Latest news with #OldFriends'
Hamilton Spectator
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Hamilton Spectator
Cameron Mackintosh, one of the last great theater impresarios, has plans for stages everywhere
NEW YORK (AP) — The great theater composer Stephen Sondheim loved puzzles, and when he died in 2021, he left one for his good friend, British super-producer Cameron Mackintosh. He left him an unfinished show. The two men conceived of a revue of Sondheim's songs during the pandemic and they both began lists of tunes they wanted. But with the death of his friend, it was up to Mackintosh to make the show real. 'I did say to him, 'I really want to concentrate on the music,'' recalls Mackintosh. 'I want it to be personal, but we never really got that far with the construction of it.' Sondheim died in November 2021. Between Christmas that year and New Year's, Mackintosh created the skeleton of what would be 'Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends,' which has landed on Broadway starring Tony Award-winners Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga. Old friends create 'Old Friends' The final rundown has some of Sondheim's most memorable songs, like 'The Ladies Who Lunch,' 'I'm Still Here,' 'Send in the Clowns,' 'Losing My Mind,' 'Everything's Coming Up Roses' and 'Children Will Listen.' 'I wanted the songs to reflect the fun I'd had with him,' says Mackintosh. 'We're both klutzy, we can't dance, we can't sing, we make terrible puns. 'We were silly together, and I think we loved being silly, making each other laugh. We never had a conversation in 45 years where we didn't make each other laugh even when we were grumpy.' Mackintosh had produced two Sondheim revues before — 'Side by Side' in 1976 and 'Putting It Together' in 1993. He wanted the third to emphasize that Sondheim, who had a reputation for brainy lyrics and complicated melodies, was actually an accessible writer. 'The great thing with 'Side by Side' is for the first time people saw the songs shorn of the books, and they were all like little playlets. And you realize, 'Oh my God, they live in their own world' and therefore anyone can understand it. You didn't need to have an intellectual passport to enjoy Steve's work.' 'Phantom of the Opera' and 'Les Misérables' 'Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends' is just one of several projects the tireless Mackintosh is overseeing as one of the last great theater impresarios, one who champions Sondheim as well as Andrew Lloyd Webber. There's a revitalized, multiyear North American tour starting in November of 'The Phantom of the Opera' and two tours of 'Les Misérables' — one a worldwide arena concert tour and the other a traditional staging going through North America. A new production of 'Miss Saigon' will launch a U.K. tour in the fall and there's a fresh revival of 'Oliver!' — The Standard newspaper called it 'exceptional' — that opened earlier this year in London, which could end up on Broadway. Mackintosh has a knack for returning to former triumphs, stripping them down and then building them up again, adding fresh new talent and delighting a new generation. 'Most of my shows have turned out to be really good shows. They are, then, worth reinventing,' he says. 'I don't want it to ever become Madame Tussauds.' Keeping the shows fresh Mackintosh, doesn't do gut renovations to his revivals, just makes them more nimble with tweaks. Like the new 'Phantom,' which reduced its orchestra from 27 players to 14. The speed may be quicker, too. 'If you listen to a cast album of 40 years ago — for instance 'Les Miz' — to modern ears, well that sounds a bit slow. We've got used to doing materials slightly faster,' he says. 'Have we changed the material? Have we cut it? No, it's just treating it as if it's brand new. And you go into it with a group of talented people and you create the show in the moment. What happened 10, 20, 30 years ago doesn't matter. To keep the shows fresh, you've got to create it as it is today.' Bonnie Langford, who was the original Rumpleteazer in 'Cats,' and has known Mackintosh for decades, recalls seeing him backstage when she appeared in 'Old Friends' in the West End. 'I just couldn't get over his enthusiasm after all these years. He was still so excited,' she says. 'He can be like a little boy in a candy shop sometimes. He was having the time of his life, and I found that so endearing for someone who's been in the business a long time. He just loves theater and shows.' 'Oliver!' has a new lease on life, too Mackintosh has brought 'Les Misérables' to Broadway three times but doesn't plan to bring either current iterations to Broadway. He wants regional theaters to do it, even if that means leaving money on the table. 'I've got more than enough money, but the show needs to get back into the capillaries of the entertainment business and be great shows to bring new generations of audiences and actors into the profession.' If that's the plan for 'Les Miz,' he's plotting the return to New York of his new 'Phantom,' two years after the show ended its 35-year Broadway run. His reimagining of 'Oliver!' is a full-circle moment. He was an assistant stage manager — and understudied Phil Collins — in a touring company of 'Oliver!' in 1965. This time he worked with noted choreographer Matthew Bourne to 'come up with a modern contemporary spin on it.' Mackintosh even wrote a few scenes to strengthen the connective tissue. 'I don't mind changing it, but you don't change it unless it's at least as good. And maybe in a few instances you come up with a better idea,' he says. 'I've always had a very good instinct. for what's missing.' Mackintosh must be won over first by the dialogue and the plot, not the songs. 'I have to fall in love with the words — the characters — first. I want the music to be great, but if I don't love the story and the characters, I don't feel I've got anything to add to them,' he says. He loves classic authors, taking work by Charles Dickens, Victor Hugo, Giacomo Puccini, P.L. Travers or Gaston Leroux and putting their stories to soaring scores, luxurious costumes and sets. 'All the great musicals were mostly driven by the passion of the authors against the customary wisdom of saying, 'I don't think that'll work. No, no, no.' And then they become the classics,' he says, laughing.
