IT says a lot about Stephen Sondheim that Old Friends at the Gielgud is the third anthology to be compiled from his musicals. Side by Side by Sondheim was the first and was produced by a young Cameron Mackintosh in 1976. Sir Cameron has devised the new show, which was first staged in May 2022 as a tribute to the composer-lyricist shortly after his death. It proved so popular that it demanded revival and now offers one of the most exhilarating pieces of musical theatre you could hope to find.
Why does it work so well? One reason is that Sondheim never repeats himself: he was, as his biographer David Benedict to (which doesn’t actually feature in this new collection), are distinctive in subject matter, style and idiom. His songs often have the quality of a one-act play. from, for instance, wittily encapsulates the qualities, including ‘The concerts you enjoy together/Neighbours you annoy together/Children you destroy together’, that keep marriage intact.
