This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:14] Sarah Goodman: Hi, this is Sarah Goodman with the Broadway Podcast Network, and we're here at Manhattan Theatre Club Studios to meet the cast and creatives of Sondheim's Old Friends opening this spring on Broadway.

[0:26] ♪ Musical number: "Something for Everyone" — performed by the cast ♪

[1:53] Sarah Goodman: We're so excited for the show. What has it been like bringing the show over from the West End?

[1:57] Bernadette Peters: It's been great because we brought many of the West End cast. We brought half the London cast, and then we have a New York cast, which are fabulous Broadway veterans, and it's wonderful.

[2:13] Sarah Goodman: Incredible. Tell me a little bit about what it was like being Stephen Sondheim's friend. This show is called Old Friends, and you worked with him so many times, and you did call him your friend. What does that mean to you, and what does it mean to you to be bringing that friendship to this new show?

[2:29] Bernadette Peters: It's really wonderful. I love singing his music. I basically sing it in my own concerts a lot. So it's a privilege to be able to bring this show now to the audiences so they can enjoy the depth and breadth of his work.

[2:50] Sarah Goodman: That's so amazing. I'd love to know when you started playing the trumpet.

[2:56] Bernadette Peters: I play the trumpet too, not very well, but you know, the trumpet has always kind of been in my life.

[3:02] Sarah Goodman: Really?

[3:03] Bernadette Peters: Because I did a show years ago called Les Misérables on Broadway, and Jessimina, it was from a movie, and she played the trumpet. So I kind of learned the trumpet there, and then it kind of followed me into the Steve Martin movie.

[3:21] Sarah Goodman: That's right, and The Jerk.

[3:22] Bernadette Peters: Yes, and I learned the fingering. I never, I mean, they had somebody dub it, but I actually had learned it. I learned the fingering.

[3:29] Sarah Goodman: Oh, wow.

[3:29] Bernadette Peters: And trumpet players would come to me and say, "Thank you for learning the correct finger." And now here I am playing the trumpet again. I love it.

[3:37] Sarah Goodman: I love seeing you play the trumpet as Miss Zeppa. I saw that in your show at Carnegie Hall in October. It was so fantastic. You're incredible on the trumpet, I have to say.

[3:46] Bernadette Peters: I'm getting better and better. It's fun.

[3:49] Sarah Goodman: Do you have a favorite Sondheim song to sing?

[3:53] Bernadette Peters: I don't have a favorite one. The ones I choose to sing, I love. I think being alive is such an uplifting song. All those kinds of songs, they're all special in their own way.

[4:12] Sarah Goodman: I love that. So I heard in an interview that you said you would fantasize about possibly playing Sweeney Todd someday.

[4:20] Bernadette Peters: A gender-bent Sweeney Todd. I would love that.

[4:24] Sarah Goodman: If you were to do that, who would play your Mrs. Lovett?

[4:27] Bernadette Peters: Oh, Christine Baranski.

[4:29] Sarah Goodman: I think she's a little bit...

[4:31] Bernadette Peters: She's so fabulous. I would love to see the two of you together.

[4:33] Sarah Goodman: Yeah, that'd be amazing. Do you have a favorite role that you've played in a Sondheim show? You've done so many.

[4:39] Bernadette Peters: I've done so many. I love them all. I love A Little Night Music. I just love that show. I love that role. I love it.

[4:46] Sarah Goodman: Beautiful. Well, thank you so much. I have to say, now that the interview is wrapping, I must admit that I'm a giant fan of yours. I've been in love with you forever. We have a mutual friend, Kate Baldwin.

[4:58] Bernadette Peters: I love Kate too.

[5:01] Sarah Goodman: She's wonderful. She sent you a photo of me a couple of years ago because I have a tattoo of you on my arm.

[5:07] Bernadette Peters: Oh my god.

[5:09] Sarah Goodman: It's the cover of Sondheim, etc. I got it eight years ago.

[5:15] Bernadette Peters: It's so pretty.

[5:16] Sarah Goodman: Well, you're so pretty, so it's perfect.

[5:18] Bernadette Peters: So I'm taking a picture of this tattoo of me.

[5:22] Sarah Goodman: This has been really a treat.

[5:24] Bernadette Peters: My second tattoo.

[5:26] Sarah Goodman: What can I call it? Tattoo?

[5:29] Bernadette Peters: Tattoo.

[5:33] Sarah Goodman: There's another fellow. He's got me over here.

[5:36] Bernadette Peters: Oh, really?

[5:37] Sarah Goodman: Oh, amazing.

[5:38] Bernadette Peters: Yes, I should meet him. We could be in a little club.

[5:40] Sarah Goodman: I think we'll have to find each other on the internet.

[5:43] Bernadette Peters: I think I signed somebody my name, and I think she was gonna have a tattoo.

[5:47] Sarah Goodman: So it's very fun.

[5:49] Bernadette Peters: Yeah. Well, thank you so, so much for your time. I'm so excited to see the show. You're fabulous.

[5:53] Bernadette Peters: Thank you.

[5:54] Daryl Roth: I'm Daryl Roth. I'm a producer of theater for many years, and I'm here today, very happily to be part of Old Friends. Co-producing it with Cameron Mackintosh and Manhattan Theatre Club, and we're excited about our adventure.

[6:11] Sarah Goodman: We're very excited too. Sondheim is one of my favorite composers. This show is going to be so incredible. I've been really waiting in anticipation since it was out in the West End. What has been your favorite part of this experience in bringing this show back to Broadway?

[6:25] Daryl Roth: I would say just honoring Steve Sondheim first and foremost. I think he really was such a big influence on me and so many others. His songs are just so meaningful and so heartfelt, and of course it feels like a tribute to him now that he's passed. Of course, Bernadette Peters, who I adore and who I can call a friend. We share a love of shelter dogs.

