For Stephen Sondheim’s 80th birthday, the New York Philharmonic pulled out all the stops with a concert that featured Patti LuPone, Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch, to name a few. In the lead-up to his 90th, the orchestra went early, celebrating Sondheim on New Year’s Eve.
But there are plenty of other ways to get your fill of the composer’s music in New York this spring — including two current Broadway productions, an eight-hour binge-listen, and a comic cabaret that promises to re-create that star-studded Philharmonic event of 2010 — with just a pair hard-working singers (and, OK, maybe the occasional guest). Details on a dozen celebratory events follow:
Concert
Anthony de Mare and Conrad Tao
Commissioning composers to reimagine Sondheim songs as piano pieces has been a longtime project for the concert pianist Anthony de Mare. The latest batch, in honor of Sondheim’s birthday, includes works by Meredith Monk (based on “Poems,” from “Pacific Overtures”) and Jon Batiste (after “The Gun Song” and “The Ballad of Booth,” from “Assassins”). Those will be among the premieres in this pair of programs, the second of which features Conrad Tao as both guest pianist, performing Steve Reich’s “Finishing the Hat — Two Pianos,” and composer of a new work. (March 27 and 29, 92nd Street Y; 92y.org.)
Off Broadway
‘Assassins’
Tavi Gevinson, Judy Kuhn, Ethan Slater and Will Swenson are among the blue-chip performers playing the parade of killers and would-be killers of American presidents in this Off Broadway revival by John Doyle, a Tony Award winner for “Sweeney Todd.” (April 2-June 6, Classic Stage Company; classicstage.org.)
Cabaret
‘Bonnie Milligan and Natalie Walker Do “Sondheim! The Birthday Concert” (2010) in 2020’
Bonnie Milligan (“Head Over Heels”) and Natalie Walker (“Alice by Heart”) re-create the PBS Great Performances classic “Sondheim! The Birthday Concert,” with one or both of them performing every song. They’re not Sondheim veterans — but when this show is done, they will be. (March 28 and April 1, Feinstein’s/54 Below; 54below.com.)
BroadWAY
‘Company’
In Marianne Elliott’s gender-flipping revival, a West End hit, Sondheim’s Bobby is now Bobbie (Katrina Lenk of “The Band’s Visit”), a commitment-averse 30-something woman in a coupled-off world. Joanne, though, is forever a lady who lunches — played by LuPone, reprising her London performance. (In previews, opens March 22, Bernard B. Jacobs Theater; companymusical.com.)
Cabaret
‘Jeff Harnar Sings Sondheim: I Know Things Now’
This is a dip into the songbook from an assertively gay male perspective, embracing many Sondheim tunes originally sung by women. (March 18, Feinstein’s/54 Below; 54below.com.)
Concert
‘Opus Two Celebrates Sondheim & Bernstein’
The violinist William Terwilliger and the pianist Andrew Cooperstock are joined by Broadway veteran Elena Shaddow in a tribute that includes songs from Sondheim’s “A Little Night Music” and “Evening Primrose,” as well as Bernstein’s “Candide.” (March 15, Feinstein’s/54 Below; 54below.com.)
Cabaret
‘Serving You Sondheim’
With singing wait staff, guest performers and an eight-piece band, this is cabaret as immersive experience. Every show includes one song from each produced work in the Sondheim catalog. (March 14, April 24, May 22-23, the Green Room 42; thegreenroom42.poptix.com)
Film
‘Sing-Along West Side Story’
Too well mannered to join in on “Maria” or “Tonight” at a live performance of “West Side Story,” even though you know all the words? This screening of the 1961 film is your invitation to let loose, exuberantly. (May 31, Symphony Space; symphonyspace.org.)
Cabaret
‘Sondheim at 90’
“Sondheim Unplugged” creator Phil Geoffrey Bond gathers veterans of Sondheim shows — including Annie Golden, who originated the role of Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme in “Assassins” — for a cabaret extravaganza on the evening of composer’s actual birthday. (March 22, Feinstein’s/54 Below; 54below.com.)
Cabaret
‘Sondheim Unplugged’
This long-running cabaret series promises Sarah Rice, the original Johanna in “Sweeney Todd,” at the March show, which will include songs from “Into the Woods,” “Follies” and “Passion,” with piano accompaniment. (March 29, April 26, May 31, Feinstein’s/54 Below; 54below.com.)
Concert
‘Wall to Wall Stephen Sondheim’
The last time Symphony Space held one of these marathon concert celebrations, for Sondheim’s 75th birthday, it lasted 12 hours and involved more than 100 artists, including Stritch and Barbara Cook. This time it’s planned for eight hours, unfolding in three segments, and the still-evolving roster of artists includes Santino Fontana and members of the current casts of “Assassins” and “Company.” Sondheim himself has a hand in the planning. Get there early to try for a free general-admission ticket; a limited number of reserved seats are for sale. (May 16, Symphony Space; symphonyspace.org.)
Broadway
‘West Side Story’
Nearly every move the Sharks and the Jets make is captured on live video projected huge on the upstage wall in Ivo van Hove’s Broadway revival, which transports the Arthur Laurents-Leonard Bernstein-Sondheim musical to present-day New York with a star-free cast and a cool contemporary aesthetic shaped by the designer Jan Versweyveld. (Open run, Broadway Theater; westsidestorybway.com.)
Source: Theater - nytimes.com
