OLD FRIENDS Reviews - Page 5

[UWS10023]

Posted: 5/23/25 at 12:43am

I felt the song selections could have been tied together more effectively. As it was, I felt distanced from the material. The set design reminded me of a cruise ship which marginalized the proceedings. When the entire ensemble was on the stage the actors clashed with the design, made even more dizzying by the reflective floor. Some of the choreography looked like dance moves from a swing choir convention. 
 

That being said I thought Lea was thrilling vocally (especially Loving You) and Bernadette had her moments. The performers for the most part had strong vocals but some of the interpretations were mystifying, overwrought or thin. The two stars definitely elevated the proceedings. Without them the evening would have been fairly unmemorable. I will say that I thought the ending was very affective for the personal concept gelled perfectly with the musical numbers. I became invested and wished I could have felt that way earlier in the production.

 

 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 5/23/25 at 9:05am

Perhaps someone is leaving / can’t do the extension?

[Phillytheatreguy10]

Posted: 5/27/25 at 10:27pm

Scarlett was on tonight and they noticeably had a large insert for her joining the company as her bio and picture are not in the current playbill. She did all of Kate’s material according to the song list. She was wonderful, didn’t see Kate, but Scarlett is equally the pro and fit seamlessly into the cast. 

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 5/27/25 at 10:32pm

A lot of dates just popped up on TDF! Was able to grab one for next weekend.

Updated On: 5/27/25 at 10:32 PM

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 6/5/25 at 9:26pm

I saw it last night. I thought it was fun. Not original of course, and uneven as revues tend to be, but fun.

The good: LEA. Her numbers were the best part of the show. She was incredible as both Mrs. Lovett in her two big numbers ("Worst Pies in London" and "A Little Priest") and "Everything's Coming Up Roses."

Bernadette's humor and charm were incredible. She just has great comic timing. Her voice, however, was so much more precarious than it was in Hello Dolly! My favorite performance of hers was actually "You Gotta Have a Gimmick" because of her comic timing. Also loved her doing Little Red Riding Hood.

Another person I enjoyed a lot was Jacob Dickey. His duet with Bernadette was amazing.

As I said, not really a profound experience but a fun evening of good songs. 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 6/6/25 at 7:31pm

I saw this and mostly enjoyed it, but I remembered wishing at multiple points in the show that I had made the decision to see Real Women Have Curves instead (because this was likely to be the only chance I would get to see it).  It was well done, but just not special enough.

I guess my basic issue is that I have seen most of the musicals so many times with stellar casts that I was constantly reminded of the original performers and the original stagings, most of whom / which were better multiple other times.  

As I watched Lea Salonga perform -- she was the MVP of the entire production -- and with awareness of how regularly Eva N. works, I found myself wondering why she didn't do more after Miss Saigon?  Was it her choice or was she the victim of type-casting, which I have always assumed.  IMO she was the better Kim that Eva, who is practically in danger of being over-exposed; yet the only thing I can remember her doing after Miss Saigon was when she played Eponine in Les Mis, a great role but a small one.  She sang amazingly and had charisma too spare.

I did get to see BP again in a musical and, while her voice is clearly limited at this point, she still knocked Send In the Clowns out of the park.  At points where I was bored -- I hope never to hear The Ladies Who Lunch out of context of a performance of Company again -- I found myself trying to remember every BP show I have ever seen (rather every show I have seen in which BP appeared).  Here goes: (starts in order, quickly devolves: George M (she was so cute); On the Town; Mack and Mabel; The Goodbye Girl, Sunday in the Park With George, Into the Woods, Song and Dance, Annie Get Your Gun, A Little Night Music, Follies, Hello Dolly, Old Friends.  Looking at that list, I realized something that I never thought about before: despite deserving the overused moniker of 'Broadway Legend', BP has never been in a smash hit.

 

[Melissa25]

Posted: 6/6/25 at 9:46pm

One of my favorites for the 2025 season. Don’t even think of missing this if you are a Sondheim fan. I feel fortunate to have seen so many of his shows and witnessed his brilliance. Peters was touching and very funny. Salonga brought me to tears with her “Loving You.” I also adored all the Sweeney numbers and many around me did not even recognize that Lea was Lovett. So delicious. 

