Sondheim Celebration on 3/16

I'm sure a suit is formal enough, but I'm not often faced with this problem. But my friend and I will also be sitting in the third tier on the 16th. (we're both wearing cocktail dresses, I believe)

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I mean, I guess since the third tier would be the equivalent of the bleacher creatures, it's not that big a deal if you don't want to get dressed up. Just make sure your "I LOVE YOU E. STRITCH!" sign doesn't block the person behind you.

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Am I really the first to get to post about the full show? Yippy!

Well, despite the ordeal it took to get there (the flooding in NJ caused road closures and our train to be delayed 45 minutes), it was worth every bit of the aggravation.

There were so many great moments in the show- Joanna Gleason and Chip Zien reuniting for It Takes Two, Audra singing the solo version of The Glamorous Life, Marin Mazzie's "audition" for Sally with a beautiful rendition of Losing My Mind, and a fun Pretty Women/ Little Priest from Sweeney with LuPone, Cerveris, and Hearn.

There were a few moments, however, that really stood out to me. The first was a stunning Finishing the Hat from Mandy Patinkin, which was followed by a gorgeous Move On from he and Bernadette. The next was Patti's fabulous Ladies Who Lunch. LuPone earned a standing ovation from Stritch herself for that one. Speaking of Stritch, she had the penultimate number in the evening- I'm Still Here. Despite changing some phrases and being difficult to hear at times, she knocked it out of the park, and got a standing ovation.

As fabulous as these moments were, I got chills when they got to the finale, which was a stirring rendition of Sunday, and featuring "cast members from every show in town" (which is probably an exaggeration, given that a number of shows had performances tonight). By the time they all reached the stage, there was easily 100 people up there. Beautiful moment, and a perfect ending.

At the end, Sondheim spoke VERY briefly. So briefly, that I couldn't even make out what he said- there were a lot of sound issues.

I do have a few quibbles with the song selections, but overall, an outstanding evening!! Can't wait to see it on PBS.

Updated On: 3/16/10 at 11:52 PM

It was a great evening!
Adamgreer really summed it all up. No real surprises. Karen Olivo was unannounced, so that was a pleasant surprise for this Olivo fan!
I did have some issues with the song selection. Nothing from Pacific Overtures, Assassins, Passion, or Road Show was performed. How many times do we really need to hear Bernadette sing "Not A Day Goes By"? I expected her to "audition" her two FOLLIES songs. But instead we got an absolutely stunning version of "Losing My Mind" from Marin Mazzie. Maybe SHE should be our Sally for the upcoming KC production.
The highlight of the evening certainly was the "Beautiful Girls" sequence with Patti, Marin, Audra, Donna, Bernadette, and Elaine. I couldn't figure out why didn't include Tony winner Victoria Clark with these ladies. Yes, she sang in act one, but she is certainly in the same caliber as Donna and Marin.

The SUNDAY finale was definitely a great moment, but the Carnegie Hall Sondheim celebration closed with that number too.

Overall, a great evening.

Updated On: 3/16/10 at 01:06 AM

You're right! No FORUM or WHISTLE either.

I wonder what the City Center selection will be like.

Bernadette and Patti didn't HAVE to hold hands during the bows. They obviously chose to. There were only about 4 or 5 of them who came out holding hands. It was actually rather funny as Audra and Mandy seemed to be walking a lot faster than Bernadette and Patti and appeared to almost be pulling them on stage.

And both women appeared to be genuinely enjoying each other's solos during that section of the concert.

Plus they both seemed to be chatting a lot during the VERY LONG standing ovation given to Sondheim.

And do I have to go back to the top of the show when all the stars were being "introduced" and Patti and Berndette came out together though from different sides and Bernadette blew Patti a kiss. I didn't see Patti's reaction as I was looking at Bernadette at the time but I don't think she flipped her off or anything.

Maybe we can now put this supposed cat fight to bed.

Updated On: 3/16/10 at 02:24 AM

Relax, lol. I don't think anyone believes they really hate one another. But theater fans always have fun pitting them against each other as rivals (and Patti has made public statements about Bernadette before). I do imagine in Patti's upcoming book she will write about Bernadette, and I am sure she will state there never was a rivalry.

I still really want to see them sing a duet!

Updated On: 3/16/10 at 02:28 AM

That's all Murphy sang! Marin had a duet in act one with her husband (Jason Danieley) in addition to her stunning "Losing My Mind." I was surprised Murphy only had 1 song. I was expecting her to maybe preview "Me and My Town" again. Her "Could I Leave You?" is as phenomenal as it was at Encores! 3 years ago.

^ Yes, I remember her messing one lyric up, but I cannot remember it now! Stritch also had some problems in "I'm Still Here." I assume for the film, both of their performances will come from tomorrow night.

Murphy slipped up during the part right before "Wait a goddamn minute" -- she lost one of the lines - I think the "Sugar you keep the spinnet." Still - it was a brilliant performance.

You're Gonna Love Tomorrow was well done. I was a little surprised they did it, because the music always sounded a lot to me like Rodgers' music for We're Gonna Be All Right -- which they had done just a couple of numbers earlier (that was Daniely and Mazzie).

I keep thinking of things it would have been cool for them to have done, but honestly, with the people there, that concert could still be going on now, 15 hours later, and I'd still be loving it.

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Could someone please post a song/performer list?

That matches the list I wrote down when I got home...

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