The dozen Stephen Sondheim musicals I've seen - and how my opinion has shifted

I realized the other day that I am running out of musicals with music and/or lyrics by Stephen Sondheim that I haven't seen in person at least once. (I am not counting the films.) The ones I haven't seen are Saturday Night, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the  Forum, Anyone Can Whistle, Do I Hear a Waltz?, The Frogs, Passion (though I've seen the Great Performances pro-shot), and Wise Guys/Bounce/Road Show. I'm also not counting most of the Sondheim revue shows, though I did see Old Friends on Broadway in April. 

But I've now seen the rest, either in New York, in touring productions, or local productions in the San Francisco Bay Area. With the exception of Sweeney Todd, which I saw locally and in the recent Broadway revival; Follies, which I saw three times at the San Francisco Playhouse; and Pacific Overtures, which I saw twice during a San Francisco run this month, I have only seen them once. The quality of the productions have varied, of course, but seeing these musicals - as opposed to listening to the cast recordings, reading Sondheim's collections of lyrics, or watching video captures of older productions - is a different experience.

There are three that stand out, mostly because I was impressed with the quality of the productions and they made me reconsider them:

-- Merrily We Roll Along (Broadway, 2023): This is pretty much the gold standard. It's the best revival I've ever seen. Jonathan Groff, Lindsay Mendez and Daniel Radcliffe are fantastic in their roles. Groff, in particular, was perfectly cast, as his natural likeability softened the less-than-wonderful character of Frank. I don't know where I would place it on my list of Sondheim shows, but director Maria Friedman's production made a great case that's it's more than just a collection of great songs with a salvageable book.

-- Follies (San Francisco Playhouse, 2022): This was a terrific local production that featured the ringer casting of Natascia Diaz as Sally Durant Plummer. Diaz may not seem like the obvious choice for Sally, but I found her perfect in the role, with her expressive eyes and ability to act and sing some of Sondheim's most heartbreaking songs. Other performers, including Bay Area theater veterans, were terrific as well. I guess you either love this musical, complain that it will never live up to the original, or you don't really like it at all. I kept going back.

-- Into the Woods (Curran, 2023): This was the national tour that followed the Broadway run of the revival that included many members of that cast - including a hilarious Gavin Creel - as well as stars like Stephanie J. Block, who made a wonderful Baker's Wife. Seeing this show live made me reconsider my previous ambivalence about the musical. The second act shift somehow worked better close to the stage than it did watching the original version on PBS.

As for everything else...

-- Here We Are (The Shed, 2023): I'm not sure where to put this show. It was quite an event seeing it, though. But since I'm writing this, I will say again that Rachel Bay Jones - as the ditzy, spoiled wife who is kinder than we originally expect - gave one of my favorite performances by an actress. And David Hyde Pierce, as the doubting priest, just steals the show whenever he was permitted to do so. There are flaws in the semi-musical, and some critiques that its satirical barbs are gentler on the super-rich are fair. It's not Sondheim's greatest score but the hybrid musical/play is much better than it had any right to be.

-- Sweeney Todd (Broadway, 2023): Director Thomas Kail didn't trust the material. I'm with the consensus there. That said, Josh Groban is wonderful on the cast recording and there were other good performances in the cast. I'm not sure it was better, big orchestra and star quality notwithstanding, than a 2019 version I saw at the Hillbarn Theatre in Foster City, California. I think I would prefer a darker version of the show.

-- Assassins (Hillbarn Theatre, 2023): This was a very good local production and unsettling in a way that lingered. I know there are flaws in the book, but the musical revue has a dark, consistent theme and pretty much sticks to it. Sondheim's score alternates between darkly hilarious and just plain dark. It's his most American musical.

-- A Little Night Music (42nd Street Moon, 2021): It was nice to get out after the pandemic after I had become a bit obsessed with Sondheim during it. This is a show that probably needs a larger scale than was permitted at the small theater. It's light and silly and clever, and the actress who plays Charlotte always gets to run off with the musical, at least until "Send in the Clowns."