[6:50] Sarah Goodman: Yes, so do I. I have a rescue dog myself.

[6:53] Daryl Roth: Yes, it's wonderful. I just feel the whole company, Leah and Bernadette and all the wonderful English actors sort of come to be part of it. It's a real celebration, and I feel honored to be part of it, honestly.

[7:05] Sarah Goodman: That's wonderful. Do you have a favorite Sondheim musical?

[7:08] Daryl Roth: I love Into the Woods. I love them all. It's hard to, it's like picking a child.

[7:11] Sarah Goodman: I know, right?

[7:11] Daryl Roth: I love them all. But I've always felt connected to Into the Woods for some reason. And we just were part of the last production.

[7:25] Sarah Goodman: Yes, it was so beautiful.

[7:25] Daryl Roth: That's my favorite as well. I think because throughout your life, it means different things at different times.

[7:32] Sarah Goodman: Exactly.

[7:33] Daryl Roth: Every time I see it, I get something else out of it, even though I've seen it a hundred times. And also as a parent, being able to introduce this show to my children and my grandchildren now, I don't know, there's some kind of love attached to that show for me. And it's just meaningful.

[7:51] Sarah Goodman: That's wonderful. What do you want audiences to take away from this production?

[7:55] Daryl Roth: I want them to recognize the amazing talent of Steve Sondheim and his heart and his genius, and the fact that these songs will just last forever. And I want people to recognize that the interpretation of these songs can be different, but the heart of them, I think the lyrics really tell stories that are both personal and universal.

[8:24] Sarah Goodman: That's beautiful. Thank you so much, and thank you for joining us.

[8:28] Daryl Roth: My pleasure. Excited for the show.

[8:29] Sarah Goodman: Thanks.

[8:30] Matthew Bourne: Well, I'm Matthew Bourne, I'm the director of Old Friends.

[8:34] Stephen Mear: And I'm Stephen Mear, and I'm the choreographer.

[8:37] Sarah Goodman: Excellent. Thank you so much for joining us today.

[8:39] Matthew Bourne: It's our pleasure.

[8:40] Sarah Goodman: What has been your favorite part about this process working on Sondheim's Old Friends?

[8:45] Matthew Bourne: Well, it's nice for us to get together again, isn't it?

[8:47] Stephen Mear: It works together.

[8:49] Matthew Bourne: Oh, fabulous.

[8:50] Stephen Mear: Yeah.

[8:50] Matthew Bourne: A reunion.

[8:51] Sarah Goodman: We love that.

[8:52] Matthew Bourne: It's a reunion, but it's also a reunion with lots of people in the show as well, isn't it? We've worked with some of these people before, particularly Stephen, I think you've worked with several of them. And we've both worked with Cameron a lot, haven't we?

[9:03] Stephen Mear: Yes, that's gorgeous as well.

[9:05] Matthew Bourne: It's important that the show does feel like old friends actually. It shouldn't just be a title.

[9:11] Stephen Mear: Yes, and it isn't. It is like a group of old friends working together and the cast as well. Even though we've got young people in our cast, great young talent, quickly bringing them into the fold and making them part of it as well. The atmosphere of the show needs to have that friendship about it, doesn't it?

[9:29] Sarah Goodman: That's wonderful. I love that. What are you expecting audiences to take away from this show?

[9:35] Matthew Bourne: Well, I hope more knowledge about Stephen Sondheim if they don't know him because he was such a genius. Especially for the English audiences, they didn't know him as well.

[9:43] Stephen Mear: Okay.

[9:44] Matthew Bourne: So it's amazing. The reaction that we received in London was mind-blowing.

[9:48] Sarah Goodman: Wow.

[9:49] Matthew Bourne: So hopefully the American audiences will be the same.

[9:52] Sarah Goodman: Well, we're much louder.

[9:52] Matthew Bourne: You're louder, that's for sure. But it's like bringing the work home, you know, bringing Steve's work home to Broadway. This feels really special.

[10:02] Stephen Mear: Yeah, absolutely. Do you have a favorite Sondheim musical?

[10:06] Matthew Bourne: For me, it's well, I love Gypsy and West Side Story, but they're not truly complete Sondheim shows. I'd say Sweeney Todd's my favorite.

[10:14] Stephen Mear: Nice.

[10:18] Sarah Goodman: Well, thank you both so much for joining us today. I'm really excited for the show.

[10:20] Matthew Bourne: Thank you so much.

[10:23] Stephen Mear: Thank you.

[10:24] Beth Leavel: And that's Beth Leavel. I'm Joanna Riding.

[10:27] Sarah Goodman: Thank you so much for joining us today.

[10:29] Joanna Riding: So excited for the show. Please tell me what your favorite thing about this process has been.

[10:34] Beth Leavel: Mine, that answer changes pretty much every day. But as of yesterday, it was just to immerse myself in the process of sharing the brilliance of Stephen Sondheim with this amazing cast and just getting to sing his stuff.

[10:52] Joanna Riding: Incredible.

[10:53] Beth Leavel: Yeah, that was yesterday. So ask me at the end of the day. It'll be something different.

[10:58] Joanna Riding: I'll call you later.

[10:59] Beth Leavel: Thank you. I'd echo that the chance to just immerse myself in all things Stephen Sondheim. Coming from the West End, it's just very special to bring this show here.

[11:09] Joanna Riding: Yeah.

[11:09] Beth Leavel: Because I feel it's coming home. It needs to come here. So to get to do it again, and to get to do it with such a lovely company, it's gonna be great. It's a joy.

