By Maryann Lopinto***Sondheim Unplugged returned to 54 Below for it’s monthly presentation hosted by Rob Maitner, who’s taken the reigns from creator-host Phillip Bond. It was a lovely evening with music direction by John Fisher, brilliant performances, and beautifully researched and delivered facts and back stories by Maitner.
This show covered four of Sondheim’s productions: Gypsy, Dick Tracy, Company and Sunday in the Park with George, with a cast that included Karen Mason, Albert Guerzon, Kate Loprest, Lucia Spina, Jody Reynard, Aléna Watters and Ramona Mallory.
Opening the show were four songs from Gypsy, with music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Sondheim. The show starred Ethel Merman and premiered on Broadway in 1959, closingg in 1961 after 700 performances. Karen Mason, who’s played Mama Rose in three different productions, sang “Some People,” followed by Albert Guerzon who sang and danced “All I Need Is the Girl,” Kate Loprest with a tender “Little Lamb” and Lucia Spina with the 11 o’clock number, “Rose’s Turn.”
Sondheims’ Company with his music and lyrics and a book by George Furth was originally comprised of six or seven vignettes but was put together as an entire show, opening in 1970—with several revivals over the years. The trio, “You Can Drive a Person Crazy” was performed by Maitner doing all the parts. Jody Reynard performed “Someone Is Waiting;” Aléna Watters offered
“Another Hundred People; and Ramona Mallory sang “Marry Me a Little.” She’s the daughter of the late Victoria Mallory who created the role of Anne Egerman in the original A Little Night Music—and Jody Reynard played the role in the 2009 revival of the show.
For something a little different, Sondheim wrote the songs that were sung by Madonna in the 1990 motion picture Dick Tracy. One of those songs “Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)” won Sondheim his only Academy Award for Best Song. It was sung in a sexy version by Aléna Watters, climbing on the piano. Karen Mason sang “Live Alone and Like It,” while Albert Guerson handled “What Can You Lose” and Reynard offered “Back in Business.”
The final three songs of Sondheim Unplugged were from Sunday in the Park with George, which opened on Broadway in 1984 with a book by James Lapine. Inspired by George Seurat’s painting “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte,” this show won a Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The title song was sung by Kate Loprest; Lucia Spina offered “Everyone Loves George, while “Finishing the Hat was delivered by Ramona Mallory.
The next edition of Sondheim Unplugged is on Sunday, February 25 at 7 PM at 54 Below.
All photos by Maryann Lopinto
