both male and female predators are on the hunt for a mate. We see the stalk, capture, steal and consummation of relationships in musical form. The songs themselves flow seamlessly and could almost have been designed to combine in this way. There is a lot of comedy and physical humour in the performances and Sondheim is a composer who writes both intelligently and idiomatically.
The cast is excellent. All are powerful singers and confident vocalists. The music they sing is extremely complex and arrhythmic, and they do an excellent job of conveying the emotions of the music without compromising in pitch or tempo. The only problems with the music involved some of the radio mikes not being switched on in time for the start of a couple of songs, but there are nine performers to keep track of, and it’s a nightmare job.
So to summarise, I was extremely impressed with this musical comedy and I think it could take the place as the best musical playing at the festival this year. I strongly urge all musical lovers (and performers in the other musicals) to come and see this show. Excellent all round.
For booking details go to Putting It Together