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Sondheim

Bill Carroll
Special to the Jewish News

T

Stephen Sondheim:
JET pays homage to the
composer in his 75th year.

he Jewish Ensemble
• Theatre's holiday gift to
•the community is a daz-
zling array of 32 musical num-
bers by Jewish composer-lyricist
Stephen Sondheim — some of
his best-known works from a
variety of landmark shows — as
JET pays homage to the reigning
king of Broadway in his 75th
birthday year.
JET will perform Side by Side
by.Sondheim, a revue with four
singers and two pianists, for its
third production of the 2005-2006
season. The show opens Tuesday,
Dec. 13, and runs through Jan. 8 •
at the Jewish Community Center
in West Bloomfield.
It will be the only musical of
the season on the newly renovat-
ed Aaron DeRoy Theatre stage,
musical in
and only the
JET's 17-year history. The others
were Falsettos and Fiddler on the
Roof
"The songs depict the sophis-
tication, wit and genius of a man

JET's only musical of season pays
tribute to Broadway legend.

who is probably the greatest liv-
ing Broadway composer," said
JET Artistic Director Evelyn
Orbach of West Bloomfield. .
"We're thrilled to have a cast so
rich in talent, with great charis-
ma among the four of them."
The ensemble includes Naz
Edwards of Ann Arbor; Peter
Kevoian and 'Shannon Nicole
Locke of New York; and Brian
'Thibault of Detroit. The local
pianists are Randy Blouse and
Rich Alder.

Musical Potpourri

Side'by Side by Sondheim takes
its name from the song"Side by
Side," from the 1970 musical
Company, one of Sondheim's
biggest hits. Originally called A
Sondheim Songbook, the show
was conceived in 1976 in
England by performers needing
a revue-type show for a local
charity fund-raiser.
The show ultimately ran for
three years in London before
moving to Broadway for 384 per-

formances and has played in
community theaters across
America. Writer Burt Shevelove,
who did the book for Sondheim's
A Funny Thing Happened on the
Way to the Forum, suggested the
name change to Side by Side by
Sondheim.
"The show is very popular
with regional companies and is
probably the single biggest rea-
son for the spread of Sondheim's
popularity beyond sophisticated
New York and London,"
explained director Harold
Jurkiewicz of Dearborn, who has
been behind the scenes in vari-
ous capacities at JET for four
years and also has directed sev-
eral other Sondheim shows
throughout the country.
"We're sticking to the same
format of the show as the year it
made its debut in England, with
the same songs," he said. "The
performers will take turns nar-
rating and giving vignettes and
background about Sondheim's
life. When they sing, they'll wear
costumes depicting the show the

song came front."
Side by Side has nine numbers
from Follies (1971), including
one that was cut from the show,
one performed by the entire cast
("You're Gonna Love
Tomorrow") and two that usual-
ly bring down the house: "I'm
Still Here" and "Broadway Baby".
There are seven songs from
Company; two numbers, "A Boy
Like That" and "I Have a Love,"
from West Side Story (1957),
with music by Leonard
Bernstein; two from Gypsy,
including the raucous burlesque
number "You Gotta Have a
Gimmick"; and some favorites
like "Send in the Clowns" from A
Little Night Music and "Pretty
Lady" from Pacific Overtures.
The show opens with "Comedy
Tonight," the biggest hit from
Forum, the first musical where
Sondheim composed music to
go along with his lyrics —
although the song wasn't added
until the show played previews

Side Order on page 48

December 8 • 2005

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