Following the triumph of Old Friends at the 2023 WhatsOnStage Awards where it won the Best Theatre Event Award, and the unforgettable all-star gala performance to celebrate the life and work of the great Stephen Sondheim at the theatre named after him in May 2022, Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends, devised and produced by Cameron Mackintosh, will open for 16 weeks only from 16 September 2023 - 6 January 2024 at the Gielgud Theatre with many of that Gala cast.
Old Friends all-star cast will again include Bernadette Peters who is appearing in a West End run for the first time in her legendary career and Lea Salonga who is appearing for the first time in 27 years. Co-stars include several of the fabulous Gala company, including Christine Allado, Janie Dee, Bonnie Langford and Jeremy Secomb, joining them will be Beatrice Penny-Touré, Joanna Riding, and Jac Yarrow with further exciting casting to be announced soon.
The thrilling, joyously staged Gala of Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends sold out within a couple of hours last year leaving thousands of disappointed fans unable to get tickets, so a simultaneous screening took place at the Prince Edward Theatre. Now by popular demand, audiences will have another chance to see the never to be forgotten and one of the most talked about theatrical events of the year.
__Assisted Performances__
Audio Described: 2.30pm - Saturday 11 November 2023
Captioned: 2.30pm - Saturday 18 November 2023
It is in reality, a concert, pulling together some 40 odd of Sondheim’s greatest songs, but it is remarkably well put together, easily transitioning from soaring ballads (Loving You) to fast paced comedy numbers (Getting Married Today) with barely a beat in between. And while we might go from Company to Sunday in the Park With George without any form of link, other segments of the show linger longer on particular shows, such as Into The Woods and Sweeney Todd.
One could quibble with some of the selections: why so much from Gypsy and West Side Story when he only wrote the lyrics? The answer, of course, is to reel in very different generations of fans. That’s show business, a love of which animates the ensemble numbers, against a multi-dimensional design by Matt Kinley (set) and George Reeve (projection) and Warren Letton (lighting), which segues from New York skyline to Parisian waterside and miniature burlesque theatre. There are enough high points along the way to suggest that perhaps it is best enjoyed as a pointillist painting, “made of flecks of light and dark and parasols”.
2023 | West End |
West End |
2025 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
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