Spring Break
Musical revue highlights 29 songs from Sondheim
Doug Graham / Staff Reporter
Issue date: 3/30/09 Section: News
Tickets are still available for today's and Tuesday's performances of "Side by Side by Sondheim," a musical revue of the works of legendary Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim, which opened Friday night in the Black Box Theatre of the Doudna Fine Arts Center.
Though the performance highlights 29 songs from Sondheim's prestigious career, the audience can expect to hear at least one song they have never heard before.
An example of a less-known song performed during the show is "I Remember," which appeared in a 1966 made-for-TV musical called "Evening Primrose." The musical is about a secret society of people who live in department stores and have not seen the outside world since their childhood.
"So many of the songs you've never heard, it's like, 'Why haven't I heard this?'" said Joe Amato, a junior musical education major and member of the cast. "You realize that even the stuff that doesn't make it is great."
To better inform the audience of the more obscure Sondheim songs, "Side by Side by Sondheim" features an emcee played by Ethan Ingram, a newcomer to the Eastern stage.
Ingram, a freshman mathematics major, said he referred back to musicals like "Cabaret" for inspiration on how to talk to and maintain a good rapport with the audience.
"It's a lot different when you're practicing it," he said. "When you get to the audience and they laugh it's like, 'OK, I can do what I'm supposed to do now."
Even though much of the attention given to a show is on the performance of the actors, a significant factor on how well a show is received relies on the crew and the facility itself, something that Josh Farmer, a junior vocal education music major and member of the cast, knows.
Farmer has been taking theater classes at Eastern for two years, and knows what it is like to perform without a multi-million dollar building. He said he appreciates the "great facility" that Doudna provides.
"It has really helped us to feel more like we are giving a real performance," he said.
Although many songs are about serious subjects like marriage, succeeding in Broadway, relationships and sex, most of the time Sondheim casts them in a lighter, funnier light.
Lizzy Powers, a senior theater arts major, performed "I Never Do Anything Twice," which is sung by a prostitute explaining how she does not have sex with the same man twice.
"If it was me up there singing those songs, I would be so embarrassed," she said. "But it's not me up there; it's a character. That makes it a little easier."
Tickets are $5 for students, $10 for senior citizens and Eastern employees, and $12 for the general public. Show time is at 7:30 p.m. both nights.
Doug Graham can be reached at 581-7942 or DENnewsdesk@gmail.com.
Though the performance highlights 29 songs from Sondheim's prestigious career, the audience can expect to hear at least one song they have never heard before.
An example of a less-known song performed during the show is "I Remember," which appeared in a 1966 made-for-TV musical called "Evening Primrose." The musical is about a secret society of people who live in department stores and have not seen the outside world since their childhood.
"So many of the songs you've never heard, it's like, 'Why haven't I heard this?'" said Joe Amato, a junior musical education major and member of the cast. "You realize that even the stuff that doesn't make it is great."
To better inform the audience of the more obscure Sondheim songs, "Side by Side by Sondheim" features an emcee played by Ethan Ingram, a newcomer to the Eastern stage.
Ingram, a freshman mathematics major, said he referred back to musicals like "Cabaret" for inspiration on how to talk to and maintain a good rapport with the audience.
"It's a lot different when you're practicing it," he said. "When you get to the audience and they laugh it's like, 'OK, I can do what I'm supposed to do now."
Even though much of the attention given to a show is on the performance of the actors, a significant factor on how well a show is received relies on the crew and the facility itself, something that Josh Farmer, a junior vocal education music major and member of the cast, knows.
Farmer has been taking theater classes at Eastern for two years, and knows what it is like to perform without a multi-million dollar building. He said he appreciates the "great facility" that Doudna provides.
"It has really helped us to feel more like we are giving a real performance," he said.
Although many songs are about serious subjects like marriage, succeeding in Broadway, relationships and sex, most of the time Sondheim casts them in a lighter, funnier light.
Lizzy Powers, a senior theater arts major, performed "I Never Do Anything Twice," which is sung by a prostitute explaining how she does not have sex with the same man twice.
"If it was me up there singing those songs, I would be so embarrassed," she said. "But it's not me up there; it's a character. That makes it a little easier."
Tickets are $5 for students, $10 for senior citizens and Eastern employees, and $12 for the general public. Show time is at 7:30 p.m. both nights.
Doug Graham can be reached at 581-7942 or DENnewsdesk@gmail.com.
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