‘Old Friends’ review: Bernadette Peters’ Sondheim show is a stellar tribute
nypost.comMerrily We Roll Along,” “Sweeney Todd” and final show “Here We Are” are all playing at the same time. Over in London is a sublime revue of favorite Sondheim standards called “Old Friends” at the Gielgud Theatre that’s led by a deep-feeling Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga.Two hours and 30 minutes with one intermission.
At the Gielgud Theatre in London. Through Jan. 6.Given the glut of the composer-lyricist’s creations on lately — since his death in 2021, NYC has also seen revivals of “Company,” “Into The Woods” and “Assassins” — it comes as a wonderful surprise just how fresh, lively and, most remarkably, new “Old Friends” feels.The laughs are large.
As Peters blows her horn playing the stripper Mazeppa during “You Gotta Get A Gimmick” from “Gypsy,” alongside Clare Burt and Joanna Riding, the Tony winner is a scream and proves she’s hardly above bumping it with a trumpet.
And she’s campy, yet full of wisdom, as she chirps an unexpected tune from “Into The Woods” that I won’t reveal here. Why spoil the fun?The emotions are enormous, too, and the inherent passion of Sondheim’s music is emboldened by his passing.
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