Winnipeg Free Press
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Cameron Mackintosh, one of the last great theater impresarios, has plans for stages everywhere
NEW YORK (AP) — The great theater composer Stephen Sondheim loved puzzles, and when he died in 2021, he left one for his good friend, British super-producer Cameron Mackintosh. He left him an unfinished show. The two men conceived of a revue of Sondheim's songs during the pandemic and they both began lists of tunes they wanted. But with the death of his friend, it was up to Mackintosh to make the show real. 'I did say to him, 'I really want to concentrate on the music,'' recalls Mackintosh. 'I want it to be personal, but we never really got that far with the construction of it.' Sondheim died in November 2021. Between Christmas that year and New Year's, Mackintosh created the skeleton of what would be 'Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends,' which has landed on Broadway starring Tony Award-winners Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga. Old friends create 'Old Friends' The final rundown has some of Sondheim's most memorable songs, like 'The Ladies Who Lunch,' 'I'm Still Here,' 'Send in the Clowns,' 'Losing My Mind,' 'Everything's Coming Up Roses' and 'Children Will Listen.' 'I wanted the songs to reflect the fun I'd had with him,' says Mackintosh. 'We're both klutzy, we can't dance, we can't sing, we make terrible puns. 'We were silly together, and I think we loved being silly, making each other laugh. We never had a conversation in 45 years where we didn't make each other laugh even when we were grumpy.' Mackintosh had produced two Sondheim revues before — 'Side by Side' in 1976 and 'Putting It Together' in 1993. He wanted the third to emphasize that Sondheim, who had a reputation for brainy lyrics and complicated melodies, was actually an accessible writer. 'The great thing with 'Side by Side' is for the first time people saw the songs shorn of the books, and they were all like little playlets. And you realize, 'Oh my God, they live in their own world' and therefore anyone can understand it. You didn't need to have an intellectual passport to enjoy Steve's work.' 'Phantom of the Opera' and 'Les Misérables' 'Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends' is just one of several projects the tireless Mackintosh is overseeing as one of the last great theater impresarios, one who champions Sondheim as well as Andrew Lloyd Webber. There's a revitalized, multiyear North American tour starting in November of 'The Phantom of the Opera' and two tours of 'Les Misérables' — one a worldwide arena concert tour and the other a traditional staging going through North America. A new production of 'Miss Saigon' will launch a U.K. tour in the fall and there's a fresh revival of 'Oliver!' — The Standard newspaper called it 'exceptional' — that opened earlier this year in London, which could end up on Broadway. Mackintosh has a knack for returning to former triumphs, stripping them down and then building them up again, adding fresh new talent and delighting a new generation. 'Most of my shows have turned out to be really good shows. They are, then, worth reinventing,' he says. 'I don't want it to ever become Madame Tussauds.' Keeping the shows fresh Mackintosh, doesn't do gut renovations to his revivals, just makes them more nimble with tweaks. Like the new 'Phantom,' which reduced its orchestra from 27 players to 14. The speed may be quicker, too. 'If you listen to a cast album of 40 years ago — for instance 'Les Miz' — to modern ears, well that sounds a bit slow. We've got used to doing materials slightly faster,' he says. 'Have we changed the material? Have we cut it? No, it's just treating it as if it's brand new. And you go into it with a group of talented people and you create the show in the moment. What happened 10, 20, 30 years ago doesn't matter. To keep the shows fresh, you've got to create it as it is today.' Bonnie Langford, who was the original Rumpleteazer in 'Cats,' and has known Mackintosh for decades, recalls seeing him backstage when she appeared in 'Old Friends' in the West End. 'I just couldn't get over his enthusiasm after all these years. He was still so excited,' she says. 