[11:21] Sarah Goodman: How exciting. I'd love to ask you both. Have you ever gotten the Sondheim spins where the lyrics just kind of throw you off? And if you have, what are the trickiest Sondheim lyrics that you've had to really wrap?

[11:33] Beth Leavel: Let's see, what time is it? Oh, I haven't had one today.

[11:37] Joanna Riding: I think you should answer.

[11:39] Beth Leavel: She sings a very wordy song in this show.

[11:44] Joanna Riding: And so it's fiendish, isn't it? How long did it take you to...

[11:46] Beth Leavel: I'm not gonna tell you what it is. First of all, when they told me that's what I was going to be asked to sing, I kind of went, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, what am I really gonna sing?" And I no, you're gonna sing Amy's song, which is "I'm Not Getting Married." So it's a fiendish patch song. And every night, frankly, I think this is the night I'm gonna screw it up. And you know, apart from a few, so far I've got away with it, but there'll be a first.

[12:16] Joanna Riding: Yeah, I can't wait just to, you know, get an audience in there and just get the lyrics that they're in my head, but just get it in my body and my muscles so I don't have to think about it anymore.

[12:26] Beth Leavel: Right.

[12:27] Joanna Riding: But I've repeated like verses twice sometimes, like, "Oh, I think I'll sing that one again because I can't really emphasize it more the second time round." I think I just make a different acting choice and I go, "Oh, Steve, love is brilliant."

[12:38] Beth Leavel: Perfect way to cover.

[12:40] Sarah Goodman: What is your favorite Sondheim song to sing?

[12:42] Joanna Riding: That again changes every day. You mean in this show or in general?

[12:45] Beth Leavel: In general.

[12:46] Joanna Riding: In general. People are so excited, they're throwing things.

[12:50] Beth Leavel: They're throwing chairs.

[12:51] Joanna Riding: Whether it's mine changes every time. It does, it does. I think I did Follies at the National a few years ago, and I loved singing "Losing My Mind."

[13:04] Bernadette Peters: I mean, it's a heartbreaking song, but I think that's got to be a lot of I yeah. Um one of my favorite, I have many, but right today it's "Ladies Who Lunch."

[13:14] Sarah Goodman: Yes, cheers.

[13:15] Bernadette Peters: That's her.

[13:15] Sarah Goodman: I'd like to propose a toast.

[13:17] Bernadette Peters: I'll drink to that.

[13:18] Sarah Goodman: I'll drink to that.

[13:18] Bernadette Peters: I will drink to that.

[13:21] Sarah Goodman: Um, what about your favorite Sondheim musical?

[13:23] Bernadette Peters: Yeah.

[13:24] Bernadette Peters: "Sweeney."

[13:25] Sarah Goodman: That's a very common answer.

[13:27] Bernadette Peters: Really?

[13:27] Bernadette Peters: Mm-hmm. J I saw it recently on Broadway and uh like uh uh I left the theater. I was so you know, that moment when you're in the theater and you're no longer in the theater, you're in the really in the moment. I was gone.

[13:39] Sarah Goodman: Yeah, gobs match. It's a gorgeous score.

[13:42] Bernadette Peters: Wait till you hear it in this show.

[13:44] Sarah Goodman: Can't wait.

[13:45] Bernadette Peters: I'm torn. I'm torn between uh "Follies" and "A Little Night Music." But "Company" has a very special place in my heart because that was my first introduction to "Song of Amazing."

[13:59] Sarah Goodman: What are you hoping that audiences take away from this show?

[14:03] Bernadette Peters: But um, I think joy and appreciation again for the brilliance of Stephen Sondheim. It's just it's just a magical one hit after another of the greatest musical composer of our time.

[14:18] Bernadette Peters: Yes, it is it is a joyous, really uplifting show. But I think hopefully they'll go away with a sense of the breadth of the man's words. There is nothing that he cannot write for.

[14:29] Sarah Goodman: Yep.

[14:30] Bernadette Peters: Yep, yeah. I think he writes especially well.

[14:33] Bernadette Peters: It's a we uh women.

[14:40] Bernadette Peters: Yes, and we are lucky enough to have it.

[14:43] Bernadette Peters: That canon of a never mind. I love it. Well, thank you so much for your time. I appreciate it.

[14:51] Bernadette Peters: See you at the show.

[14:54] Sarah Goodman: All right, I'll be there.

[14:55] David Harris: I'm David Harris.

[14:56] Kate Jennings Grant: I'm Kate Jennings Grant.

[14:58] David Harris: Thanks for joining us. So this is so exciting. You're both in "Sondheim's Old Friends." I would love to hear from both of you what has been your favorite part of this process?

[15:06] Kate Jennings Grant: Making new friends at old friends has been incredible. I mean, I've been I'm starstruck by so many people on the room, and now I get to call them not just colleagues but friends. It's also a masterclass. I watch everybody work and it's like, oh, wow, okay, all right, step it up, Dave.

[15:21] David Harris: Yeah, masterclass on how to deliver a song, how to deliver lyrics?

[15:24] Kate Jennings Grant: Yeah, oh fair point.

[15:25] David Harris: Yeah.

[15:26] Kate Jennings Grant: That's amazing. Do you have a favorite Sondheim song to sing?

[15:30] David Harris: This is gonna be preemptive. One of my songs that I don't get to sing all the time, this production, but there might be an occasion where I do go on and sing it.

[15:39] Kate Jennings Grant: And let's leave you.

[15:40] David Harris: And such a great song. It's such a great song. I've never learned it, so I'm looking forward to having that in my wheelhouse and exploring the depth of that song.

[15:47] Kate Jennings Grant: That's exciting.

[15:48] David Harris: For me, I love "Not a Day Goes By." Although it's hard to sing it without crying.

[15:52] Kate Jennings Grant: Yes, I'm sure, right? Especially if you're really dropped into the character.

