Play out, orchestra!

There was an interesting article in the Post the other day about the orchestras in recent revivals of Sondheim musicals. I admit that I was quite tickled because I've seen all of the Sondheim shows he mentions: John Doyle's Sweeney Todd; the Company revival (OK, on PBS); the Sweeney Todd movie; the Sunday in the Park With George revival; even A Little Night Music in Baltimore, which I saw on Sunday.

(It was very good. I was a bit bored with the grandmother, which I recall from when I read the play a few months ago. And I was surprised at how many of the songs I know. Plus, Sarah Uriarte Berry, who I saw in Les Mis back in 1994, was great. It also had Maxwell Caulfield, best known from Grease 2; of course, this involved me trying to explain the plot of that movie to my friend Mike, who saw the show with me. I was impressed that Caulfield listed it in his credits; way to own it! "Send in the Clowns" was a bit weak, as Barbara Walsh performed it more lyrically than emotionally, so it wasn't quite the showstopper it could be. But overall, very, very enjoyable.)

Anyway, overall, I don't really agree with the author of the piece. That's not to say that I think that shows should have smaller orchestras; I don't. But I'm apparently part of the problem, as I didn't notice anything particularly off about the orchestra for Sunday. (Thinking back, I do remember noticing the lack of an orchestra, but that hardly diminished my enjoyment of the show.) I admit that I was hardly blown away by Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter in Sweeney, but I doubt they would've been laughed off the stage. (The kid who played Toby definitely wouldn't have; he was great). I'm still not sure how I feel about Doyle's having the actors playing the instruments, but that doesn't reflect on the use of orchestras in musical theatre in general.