-- Pacific Overtures (Brava Theater Center, 2025): I just reviewed this show on another thread. It's not as dissonant and difficult as some critics argue. John Weidman's book doesn't always flow as well as it could, so it's not top-tier Sondheim, but a good production - as is happening through Sunday in San Francisco - is definitely worth catching.

-- Company (Orpheum, 2024): This was the touring production of the gender-swapped Broadway revival, and it didn't work for me, by and large. Maybe the Broadway production was better. 

-- Sunday in the Park With George (San Francisco Playhouse, 2018]: This was longer ago than I thought. I really enjoyed this production, even though my wife - with the exception of "Sunday" - didn't. But she will  probably indulge me when it makes another appearance in Berkeley this fall, if I play my cards right.

No separate entries on Gypsy, which I saw on Broadway in April with Audra McDonald, or West Side Story, which we saw locally. 

In the recent flurry of Sondheim revivals (and one new show), has anyone changed their views on the musicals for which he wrote the score? 

Updated On: 6/16/25 at 05:00 AM

The recent Sweeney was stunning but I did see the two understudies after the main cast left. I’ve been lucky to see Anthony Warlow with the brilliant Gina Riley in Australia  in a production that should have had a longer life. 

The revival of Into the Woods at City Center definitely changed my view of it for the better. Act II in particular was better than in any production I’ve seen and after the worst of COVID I saw the entire show in a new light. 
 

I didn’t see the original Follies but of the many productions I’ve seen the show just doesn’t work so my view on that has not changed. But I think it’s Sondheim’s best score and I listen to it often. 
 

Sweeney Todd is his masterpiece and I’ve loved even bad revivals. 

I've never seen live productions of Whistle, Follies, Sunday  or Passion.

Seen a couple Sweeney's.  I don't need to se it again.  Just too grim for me.

I love Company & have seen a few takes.  A production that leaned into the 70's with retro costumes helped forgive parts of the book.  But I think the gender swapped version worked even better because in our time, in at least Caucasian culture, it does feel like straight women still face more pressure to marry than straight men do. (I do meet the occasional person at work who is completely clueless & is surprised when I tell them I'm over 50 & never married.  While wearing a Madonna concert t-shirt.)

Seen a few Woods.  I love it.  But I love it more with a big luscious set.  I've said it so many times, but Javier Muñoz was the best Baker I've ever seen in 2014 at OSF.  They're remounting that production this year.  It has a live performer take on the role of the cow & is a fabulous idea.  Would be nice to see again, but I have other plans this summer.

Within the last two years I saw a semi-staged production of Do I Hear a Waltz. Sondheim did lyrics only.  It is sort of like Light in the Piazza, as it is based on a film from the 50's.  So it feels older than its time. Unlike Piazza, it doesn't transcend the film it was based upon, and actually sort of drags.  There's good reason it flopped & isn't really done.

I wish I could see as many versions of A Little Night Music as I've seen of Woods or Company.  It has been a long time.

I remember the book for Assasins reminded me of the book for Company - almost like little skits between songs.  It has been too long since I saw it last.

What I always think about Forum is that it doesn't feel like it has enough songs.

Saw the Merrily revival. I don't like the show.  I don't think the book works. I do not care for green eggs & ham.

I wrote something about Gypsy but then I deleted it.  The wounds inflicted by Ms McDonald are still too fresh.  Besides, I think Funny Girl might actually be the better Jule Styne showbiz musical.

I had known Company and seen the filmed concert version and found it an interesting musing on relationships, but the gender-swapped revival absolutely electrified me.  It suddenly felt all to relevant to my own personal life and allowed me to see deeper layers in the show in its "classic" version too.

Anyone Can Whistle had been a curiosity piece for me ever since I listened to it--great songs and a messy but really interesting book.  Seeing the recent Carnegie Hall concert didn't do much for me but reaffirm that it had great songs, but Southwark Playhouse's production (in London) really made me reconsider that the show DID actually work as is and just needed a different approach to it that embraced the zaniness and ridiculousness of it (it helps that Alex Young pulled off everything that Cora needed to be, even while suffering a foot injury and acting with a crutch).

