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Friday, July 08, 2005

Stephen Sondheim's 75th: The Concert, Hollywood Bowl (2005)

Cast: Bernadette Peters, Audra McDonald, Vanessa Williams, Carol Burnett, Eric McCormack, Anne Hathaway, Angela Lansbury, Warren Beatty, Barbara Streisand
For a complete cast list, see the Hollywood Bowl Sonheim's 75th: The Concert page.

I'm so happy that they did a west coast concert for Stephen Sondheim's 75th birthday. It's amazing how good he looks! He hasn't really changed a bit. Sondheim has done so much in his career in musical theatre and some of my favorite musicals were written by him, so this show was very exciting for me.

Unfortunately, some people originally announced (Nathan Lane, Emmy Rossum, etc.) did not make it for whatever reason.

The cast was really amazing, with a couple minor exceptions.

Before the show started, I heard that Barbara Streisand was there. This really bothered me, since I figured she would sing and I can't stand hearing her sing. She's butchered so many wonderful songs and I didn't want to have to experience her destroying a Sondheim song when I was there in person.

Fortunately, the girl in front of me (whose boyfriend was in the choir that sang in the last number) said her boyfriend had told her that Barbara Streisand was supposed to sing "Children will Listen" and at the last minute she pulled a diva bit and decided not to sing it when they wouldn't make the change she demanded. THANK GOODNESS! I can't even imagine having to hear her sing that when ,Bernadette Peters (the original Witch in Into the Woods) was there. It would have broken my heart (and my ear drums)! Thank goodness Streisand is too much of a diva. Apparently, sometimes that comes in handy. I actually did a little "I didn't have to hear Barbara sing" dance and bounced up and down after she left the stage without singing. Yippee!

Carol Burnett messed up a few times while singing "Loveland/Getting Married Today," but that is such a fast song and her comedic ability just enhanced the performance. It really was wonderful. I don't know how Eric McCormack & Marin Mazzie managed to keep a straight faces - especially Marin Mazzie, since Carol Burnett was in her face making faces at her and trying to mess her up.

It was great to see so many wonderful stars performing Sondheim's work in one night. We had really good seats and I'm so glad we were able to catch this performance.

If you're interested in pictures from this performance, see the Broadway.com Photo page.

Grade: B+

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Reviewed by Kat at the 8:00 PM show | 0 screams

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