[15:57] David Harris: Yeah, that's incredible. Have either of you ever gotten the Sondheim spins where the lyrics just are flying around in your brain and you're lost?

[16:04] Kate Jennings Grant: Absolutely.

[16:05] David Harris: Yes.

[16:06] David Harris: I mean, doing "Your Fault" in uh in "Into the Woods," it is once you're off that train, you're off the train, you can't get back on.

[16:13] Kate Jennings Grant: It's very fast, right?

[16:14] David Harris: It's very fast. What do you think is the trickiest lyric you've had to learn?

[16:17] Kate Jennings Grant: "Tacaremba, la tumba del fuego, Santa Maripa Zacatecas, La Junta del Sol Y Cruz."

[16:23] David Harris: Yes.

[16:24] Kate Jennings Grant: I can't beat that.

[16:25] David Harris: I love that.

[16:26] Kate Jennings Grant: That boy from what a great song. Can we get it again?

[16:29] David Harris: "Tacaremba, la tumba del fuego, Santa Malipa Zacatecas, La Junta del Sol y Cruz."

[16:36] Kate Jennings Grant: So well done.

[16:37] David Harris: Thank you. We'll see if that ever comes out like that again.

[16:40] Kate Jennings Grant: I bet it will.

[16:41] David Harris: I think that felt really solid for today.

[16:43] Kate Jennings Grant: Yeah, that felt really good. What about um your favorite Sondheim musical?

[16:47] David Harris: It's like it's like choosing a favorite Sondheim song. It could just be of the day.

[16:51] Kate Jennings Grant: You're right. It depends on the day, actually. It depends on where your heart is.

[16:56] David Harris: Yeah.

[16:57] David Harris: I have a soft spot for "A Little Night Music." I love "Company" and "Sweeney Todd." I can't pick "Into the Woods." There's so many good ones.

[17:06] Kate Jennings Grant: Well, the good thing about this show is you don't have to choose.

[17:08] David Harris: Yes.

[17:09] Kate Jennings Grant: We do a little bit of all of the great.

[17:11] David Harris: That's the beauty of a review.

[17:13] Kate Jennings Grant: I love that. We get to sample all the best of the best.

[17:17] David Harris: What do you want audiences to take away from this show?

[17:19] Kate Jennings Grant: Good ways. The true celebration of the master that Stephen Sondheim was. He's it's it's a craft that we've never seen. A lyricist that is phenomenal, and then the music and the the the writing is is like none uh no other. And to be able to be amongst a collaboration of wonderful actors, singers who are delivering this material.

[17:40] David Harris: Uh I'm so excited to bring it. And I feel honored. I was saying in another interview that's uh my agent called to say I'd gotten this position I didn't I was like I literally said are you sure maybe I get to do this I think it's just a miracle that when you hear these 40 41 songs and you you really take it all in and you realize it all came from one human being's heart and mind it's astonishing it's a it's a real triumph.

[17:43] Kate Jennings Grant: Wonderful well on that note thank you so much for talking with us today can't wait for the show.

[17:43] Lea Salonga: Oh me too my name is Lea Salonga and officially I am actor number two in "Sondheim's Old Friends" but it it basically means that Bernadette is actor number one and I I get to sing a lot of Sondheim in this show.

[18:32] Sarah Goodman: Do you do you ever get the Sondheim spins?

[18:34] Lea Salonga: Meaning that you go up on your lyrics you're have a heart of course you do. I mean of all the songs they could give to me they gave me "Worse Pies in London" and I would always get massive anxiety attacks before I had to before I would do that song.

[18:50] Lea Salonga: The added anxiety bit was because I happened to be doing that song with a Cockney accent in London.

[18:57] Sarah Goodman: Oh you were doing it in London?

[18:57] Lea Salonga: In London. Wow so doing "Worse Pies in London" in London in front of an audience of Londoners it's anxiety and pressure that I had never felt prior to that but I guess that means that I would be prepared for doing it here.

[19:16] Sarah Goodman: What do you hope people will take away after seeing the show?

[19:19] Lea Salonga: I'm hoping that people take away that he was just this wonderful composer and lyricist, not just for how beautiful this the music and the lyrics are, because that's a given, but with how well he wrote about the human condition, how he wrote about heartbreak and love and the elation and joy of finding love and about reality and about the nature of creating art.

[19:55] Lea Salonga: And he's written for so many different types of characters in so many shows, but he knew how to expose what a character was with a music and the lyrics that he would write. And he would write very specifically for characters and motifs and patterns, and yeah, it's a challenge. But when you're in a show like this with so many people that know what they're doing and who will guide you into doing it better than you've ever thought that you could, it's it's a real gift.

[20:35] Maria Wirries: I'm Maria Wirries.

[20:36] Daniel Yearwood: Hi, I'm Daniel Yearwood.

[20:38] Maria Wirries: Thanks for joining us. I'd love to hear a little bit about what's been your favorite thing about being a part of this production, "Sondheim's Old Friends."

[20:46] Daniel Yearwood: I think for me, being a part of this production has been so perfectly timed. It's been there's so many synchronicities that it came at like the right moment in my life, and I've just been able to sit back and enjoy every second in a way that is I feel so fortunate to just be surrounded by people, and I think it's just being able to sit in that gratitude that has been wonderful.

[21:10] Maria Wirries: That's awesome.

[21:11] Daniel Yearwood: I would definitely have to say relishing in Stephen's memory, um knowing that uh Bernadette, the legend herself, Lea, Cameron, all these wonderful people who have worked with Sondheim before, being able to regale us with the man that he was, and to know that these lyrics live on forever. We get a chance to sing these melodies and pay tribute not only to him but to his work and how impactful it is in terms of the world that we live in, and understanding that uh there's more that connects us than separates us.

