South Florida can go for years without a production of songs by Stephen Sondheim, but this summer will see two back-to-back.
First there was Palm Beach Dramaworks’ superb concert version of A Little Night Music and now MNM Productions gives us a reconceived Side by Side by Sondheim, the musical revue from 1977, directed by Bruce Linser with musical direction by the ubiquitous Paul Reekie.
It plays first at the Delray Center for the Arts (a/k/a Crest Theatre), where it opens Thursday and runs through Aug. 9, followed by a five-performance engagement at the Kravis Center’s Rinker Playhouse, Aug. 13-16.
Explaining MNM’s show selection, Linser says, “They wanted to do a revue. They thought this would be a particularly smart and interesting one because it’s Sondheim and because they wanted something that was sort of lighter summer fare.”
Of course, even Sondheim-lite is more emotionally complex than almost any other Broadway composer-lyricist. “He really digs into relationships, story, situation,” notes Linser. “There’s so much to dig into as an actor. There are so many beats and moments, and the specificity of what he says and why he says it.”
Side by Side by Sondheim covers a 20-year period of his early career, from his Broadway debut in 1957 (West Side Story) to a history-based, cross-cultural curiosity from 1976 (Pacific Overtures). In between was a particularly fertile time in which he collaborated with director Hal Prince on such musicals as Company, Follies and A Little Night Music.
Linser was somewhat apprehensive, wondering whether the auditions would draw the talent he needed, but the turnout was sizeable. “Everybody wants to do Sondheim,” he reports. Experience singing his intricate lyrics and negotiating his unconventional rhythms helps, but that was not the first priority.
“We definitely requested they do some Sondheim at the auditions, because we wanted to see them handle the material,” says the director. “But really what we were looking for was the ability to tell a story through song. Because I think what happens so often with revues is you just get blank stares and pretty singers and I wasn’t really interested in that.”
The cast should be familiar to those who frequent the South Florida theater scene. Handling the vocals and sharing the narration will be Shelley Keelor, Alix Paige, Leah Sessa and Wayne LeGette.
Although Sondheim writes very specifically for characters and dramatic situations, his songs tend to be self-contained playlets that stand alone well when divorced from the context of the shows they were in. That is usually the way Side by Side is presented, but Linser takes an opposite tack.
“What I said to the cast is I really want a sense of revue when we’re talking narration and then — bang! — the lights shift and we are in those shows. It’s like we’re seeing clips of the shows. It’s a great introduction if you don’t know Sondheim and, if you do, I think this production in particular is going to be a great one to see because we are setting it up based on the stories, not just random music.”
Even the casual musical fan probably knows the score of West Side Story and anyone who has ever ridden an elevator in the past four decades is surely familiar with “Send in the Clowns.” Side by Side features those, as well as several less-exposed numbers.
“They’ve got a couple of things that were cut from the shows they were written for,” says Linser. “Like cut from ‘Follie’ is ‘Can That Boy Fox Trot.’ That one is always fun, but most people don’t know it. There are things from (the made-for-television musical) ‘Evening Primrose,’ like ‘I Remember,’ which I think is absolutely one of the most glorious songs written. ‘I Never Do Anything Twice’ from (the 1976 Sherlock Holmes film) ‘The Seven Percent Solution.’ And the ‘Anyone Can Whistle’ stuff I think is interesting as well, because that show is never done.”
Linser is an accomplished singer in his own right, having played Bobby, the leading role in Company, a few summers ago in Florida Atlantic University’s Festival Rep. Still, he recoils at the idea of having to go on some night for LeGette. “Gosh, no, I’m so not prepared to do that. I really like sitting in the director’s seat these days,” he says.
After the run of “Side by Side by Sondheim,” he will be returning to the Dreyfoos School of the Arts where he is the dean of the theater department. As much as he gains satisfaction from training future performers, Linser cannot help but add, “I wish I could make a better living doing the acting and directing.”
SIDE BY SIDE BY SONDHEIM, Delray Center for the Arts, 51 N. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach. Through Sunday, Aug. 9. $40. 561-243-7922. Kravis Center Rinker Playhouse, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach. Thurs., Aug, 13 through Sun., Aug. 16. $40. 561-832-7469.