Old Friends @ Manhattan Theatre Club's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre

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The Play: Old Friends, a revue of Stephen Sondheim’s most revered show tunes expertly sung by a cast of 19 performers lead by Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga

Devised by: Cameron Mackintosh    Music and Lyrics by: Stephen Sondheim    Directed by: Matthew Bourne

One good thing: Duh; the show is filled with Sondheim songs 

One not-so-great thing:  There have been so many Sondheim revues both before and after his death in 2021 and this one arrives without any fresh insights, without a concept—some numbers have costumes and sets, others don’t—and without much context for the numbers, which slightly weakens the impact even for songs as innately impactful as these  


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