[21:42] Maria Wirries: We all let's just connect the dots, no pun intended.

[21:45] Daniel Yearwood: Actually, no, pun fully intended to be a good idea.

[21:47] Maria Wirries: I think we should keep that dot.

[21:48] Daniel Yearwood: Yeah, pun intended for sure.

[21:51] Maria Wirries: I love that so much. That's really sweet. Sondheim's music is so special, it's so emotional, it's so of the emotional world, you know.

[21:59] Daniel Yearwood: Um, and it does connect us. I think that's really cool. What are your favorite Sondheim songs to sing?

[22:04] Maria Wirries: I've I mean, I really enjoy the whole opening sequence. Getting to do "Comedy Tonight" and "Company," yes. These big iconic group numbers are so fun and thrilling.

[22:15] Daniel Yearwood: Um, so I've been just eating that up, I think.

[22:17] Maria Wirries: I can't wait for that.

[22:18] Daniel Yearwood: Yeah, really.

[22:20] Maria Wirries: We haven't done it with orchestra yet.

[22:22] Daniel Yearwood: But oh my god, when is your song?

[22:24] Maria Wirries: The ballading in.

[22:26] Daniel Yearwood: Uh believe it's in LA.

[22:28] Maria Wirries: I think so.

[22:28] Daniel Yearwood: Another one in LA.

[22:29] Maria Wirries: Um another one here.

[22:31] Daniel Yearwood: The ballad of "Sweeney Todd."

[22:32] Maria Wirries: Oh, yes. There is uh a beautiful ringing dissonance that exists that is it's cringe to the ear, but it's powerful.

[22:40] Daniel Yearwood: Yeah, it is so so good.

[22:42] Maria Wirries: Um, it's not in the show, but that's okay. One of my favorite pattern songs ever is "Frankhood Shepherd Inc."

[22:48] Daniel Yearwood: Yeah.

[22:48] Maria Wirries: From "Merrily We Roll Along." Uh that didn't make the cut, but still a good one, still a good one.

[22:54] Daniel Yearwood: Have either of you ever gotten the Sondheim spins where the lyrics are just flying around in your brain? What do you think is the trickiest Sondheim lyric you've had to learn?

[23:02] Maria Wirries: "Kiss me."

[23:03] Daniel Yearwood: Yeah.

[23:04] Maria Wirries: Speaking of patterns.

[23:05] Daniel Yearwood: Oh sure.

[23:05] Maria Wirries: Yeah.

[23:06] Daniel Yearwood: From "Sweeney."

[23:07] Maria Wirries: 100% so fast.

[23:08] Daniel Yearwood: So I had to do "Not Getting Married Today" for a concert once.

[23:12] Maria Wirries: And that one just if you get off the track, it's over.

[23:17] Daniel Yearwood: It's a training. You're done.

[23:18] Maria Wirries: Yeah.

[23:19] Daniel Yearwood: Um, so I think that's probably one of the hardest that I've had to tackle.

[23:23] Maria Wirries: Amazing.

[23:24] Daniel Yearwood: Um, do you have a favorite Sondheim show?

[23:26] Maria Wirries: I think my favorite would probably be "Into the Woods." It's just been around in my life for a long time.

[23:31] Maria Wirries: Um, and I I just think there's so many lessons to learn in it, and it's just delivered so beautifully in this fairy tale that goes wrong, um, which feels a little bit like life in some ways.

[23:44] Daniel Yearwood: 100%.

[23:45] Daniel Yearwood: Um, so I think that's probably one of my favorites.

[23:47] Maria Wirries: What about you?

[23:48] Daniel Yearwood: "Sweeney Todd."

[23:49] Maria Wirries: Yeah.

[23:50] Daniel Yearwood: 100% "Sweeney Todd."

[23:51] Maria Wirries: It's a most people have said "Sweeney" as their favorite.

[23:53] Daniel Yearwood: Yeah, I mean, it's it's dark, it's twisted, but also so beautiful uh in terms of complexities.

[24:01] Maria Wirries: Yes of why we do what we do, what makes us who we are, how life changes us along the way.

[24:07] Daniel Yearwood: Yeah.

[24:07] Daniel Yearwood: And um, you know, that not everything necessarily feels like it could be rectifiable, but there's always a pivotal point. And if one or two things were to go down differently, that story ends in a very different way.

[24:19] Maria Wirries: Absolutely.

[24:20] Daniel Yearwood: So I I love the show and all of his shows.

[24:23] Maria Wirries: Yeah.

[24:23] Daniel Yearwood: The life lessons that can be drawn from his material. It's endless.

[24:27] Maria Wirries: Yeah.

[24:28] Maria Wirries: What do you want audiences to leave with after seeing this show?

[24:31] Daniel Yearwood: I think a renewed sense of empathy. I think just being able to lick it.

[24:36] Maria Wirries: Goosebobs.

[24:37] Daniel Yearwood: Oh, yeah. I the world today, yes.

[24:39] Maria Wirries: Yeah, I feel like we're in a time where we can shut down really easily to other people just by hearing what they have to say.

[24:46] Daniel Yearwood: And I think if we allow ourselves to be more open to the complexities of the world, we'll just find more common ground.

[24:53] Maria Wirries: And I think that this show is a multi-generational show. It's full of so many different life experiences, and we kind of are able to combine all of those into this sort of gift for the audience that just says go out and live and love people.

[25:08] Daniel Yearwood: And I think that that's what I hope that they they leave with.

[25:12] Maria Wirries: There's a a really wonderful moment that happens towards the end of the show where we as a cast literally get to just acknowledge the audience.

[25:20] Daniel Yearwood: I think um we're a few years removed from the height of the pandemic.