'He can be like a little boy in a candy shop sometimes. He was having the time of his life, and I found that so endearing for someone who's been in the business a long time. He just loves theater and shows.' 'Oliver!' has a new lease on life, too Mackintosh has brought 'Les Misérables' to Broadway three times but doesn't plan to bring either current iterations to Broadway. He wants regional theaters to do it, even if that means leaving money on the table. 'I've got more than enough money, but the show needs to get back into the capillaries of the entertainment business and be great shows to bring new generations of audiences and actors into the profession.' If that's the plan for 'Les Miz,' he's plotting the return to New York of his new 'Phantom,' two years after the show ended its 35-year Broadway run. His reimagining of 'Oliver!' is a full-circle moment. He was an assistant stage manager — and understudied Phil Collins — in a touring company of 'Oliver!' in 1965. During Elections Get campaign news, insight, analysis and commentary delivered to your inbox during Canada's 2025 election. This time he worked with noted choreographer Matthew Bourne to 'come up with a modern contemporary spin on it.' Mackintosh even wrote a few scenes to strengthen the connective tissue. 'I don't mind changing it, but you don't change it unless it's at least as good. And maybe in a few instances you come up with a better idea,' he says. 'I've always had a very good instinct. for what's missing.' Mackintosh must be won over first by the dialogue and the plot, not the songs. 'I have to fall in love with the words — the characters — first. I want the music to be great, but if I don't love the story and the characters, I don't feel I've got anything to add to them,' he says. He loves classic authors, taking work by Charles Dickens, Victor Hugo, Giacomo Puccini, P.L. Travers or Gaston Leroux and putting their stories to soaring scores, luxurious costumes and sets. 'All the great musicals were mostly driven by the passion of the authors against the customary wisdom of saying, 'I don't think that'll work. No, no, no.' And then they become the classics,' he says, laughing.
Associated Press
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
Cameron Mackintosh, one of the last great theater impresarios, has plans for stages everywhere
NEW YORK (AP) — The great theater composer Stephen Sondheim loved puzzles, and when he died in 2021, he left one for his good friend, British super-producer Cameron Mackintosh. He left him an unfinished show. The two men conceived of a revue of Sondheim's songs during the pandemic and they both began lists of tunes they wanted. But with the death of his friend, it was up to Mackintosh to make the show real. 'I did say to him, 'I really want to concentrate on the music,'' recalls Mackintosh. 'I want it to be personal, but we never really got that far with the construction of it.' Sondheim died in November 2021. Between Christmas that year and New Year's, Mackintosh created the skeleton of what would be 'Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends,' which has landed on Broadway starring Tony Award-winners Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga. Old friends create 'Old Friends' The final rundown has some of Sondheim's most memorable songs, like 'The Ladies Who Lunch,' 'I'm Still Here,' 'Send in the Clowns,' 'Losing My Mind,' 'Everything's Coming Up Roses' and 'Children Will Listen.' 'I wanted the songs to reflect the fun I'd had with him,' says Mackintosh. 'We're both klutzy, we can't dance, we can't sing, we make terrible puns. 'We were silly together, and I think we loved being silly, making each other laugh. We never had a conversation in 45 years where we didn't make each other laugh even when we were grumpy.' Mackintosh had produced two Sondheim revues before — 'Side by Side' in 1976 and 'Putting It Together' in 1993. He wanted the third to emphasize that Sondheim, who had a reputation for brainy lyrics and complicated melodies, was actually an accessible writer. 'The great thing with 'Side by Side' is for the first time people saw the songs shorn of the books, and they were all like little playlets. And you realize, 'Oh my God, they live in their own world' and therefore anyone can understand it. You didn't need to have an intellectual passport to enjoy Steve's work.' 