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Edition: U.S. Article Save Email Print Reprints Most Popular Most Shared UPDATE 2-'South Park' airs 'censored' episode after threat 22 Apr 2010 Potentially deadly fungus spreading in U.S. and Canada 22 Apr 2010 North Korea torpedoed South's navy ship: report 22 Apr 2010 Corrected: Global stocks rise on economic data, euro up | Video 11:11am EDT New home sales jump 26.9 percent in March 10:23am EDT Exclusive: WellPoint routinely targets breast cancer patients 22 Apr 2010 Wall Street gives much to lawmakers in reform debate 8:13am EDT Oil spill not growing, search for 11 continues | Video 10:33am EDT Greece presses aid button, markets still wary | Video 11:14am EDT UPDATE 1-Citi offers to buy back $1.1 billion in notes 8:33am EDT Exclusive: WellPoint routinely targets breast cancer patients 22 Apr 2010 Potentially deadly fungus spreading in U.S. and Canada 22 Apr 2010 North Korea torpedoed South's navy ship: report 22 Apr 2010 Biggest study on cellphone health effects launched 22 Apr 2010 Legalizing pot may kill buzz in California enclave 22 Apr 2010 Privacy chiefs keep watch over Facebook | Video 22 Apr 2010 WellPoint routinely targets breast cancer patients 22 Apr 2010 New home sales jump 26.9 percent in March 10:23am EDT Greece presses aid button, markets still wary | Video 11:14am EDT TEXT-Greek PM statement on activating EU/IMF aid 7:53am EDT Pictures Celebrity sightings When the stars are out so are the cameras. Slideshow "Sondheim" tribute would be better without songs Frank Scheck Fri Apr 23, 2010 7:43am EDT Related News Green Day's American Idiot a tough sell on Broadway Thu, Apr 22 2010 Green Day's American Idiot a tough sell on Broadway Tue, Apr 20 2010 Kelsey Grammer shines in "La Cage Aux Folles" Mon, Apr 19 2010 Brits flock to the West End for entertainment Sun, Apr 18 2010 Brits flock to the West End for entertainment Sun, Apr 18 2010 NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - A person can't turn a corner in New York these days without stumbling onto yet another 80th birthday celebration for Stephen Sondheim. Entertainment The yearlong canonization of Broadway's most eminent living composer -- which has included endless tribute concerts and revivals of such works as "A Little Night Music" and "Anyone Can Whistle" -- continues at Studio 54 with "Sondheim on Sondheim," an intriguing but misconceived hodgepodge of musical revue and video documentary. This is the sort of Broadway show that seems designed to include pledge breaks. Conceived and directed by longtime Sondheim collaborator James Lapine ("Sunday in the Park With George," "Into the Woods," "Passion"), the production features an eight-person cast -- including such well-known performers as Barbara Cook, Vanessa Williams and Tom Wopat -- showcased to less than positive effect. Their renditions of dozens of Sondheim compositions, well-known and obscure, are interwoven with video footage in which the composer discusses the artistic genesis of many of the songs being performed. The awkward result is unlikely to attract significant audiences outside of the Roundabout's subscription base, though it will prove of undeniable interest to Sondheim fanatics, and they are legion. The best parts of the show are the interview segments, in which the erudite and witty composer provides an entertaining running commentary ranging from breezy showbiz anecdotes -- the one about Ethel Merman's run-in with Loretta Young is priceless -- to explications of his creative process to self-revealing autobiography. Anyone interested in the famously private songwriter will relish the opportunity to see footage of him puttering around his home, not to mention the close-ups of the bric-a-brac littering his office. Unfortunately, these informative segments are too often interrupted by the live performers on hand, who provide wildly uneven renditions of songs that usually fare much better. For instance, "Comedy Tonight," performed by the ensemble, is seriously unfunny, and "Something's Coming" has the blandness of Muzak. Wopat doesn't begin to plumb the interpretive depths necessary for such powerful numbers as "Epiphany" from "Sweeney Todd" or "Finishing the Hat" from "Sunday." The 82-year-old Cook looks quite awkward while singing romantic duets with her much younger co-stars and even worse when forced to participate in strained comedy bits. Her voice seems weak at times, no doubt because of the rigors of an eight-performance workweek. She does acquit herself beautifully when she's in her natural element, delivering gorgeously sung solo renditions of such songs as "In Buddy's Eyes" and "Send in the Clowns." Williams generally is saddled with the more obscure material (some of it, like a number cut from "Gypsy," for a reason), though she does knock it out of the park with "Losing My Mind" and is devastatingly sexy when stripping down to flimsy lingerie for "Ah, But Underneath" (written for the London production of "Follies.") The starring trio is augmented by five supporting performers, ranging from Broadway pros Leslie Kritzer, Norm Lewis and Euan Morton to relative unknowns Erin Mackey and Matthew Scott. They each have their moments, most notably Lewis with a powerful "Being Alive," but generally don't make a strong enough impression. Too rarely do the interview segments serve to enrich the onstage performances. When it does happen -- as when Sondheim discusses his deeply painful relationship with his unloving mother as a prelude to "Children Will Listen" or when he describes the evolution of the song "Being Alive" before we hear its early and finished versions -- it only makes one all too aware of how much aesthetically powerful the show might have been. The video projections are expertly handled, even if there is a tendency toward too many Monty Python-style visual effects, and Beowulf Boritt's modular set, which keeps breaking up into different pieces, is arresting. (Not so for Susan Hilferty's costumes, which often look like she picked them up at the Gap on the way to the theater). Although the true fans will relish the opportunity to hear Sondheim expound at length, not to mention the plethora of rarely performed obscurities in the program, most audiences will find "Sondheim" more tutorial than entertainment. Entertainment More from Reuters Usher's "good and bad" fight it out on new album LONDON (Reuters) - The eligible bachelor is back in singer Usher's new album "Raymond v. Raymond," which he sees an expression of his struggle to balance life in the fast lane with his commitments as a family man and father. Polanski loses bid to be sentenced in absentia Kitty Kelley's Oprah dissection a brave opus Simon Cowell ups fortune by $69 million in past year "Avatar" sets first-day Blu-ray sales record Woody Allen details movie with Carla Bruni » More Top News Greece asks for $60.5 billion aid Greek request to trigger billions in emergency loans could be the largest state bailout ever attempted. Full Article | Video Most Greeks think aid will hurt country EU problems: Ash cloud, Greek debt Global Markets Apple over Microsoft by a TKO Apple's shares are now 80 times what they were in 1997 while Microsoft's have barely doubled. A Silicon Valley insider explains why. Commentary Microsoft profit rises, shares fall Apple lauded after blowout quarter Technology © Copyright 2010 Thomson Reuters Editorial Editions: Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom United States Reuters Contact Us Advertise With Us Help Journalism Handbook Archive Site Index Video Index Analyst Research Mobile Newsletters RSS Podcasts Widgets Your View Labs Thomson Reuters Copyright Disclaimer Privacy Professional Products Professional Products Support Financial Products About Thomson Reuters Careers Online Products Acquisitions Monthly Buyouts Venture Capital Journal International Financing Review Project Finance International PEhub.com PE Week Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

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