[25:24] Maria Wirries: Um, but to know where the world is right now, I think it not only takes the talent that's on stage, but it's it's the humanity in all of us that connects us.

[25:33] Daniel Yearwood: And so it's like we don't get to do what we do or really exist as artists in this capacity without the audience, the people whom we spend their time, yeah.

[25:51] Maria Wirries: That um that it's it's gonna be a wonderful experience, and I hope that everyone who comes to see the show leaves rejuvenated, uh feeling alive and full of life, full of joy, knowing that uh Sondheim left uh a beautiful legacy for us to celebrate.

[26:06] Jason Pennycooke: Yeah.

[26:07] Jeremy Secomb: Wow, that's so beautifully said.

[26:08] Jason Pennycooke: Thank you both so much for joining me today. I appreciate it. Hope your run in LA goes great, and can't wait to see the show when you're back on Broadway.

[26:15] Jeremy Secomb: Thank you so much.

[26:16] Jason Pennycooke: Thank you.

[26:17] Jeremy Secomb: My name is Jason Pennycooke.

[26:19] Jeremy Secomb: Hi, I'm Jeremy Secomb.

[26:20] Jason Pennycooke: Well, thanks for joining me today. I would love to hear about what has been your favorite thing about this process of being in Sondheim's Old Friends.

[26:28] Jeremy Secomb: Even though, Jeremy, so yeah, for me it's about delving into this amazing work of Steve's to sink our teeth into the lyrics, the music. It doesn't matter how often you do it, every time you come back to it, you get something new out of it. So I think that as you get older as well, you come back to different Stephen Sondheim shows or whatever, and you literally get more out of it as you get older with the different life experiences you have. And for me, it's kind of getting a second bite out of the cherry, as it were, because of course in London we did it originally, and then coming back here, you know, and you never thought you'd get to do it again. Right. And then you know, this Broadway opportunity comes up, which is obvious, of course. We jumped to the chance to do that. Yes, but also a chance to get another go at doing those things that you thought you'd never get to do again. So that's very exciting.

[27:23] Jason Pennycooke: Do you have a favorite Sondheim song to sing?

[27:27] Jeremy Secomb: I mean there are lots of Sondheim songs that I love singing. I do like "Being Alive," but I also like singing "Buddy's Blues," which is the song that I sing in action because it's so tricky, you know. And I'm always surprised when I get through it every single night, you know.

[27:42] Jason Pennycooke: That's a follow-up question. That's not even a joke. Have you ever gotten the Sondheim spins where the lyrics are just lying around in your brain?

[27:48] Jeremy Secomb: Yes, no idea what you're gonna say next. I mean, that comes with the territory, right?

[27:52] Jason Pennycooke: Yeah.

[27:53] Jeremy Secomb: What is the trickiest lyric you think you've had to learn?

[27:56] Jeremy Secomb: Who then like, well one I struggle because I played Sweeney Todd before. So there's a lyric that happens in "Priest," where I say, "Mrs. Lovett, what a charming notion, eminently practical and yet appropriate as always." To get your teeth around that, like when you first learn that, it's really really difficult because it's also the way it's timed. So "eminently," you know, and all that sort of stuff. So I just remember I remember first looking at it going, oh I'm never gonna learn that. Like what is that? I can't get my teeth around that. So yeah, I did. But there have been a couple of times that where I go, hang on, I've got someone else's teeth in. They're not mine, they're not working. But yeah, that for me would probably be one of the hardest lyrics that I've done.

[28:44] Jeremy Secomb: There are a lot worse. I mean, Joanna Riding in this production has to do "Not Getting Married Today," right? I mean, and it's extraordinary the way she does it, but those lyrics, that's on another level.

[28:59] Jason Pennycooke: Yeah, it really is.

[29:00] Jeremy Secomb: Yeah, do you have a favorite?

[29:02] Jason Pennycooke: In the show, I really really enjoy singing "Sunday" from Sunday in the Park with George. Yeah, and it's a beautiful ensemble piece that we sing together as a company, but it just never gets old for me. And to do it next to Bernadette, you know.

[29:17] Jeremy Secomb: Right.

[29:17] Jason Pennycooke: I mean, incredible, right?

[29:19] Jeremy Secomb: Exactly, exactly.

[29:20] Jason Pennycooke: Do you have a favorite Sondheim musical?

[29:22] Jeremy Secomb: I know it can change a lot. So today, what's your favorite Sondheim musical?

[29:26] Jason Pennycooke: We both have the same.

[29:27] Jeremy Secomb: Yeah, West Side Story.

[29:28] Jason Pennycooke: So yeah, you know, beautiful.

[29:29] Jeremy Secomb: It is so classic, right? One of the best musicals ever made.

[29:33] Jason Pennycooke: And it is my top top musical ever.

[29:36] Jeremy Secomb: Wow.

[29:36] Jason Pennycooke: So and it's Steve's.

[29:38] Jeremy Secomb: So yeah, yeah, love it.

[29:40] Jason Pennycooke: What do you want audiences to take away from this production?

[29:43] Jeremy Secomb: Love, friendship, and enjoyment, because all of those things are encompassing in this show. And actually it's like a snapshot in time as well, you know. It's like a cabaret, but it's your cabaret, you know. So we're doing it specifically for you, and it's never gonna be the same again. So each audience member is gonna get that unique experience because it's different every night, you know. In the way that the show is put together by Cameron and Stephen.

[30:10] Jason Pennycooke: That's so exciting.

[30:11] Jeremy Secomb: Yeah. I think that they should come away with feeling like they've seen something that is a one-off. Even though it's not a one-off. The way that it's been put together and the way that it's performed with the people that we have in the company, it feels like an event. So and it's classy and it's all those things, but I think the audiences will get to the end of the night and just sort of think, oh my god, that was such an event.