'Phantom of the Opera' and 'Les Misérables' 'Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends' is just one of several projects the tireless Mackintosh is overseeing as one of the last great theater impresarios, one who champions Sondheim as well as Andrew Lloyd Webber. There's a revitalized, multiyear North American tour starting in November of 'The Phantom of the Opera' and two tours of 'Les Misérables' — one a worldwide arena concert tour and the other a traditional staging going through North America. A new production of 'Miss Saigon' will launch a U.K. tour in the fall and there's a fresh revival of 'Oliver!' — The Standard newspaper called it 'exceptional' — that opened earlier this year in London, which could end up on Broadway. Mackintosh has a knack for returning to former triumphs, stripping them down and then building them up again, adding fresh new talent and delighting a new generation. 'Most of my shows have turned out to be really good shows. They are, then, worth reinventing,' he says. 'I don't want it to ever become Madame Tussauds.' Keeping the shows fresh Mackintosh, doesn't do gut renovations to his revivals, just makes them more nimble with tweaks. Like the new 'Phantom,' which reduced its orchestra from 27 players to 14. The speed may be quicker, too. 'If you listen to a cast album of 40 years ago — for instance 'Les Miz' — to modern ears, well that sounds a bit slow. We've got used to doing materials slightly faster,' he says. 'Have we changed the material? Have we cut it? No, it's just treating it as if it's brand new. And you go into it with a group of talented people and you create the show in the moment. What happened 10, 20, 30 years ago doesn't matter. To keep the shows fresh, you've got to create it as it is today.' Bonnie Langford, who was the original Rumpleteazer in 'Cats,' and has known Mackintosh for decades, recalls seeing him backstage when she appeared in 'Old Friends' in the West End. 'I just couldn't get over his enthusiasm after all these years. He was still so excited,' she says. 'He can be like a little boy in a candy shop sometimes. He was having the time of his life, and I found that so endearing for someone who's been in the business a long time. He just loves theater and shows.' 'Oliver!' has a new lease on life, too Mackintosh has brought 'Les Misérables' to Broadway three times but doesn't plan to bring either current iterations to Broadway. He wants regional theaters to do it, even if that means leaving money on the table. 'I've got more than enough money, but the show needs to get back into the capillaries of the entertainment business and be great shows to bring new generations of audiences and actors into the profession.' If that's the plan for 'Les Miz,' he's plotting the return to New York of his new 'Phantom,' two years after the show ended its 35-year Broadway run. His reimagining of 'Oliver!' is a full-circle moment. He was an assistant stage manager — and understudied Phil Collins — in a touring company of 'Oliver!' in 1965. This time he worked with noted choreographer Matthew Bourne to 'come up with a modern contemporary spin on it.' Mackintosh even wrote a few scenes to strengthen the connective tissue. 'I don't mind changing it, but you don't change it unless it's at least as good. And maybe in a few instances you come up with a better idea,' he says. 'I've always had a very good instinct. for what's missing.' Mackintosh must be won over first by the dialogue and the plot, not the songs. 'I have to fall in love with the words — the characters — first. I want the music to be great, but if I don't love the story and the characters, I don't feel I've got anything to add to them,' he says. He loves classic authors, taking work by Charles Dickens, Victor Hugo, Giacomo Puccini, P.L. Travers or Gaston Leroux and putting their stories to soaring scores, luxurious costumes and sets. 'All the great musicals were mostly driven by the passion of the authors against the customary wisdom of saying, 'I don't think that'll work. No, no, no.' And then they become the classics,' he says, laughing.