[bear88]

Posted: 6/7/25 at 3:32am

Melissa25, I will choose to give you partial credit for inspiring me to see this revue back in April even though I was reluctant to give up a slot on my trip in such a strong season. I get that other folks have seen many Sondheim musicals - either on original runs, revivals, or previous revues - but I still am catching up. I am planning to see a local production of Pacific Overtures in San Francisco tonight.

If I was thinking like a critic, I could have found fault. But I was in the third row, watching Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga - neither of whom I had seen in person - stall and play for time because some of the performers were late on the evening after Opening Night, and Peters’ professional ease as the quasi-host of the proceedings was a pleasure. She’s such a gifted actress whose mastery of ‘Send in the Clowns’ remains undiminished even if her voice isn’t quite the same at age 77 as it was a few years ago. You don’t need a big voice to sing that song anyway. Peters was funny, sometimes in very subtle ways, and there were moments when the years melted away, as in ‘Sunday’ and her section of ‘Not a Day Goes By.’

There were plenty of other pleasures during Old Friends, by veteran performers and a few youngsters. It was a lot of fun. 

[binau]

Posted: 6/7/25 at 3:51am

" BP has never been in a smash hit."

Has Audra? I guess Patti had Les Mis. But I'm not really sure if it's 'on brand' for the Sondheim red dress ladies to have smash hits the same way that Idina had RENT, Wicked (and I guess Frozen) because they are legends in a niche circle not the popular culture? 

In any case, I THINK (correct if wrong) this is how I'd categorise some of Bernadette's projects

Financial Success/Hit

• Into the Woods
• Song and Dance
• Annie Get your Gun

Flop but did a decent length run

• Gypsy
• Sunday in the Park

Flop but had a promising start/peak (i.e. not dead on arrival) 

• Follies
• The Goodbye Girl

Mega flop/dead on arrival

• La Strada
• Mack and Mabel

 

Updated On: 6/7/25 at 03:51 AM

[Melissa25]

Posted: 6/7/25 at 6:49am

bear88: Melissa25, I will choose to give you partial credit for inspiring me to see this revue back in April even though I was reluctant to give up a slot on my trip in such a strong season. I get that other folks have seen many Sondheim musicals - either on original runs, revivals, or previous revues - but I still am catching up. I am planning to see a local production of Pacific Overtures in San Francisco tonight.

If I was thinking like a critic, I could have found fault. But I was in the third row, watching Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga - neither of whom I had seen in person - stall and play for time because some of the performers were late on the evening after Opening Night, and Peters’ professional ease as the quasi-host of the proceedings was a pleasure. She’s such a gifted actress whose mastery of ‘Send in the Clowns’ remains undiminished even if her voice isn’t quite the same at age 77 as it was a few years ago. You don’t need a big voice to sing that song anyway. Peters was funny, sometimes in very subtle ways, and there were moments when the years melted away, as in ‘Sunday’ and her section of ‘Not a Day Goes By.’

There were plenty of other pleasures during Old Friends, by veteran performers and a few youngsters. It was a lot of fun. 

I was so happy that you decided to see Old Friends and reported back on how much you loved it! You actually inspired me because I had tickets for April for mid orchestra but then they released those front row tickets for $199 and I decided to wait and see it from the front row which was a good move. To have the memories of being so close for Peters’ Send in the Clowns but especially her Mazeppa, I will truly cherish forever.  Her love for Steve is palpable and it felt really special to be apart of that.

[Jarethan]

Posted: 6/7/25 at 8:46pm

binau said: ""BP has never been in a smash hit."

Has Audra? I guess Patti had Les Mis. But I'm not really sure if it's 'on brand' for the Sondheim red dress ladies to have smash hits the same way that Idina had RENT, Wicked (and I guess Frozen) because they are legends in a niche circle not the popular culture?