[30:41] Jason Pennycooke: Yeah, because it's such a love. We perform it with so much heart and love towards Steve, that it's like a proper tribute.

[30:52] Jeremy Secomb: So that's beautiful.

[30:54] Jason Pennycooke: Well, thank you both for joining us today.

[30:56] Jeremy Secomb: Thank you.

[30:56] Jason Pennycooke: Have a great day, thank you.

[30:57] Jacob Dickey: Thank you. My name is Jacob Dickey.

[30:59] Jasmine Forsberg: Hi, I'm Jasmine Forsberg.

[31:00] Kyle Selig: And I'm Kyle Selig.

[31:02] Jacob Dickey: I think one of my favorite things has been seeing everyone's interpretation of these songs. A lot of people are playing roles that they've never played or they are playing roles that they've always wanted to play, and having grown up with Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga and Beth Leavel, and seeing them perform their versions of these songs and ourselves getting chances to perform our own versions. It's so cool and for theater nerds, it's just a dream come true.

[31:25] Jasmine Forsberg: I think one of my favorite things about joining this production is getting to reunite with some old friends. I have idolized Lea Salonga for as long as I can remember, truly, but I made my Broadway debut in Here Lies Love, in which she was a star and a producer, and so it's been wonderful to be back with her, as well as my longtime friend Maria Wirries. We went to school together at Penn State. So it's just so fun to be in a room with people that you already have established relationships and meet new old friends at the same time.

[31:56] Kyle Selig: I think my favorite part of being a part of Old Friends is the old friends aspect. There are moments where you watch Bernadette Peters say some of the lines that she's said on stage and on the Into the Woods DVD and on the Sunday in the Park with George DVD. That it's just hair-raising to see her do that in person and feel the history that comes with that, and you know, and I look around and I look at my new friends, my new old friends, and it feels like a little flash forward into what we might be doing if we're so lucky to still be on stage, still doing these things with people that we love and who are so talented. It's a very, very lucky day to go to work every day with these people.

[32:38] Jacob Dickey: I think within the context of this show, "Being Alive" is one of the most gorgeous arrangements I have ever heard. As well as our interpretation of "Not a Day Goes By." It's simple and yet I don't know about you all, but I wasn't too familiar with the more positive spin of "Not a Day Goes By." I've only heard the standalone, heartbreaking version, and so I just I got the most emotional I think I've ever been in this rehearsal process. We're sitting down learning the music, and I'm starting to cry as I'm in my chair. It's just so special and so deeply meaningful. And those are some of the last songs we get to sing in the show, and I think the audience will feel very similar things.

[33:17] Jasmine Forsberg: I think I get the very special treat of singing "Hello Little Girl" from Into the Woods to Bernadette as Little Red. And yeah, it's a wild thing to say aloud.

[33:27] Kyle Selig: Yeah.

[33:28] Jasmine Forsberg: But I've always wanted to sing that song. I always love playing the bad guy, and to play a Sondheim baddie is like even more special. So I'm really digging deep.

[33:40] Kyle Selig: Yeah, I think my favorite song to be a part of in this show. We come in hot with a version of "Comedy Tonight" that is just so intricate and such a good opportunity to see how silly and talented this whole group of people is, and I think it's just like quite the way to start a show.

[33:58] Jasmine Forsberg: Sondheim spin.

[34:00] Kyle Selig: Yes, I will say as a group for the opening number of "Comedy Tonight," we've all really struggled over if it's "fumblers" that comes first, "grumblers," "fumblers," "grumblers." We came up with a system, and anyway.

[34:12] Jasmine Forsberg: We're thank god.

[34:18] Kyle Selig: I think I honestly, for me, "Weekend in the Country," and it's quite a complex number when we all come in. I'm still in the background, honestly going with the domestic.

[34:30] Jasmine Forsberg: So I'll get it.

[34:31] Kyle Selig: I'll get it, I get it. All you have to say at the end of the song for the ensemble members is "twice as upset as," but you say it maybe 16 times in a row.

[34:45] Jasmine Forsberg: Tongue twister, let me tell you, why don't you try it saying that five times fast?

[34:48] Kyle Selig: "Twice as upset as" and "twice as upset as" and "twice as upset."

[34:52] Jasmine Forsberg: Do you find like you're getting better at it though? Because I literally couldn't do it when we started, and now it's like twice.

[35:00] Kyle Selig: This is ASMR.

[35:02] Jasmine Forsberg: Twice as a—oh good.

[35:05] Kyle Selig: Oh, I love that too.

[35:06] Jasmine Forsberg: What is your favorite Sondheim show?

[35:07] Kyle Selig: Sondheim music.

[35:10] Jasmine Forsberg: I know it's really—

[35:12] Kyle Selig: I have a very close relationship with Company. I did on Broadway, did the tour, and it was the first show I saw of his, the 2006 revival, so Company is hands down my favorite.

[35:22] Jasmine Forsberg: Today's fave is Into the Woods.

[35:24] Kyle Selig: Love her.

[35:25] Jasmine Forsberg: Love her.

[35:26] Kyle Selig: Yeah.

[35:26] Jasmine Forsberg: Today's fave is probably A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. It was the first musical I ever did in high school, and the first musical he ever wrote, and it just feels very full circle for me personally.

[35:38] Kyle Selig: Just yesterday, after a run-through, we were getting notes from our creative team, and I believe Matthew had said to us, it used to be that Sondheim, people thought Sondheim's work was for people with degrees. Like it was too cerebral, too heady. And that's not the case. When you take it, especially out of context, and you put a fresh interpretation of it, you can see that it stands alone on its own. And what's so beautiful is Cameron also said we're taking the essence of all of the shows that he's done and interpreting them or planting them and putting them onto these pieces, and we get to live in that essence and bop from character to character.