Boston Globe
05-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
‘Forbidden Broadway' is back with new Broadway targets to spoof
Advertisement 'He wasn't a celebrity. He wasn't Sondheim yet! So people left him alone,' Alessandrini said. 'He was very approachable and I think genuinely flattered that somebody wanted to talk about the show and the writing process, that somebody was paying attention to the writing at all, not just the sets and the stars.' Now, more than five decades later, Alessandrini is back at the Colonial with his indestructible musical parody revue 'Forbidden Broadway,' which he launched in 1982. The latest iteration Sondheim spoofs are woven throughout the show, including sendups of 'Merrily,' 'Old Friends' ('Old Show'), 'Sweeney Todd' ('The Worst Shows in London') and 'Company' ('Bump-a-Knee'). It also features a parade of mocking parodies of recent shows like 'The Outsiders,' 'Hell's Kitchen,' 'Suffs,' and 'The Great Gatsby' and revivals of 'Sunset Boulevard,' 'Cabaret,' 'Gypsy,' and 'Cats,' while also skewering self-aggrandizing stars like Patti LuPone, Bernadette Peters, Jeremy Jordan, and Ben Platt. Led by musical director Fred Barton (a Boston-area native), the cast features 'Forbidden Broadway' veteran Jenny Lee Stern, Nicole Vanessa Ortiz, Chris Collins-Pisano, and John Wascavage. Advertisement "Forbidden Broadway" plays the Emerson Colonial Feb. 8 and 9. Carole Rosegg While the show is ultimately a revue, Stern, who's pitched in with ideas over the years, explained that there's a Sondheim narrative arc that involves Marty and Doc from the musical version of 'Back to the Future' traveling back in time in the Delorean and mistakenly altering the course of Broadway history. 'Somehow they keep Steven Sondheim from meeting [his mentor] Oscar Hammerstein, and that misstep changes the course of musical theater forever,' Stern said, 'and we have to go back in time and rectify that. With Doc and Marty leading the way, we revisit classic musicals and we go ahead in time and see where Broadway might be in the future.' Alessandrini has made a career out of borrowing show tunes from Broadway musicals and creating parodies using their familiar melodies and riffs. The lyrics spoof aspects of the shows, their plot points, and stars, while also paying homage to what's great about them (or at least some of them). They also sometimes dive into the backstage scuttlebutt and acerbic commentary about the shows online, but always with love at heart. 'That's the thing — we're fans first,' Stern said. 'We're not here trying to be mean or tear down Broadway. We're here to build it up through comedy. So we 'shove with love,' as we say.' Advertisement For Alessandrini, writing parodies came naturally, even going back to his teenage years. 'I would do satirical turns on movies and shows, just to amuse friends in high school.' That penchant for healthy criticism could be traced to his upbringing in Needham. His mother and aunts loved opera and music, but they weren't afraid to jokingly chastise sacred cows, including legendary opera diva Maria Callas, he says. 'No matter how good something was, they always found something that was wrong with it that could be improved,' he remarks with a laugh. Parody has always appealed to Alessandrini because of its mocking irreverence. 'It's turning something inside out, especially something that's respected. That's why the spoofs of more serious shows like 'The Outsiders' or 'Les Misérables' play the funniest, because those shows lack irony, so it's naughty to turn them into something silly and knock them down a peg.' he says. Today, parodies are a staple of YouTube and social media sites like TikTok. But at the time, 'Forbidden Broadway' was something of a pioneer. 'Originally, nobody was saying these things,' Alessandrini says. 'We were gossiping and saying things that people thought but weren't expressing publicly.' When Alessandrini arrived in New York after graduating from the Boston Conservatory, he would write little parody songs and 'sing them to friends to make them laugh' or leave them as messages on their answering machines. Soon, Alessandrini and his Advertisement The idea for a show soon emerged, and they performed an early version at the apartment of some friends from Boston. The group loved it and suggested they pitch it to Palsson's Supper Club on the Upper West Side. 'Being very scatterbrained and oblivious, we forget to even put out fliers or promote it,' he said. 'But the word got around immediately.' Before long, they were performing for big crowds, including celebrities and theater royalty like Sondheim, who would come and check on the show regularly. 'Forbidden Broadway' ran for five years at Palsson's, and Alessandrini has continued to write new editions that have played venues around New York. The show, which was honored with a Tony Award in 2006, has also toured across the country and overseas. Alessandrini's hit 'Hamilton' spoof, ' The lessons Alessandrini learned from Sondheim, watching him rework pre-Broadway shows at the Colonial including 'A Little Night Music' in 1973, have continued to stick with him decades later. During the 1971 run of 'Follies,' he noticed that Sondheim had discarded one of the songs, 'Can That Boy Foxtrot,' for star Yvonne De Carlo. 'I thought, why did they take that out?' he recalled. 'Then about 10 minutes later, she walked over to the piano and started singing [ It was a lesson in the necessity of rewriting. 'What I realized was that just because something works doesn't mean there isn't something better than you can do,' Alessandrini says. 'I admired that and learned early on that shows aren't written — they're rewritten.' Advertisement 'I still believe that. I'm always like, 'Hey, maybe we should do this instead?'' Alessandrini adds with a laugh. 'And I drive my cast absolutely crazy!' FORBIDDEN BROADWAY Written and directed by Gerard Alessandrini. At: The Emerson Colonial Theater, Feb. 8 and 9. Tickets from $39. 888-616-0272,