In any case, I THINK (correct if wrong) this is how I'd categorise some of Bernadette's projects

Financial Success/Hit

• Into the Woods
• Song and Dance
• Annie Get your Gun

Flop but did a decent length run

• Gypsy
• Sunday in the Park

Flop but had a promising start/peak (i.e. not dead on arrival)

• Follies
• The Goodbye Girl

Mega flop/dead on arrival

• La Strada
• Mack and Mabel

 

Patti also had Evita, and Anything Goes at Lincoln Center sold her for her entire run.  I also am under the impressiion that she had a big hit in SB in London, but that ALW preferred GC.  Don't know if that is true or not.

Looking at your list, maybe what I am trying to say is that -- despite being an absolutely uncontestable legend -- she really didn't have a lot of successful shows.  Song and Dance was a modest success and Annie Get Your Gun was more successful when Reba MacIntire (sic) joined it.  Into the Woods was an ensemble cast.  Frequently, she was better than her material.

Clearly, one does not have to be in a smash hit to become a legend.  It is just interesting that, given that she was only in musicals, most of them big, she was never in a hot ticket.  

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 6/7/25 at 11:13pm

Bernadette took over for Bette Midler in Hello Dolly! We now know that the entire run didn't end up making that much money bc of the huge weekly costs, but it did recoup.

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 6/8/25 at 12:52am

i liked this alot more than i expected to. found myself emotional from the passion and tribute to the man himself, first and foremost, which i was not anticipating.

Im not a particular fan of Bernadette or Lea (dnt shoot me) but I thought both proved their legend status in this- Bernadette cannot sing anymore, full stop, but that makes it all the more impressive the way she sells Losing My Mind and especially Send in the Clowns. And Lea's voice is as I expected  but i was WOWED by her Mrs. Lovett sequence- her comic timing, her accent, she shone when she slipped into a real character/costume. 

The rest was just really well sung classic songs that are a joy to listen to- Bonnie Langford, Beth Leavel and Joanna Riding are just killing it, and Jacob Dickey was a nice surprise. The only real misstep, I thought, was giving Gavin Lee "Could I Leave You" which was fine but I'd have loved to hear any of the aforementioned ladies tear into that one. 

This was the most "communal broadway" ive felt in a while- the excitement from the audience as the first note of Clowns or Sweeney or Im Still Here-- just a feeling of fans fanning out for the best of the best. Worth the $100.

[binau]

Posted: 6/8/25 at 3:50am

Forgive the obsession with semantics, but if Bernadette cannot sing 'full stop' and then manages to 'sell' Losing My Mind and Send in the Clowns, what is she doing to sell it? It's not like she is simply reading the lyrics. 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 6/8/25 at 11:43am

binau said: "Forgive the obsession with semantics, but if Bernadette cannot sing 'full stop' and then manages to 'sell' Losing My Mind and Send in the Clowns, what is she doing to sell it? It's not like she is simply reading the lyrics."

I don't know who this is directed at, but I will give my opinion.  She acted the hell out of those songs.  She has gotten as far as she has not just because of her singing.  She has always been a great actress, frequently better than her material.

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 6/8/25 at 2:27pm

Oh, its directed at me, because I dared say out loud what binau wants us to pretend not to be. We all know what i meant by "sell" a song despite not having the vocals for it--it was a compliment. She did and she doesnt; just ask yourself if there is any chance anyone other than Bernadette, who sounded as she does now, would be cast to sing these songs on a Broadway stage. Of course not- and my point is that she pulls it off despite that fact. 

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 6/18/25 at 11:49pm

I’m seeing on Twitter that Bernadette was out tonight. Sounds like Beth Leavel sang “Send in the Clowns” and “Losing My Mind”. Would love to see the updated song listing if anyone was there!

[binau]

Posted: 6/19/25 at 2:10am

Wow! Bernadette has not missed a Broadway performance since Gypsy. 

[DAME]

Posted: 6/19/25 at 4:09pm

binau said: "Wow! Bernadette has not missed a Broadway performance since Gypsy."

Was waiting for it.  Love your devotion to her. ❤️❤️

[lily carver]

Posted: 6/19/25 at 5:11pm

Just got email from TDF and I rejoined just to go to this. A birthday present to myself and alas there are no other performances on TDF that I can go to because I leave time Tuesday. Should have gone sooner