Interestingly, there have been very few Sondheim shows that I have even liked the first time.  Follies , Sweeney Todd and A Funny Thing are pretty much it.  In the case of Follies and Sweeney Todd, I thought the music was easier to appreciate on first listening and the productions they were given warrant the term 'legendary'; in the case of A Funny Thing, the first production I saw (with Phil Silvers) was so damned funny that the familiarity with the (not particularly great) score was not essential.  Interestingly, I enjoyed Here We Are from beginning to end, even though I would consider it to be 'minor' Sondheim.

I actually pretty much hated ALNM, Sunday, and Into the Woods the first time I saw them; on first hearing, I just could not appreciate the scores and just didn't connect with the characters.  Once I became familiar with the scores, I ended up loving the shows.  Same thing is true, though to a lesser extent, with Company and Pacific Overtures (interestingly, I came to love the PO score, but still not like the show).  Familiarity with the music definitely increased my enjoyment, however.

I have always loved 2/3 of the score for Anyone Can Whistle, although I have always felt that a couple of the songs were insufferably long.  The cookie song is just too twee for me and right this minute I can't remember the other song, but it went on forever and was again a little too twee.

At this point, I would say that Sweeney, Follies, ALNM and Sunday sit firmly in my list of top 15 musicals.  The book for Company and its episodic nature will never result in it being an all-time favorite, but I really do love Sondheim's score.

I have never come to appreciate Passion or Assassins, and I have never heard the scores for The Frogs or Road Show.

Kad said: "I hadn't realized my Sondheim card was nearly complete- I have only not seen productions of Passion, The Frogs, and Do I Hear a Waltz.

Passion is really the sticking point for me, out of all Sondheim's scores. I have never been able to get into the cast album nor the filming. Perhaps seeing a first class live production would change my mind."

 

You've actually seen Saturday Night?!

Jealous! I only need that show and Forum to complete my collection.

TheOtherOne2 said: "I might like some productions (nearly always the originals, which I was fortunate to see from Company on)more than others"

Jelly

I listened to Passion many times before falling in love with it.

 

I haven’t cracked Pacific Overtures yet.

I saw Anyone Can Whistle in a very small, very limited run in London in 2010 with Rosalie Craig as Fay (coincidentally, I missed the Encores presentation because it was at the same time at that trip). It was staged in a Brechtian style and the production worked incredibly well, from what I recall. I think of the "problem" Sondheim shows, it's probably the best positioned for a reexamination and major production. 

Your  post made me feel very fortunate. I've seen the original Broadway production of every Sondheim show beginning with Company.  They are all still a source of great joy. I saw the original Merrily a second time in previews because I thought it would be tough to get a ticket after it became a big hit. Most of the shows I've seen several times in different productions. Though Sweeney is the most interesting musically, Merrily seemed so poignant when I saw it originally, and the Encores revival was extraordinary. The Papermill production of Follies was in since ways more accessible than the original.  Nothing has come close to matching the original Pacific Overtures, which can be seen on YouTube.

I can brag about seeing Saturday Night, Follies in Berlin in 1991, and Getting Away With Murder, which was clever but forgettable.

 

SteveSanders said: "I saw the original Broadway production of Fosca when audience members were laughing throughout. It was the Classic Stage production when the magic of the show really clicked for me. I think the intimacy of the story and songs work best in a more intimate theatre space."

It was obvious that Passion belonged off-Broadway even during its initial run on Broadway.  It's a small show that probably could have been told with a cast of five or six.  People seemed to wander on stage at the Plymouth specifically to provide extra voices.  The leading ladies were wonderful.

I agree with joevitus about latter day Sondheim, beginning with Assassins.  Maybe even Into The Woods, but much of ITW is as good as what came before and none of it is as disappointing as what followed.