[36:15] Jasmine Forsberg: So yeah, just a great time all around.

[36:17] Kyle Selig: Yeah, music.

[36:18] Jasmine Forsberg: There probably an earthquake in the background.

[36:21] Kyle Selig: Cameron Mackintosh shared with us yesterday his personal conversations with Stephen Sondheim about what his greatest ambition was, and it's that as many people as possible enjoyed this work. And so for me, I think what better way to honor this man who has left behind so many, well, so many songs. Forty-one in our show alone. So much work behind for it to be seen and enjoyed by as many people who maybe have heard of him, maybe haven't. This is the perfect opportunity for your introduction or your opportunity to revisit some of the greatest songs we've ever had written.

[36:59] Jasmine Forsberg: Thank you.

[37:00] Kyle Selig: Thanks so much.

[37:01] Bonnie Langford: My name is Bonnie Langford.

[37:03] Gavin Lee: And I'm Gavin Lee.

[37:05] Bonnie Langford: Thank you so much for being here with us today.

[37:08] Gavin Lee: So excited for this show. What has been your favorite thing about the process of bringing Sondheim's Old Friends to Broadway?

[37:15] Bonnie Langford: For me, because both of us were in the London production, and about half of us got invited to come and join some new cast members in New York.

[37:23] Gavin Lee: Yes.

[37:24] Bonnie Langford: It's walking through the door on day one because I knew what a great time I had last time in London. So I knew what to expect, and also walking in without any anxiety because I knew what I was doing.

[37:39] Gavin Lee: So I was entering into this rehearsal.

[37:44] Bonnie Langford: I've got to relearn it.

[37:45] Gavin Lee: Yes, so it's sometimes nice to revisit, isn't it?

[37:47] Bonnie Langford: Because we had fine news.

[38:09] Gavin Lee: Oh, I didn't think about it that way before.

[38:11] Bonnie Langford: And we know that it's just such a beloved show. We know that the audiences are, you know, they just will go crazy.

[38:22] Gavin Lee: The Sondheim fans clearly will.

[38:24] Bonnie Langford: Yes. But we're hoping that we bring in a lot of new audience members that have never thought to come to a Sondheim show because this is a revue. We're not doing a musical, it's a revue. So it's like a smorgasbord of all the best Sondheim songs that ever were. And so it's not a story. We're not telling a story with it, are we? We're just presenting these songs and saying, take from it what you want.

[38:46] Gavin Lee: Many, many little stories.

[38:48] Bonnie Langford: Well, the thing about Sondheim, every song is a story and strong. See, because we're doing it, most of the time, it's not vignettes from the shows. So it's not suddenly.

[38:56] Gavin Lee: I mean, there are some because you have to, like Sweeney Todd, you can't suddenly sing that and not say we're in London town and try and present that era because you go, no, that doesn't modernize.

[39:06] Matthew Bourne: Yeah, and but most of his stuff is time. So, you know, for example, Gavin does a song in the second half, "Could I Leave You?" And that's not normally sung by a man. Right. And it's just being able to revisit it. And what's so lovely is that we are personalizing these. So we're being ourselves stepping into these songs, looking at them as a blank canvas, yeah.

[39:30] Beth Leavel: Like in "Sunday in the Park with George."

[39:32] Matthew Bourne: Oh, that was cool.

[39:35] Beth Leavel: That was good. That was incredible.

[39:37] Matthew Bourne: That was good. I love I'll give myself a pat on the back for that one. Thank you very much.

[39:42] Beth Leavel: You do, you do. What is your favorite Sondheim song to sing? It could be from this show or just in general.

[39:48] Beth Leavel: Um, my first Sondheim song was "Let Me Entertain You" because I was in "Gypsy" with Angela Lansbury, playing Baby June, and that's when I first came to Broadway. Um, many moons ago long before you're born. But um, I also I love singing "I'm Still Here," because it's sort of the full circle moment, because I've been doing this a long time, and there are always highs and lows. But I also think that in this show particularly, it's not about being in show business, it's not about that, it's just about all of us getting through life, about getting through what life throws at you, and you're still here, and we need to celebrate that.

[40:21] Matthew Bourne: And we will continue and we will survive. So, for me, in this instance, that's what's great about it, because you can re-present it in a different way, so it's about survival and enjoying life and celebrating your life and what it's given you and how you've grown.

[40:36] Beth Leavel: Yeah. For me, I think my favorite song to sing, "End of Act One." We, as an ensemble, all of us we come on, and we beautifully sing "Sunday" from "Sunday in the Park with George." And whenever I hear that song, whether it's the original cast album or the productions I've seen, I'm in tears. So to then be on stage with the huge orchestra we have right behind us, straight into getting to sing my harmony in that intricate, beautiful song.

[41:07] Matthew Bourne: Yeah.

[41:08] Beth Leavel: That ends Act One, the audience goes wild, and I would always walk off the stage, either with a tear in my eye, or just absolute joy that I just got to sing "Sunday" from "Sunday in the Park with George." And "Being Alive," that's another one.

[41:20] Matthew Bourne: Oh, end of Act Two is "Being Alive," and it's the way this orchestration is we're all singing. Usually it's a solo in "Company." So to have 17 of us singing "Being Alive," it's just one thing as well.

[41:33] Beth Leavel: So often with particularly with the review shows that where the Sondheim shows side by side by Sondheim, that was what was it, three people plus a narrator in the cast and two pianos. Um, putting it together was just a company of six, five, six. So there's a lot of us to make a lot of noise, beautiful voice, and to do those harmonies that we can hopefully do justice to.

[41:55] Matthew Bourne: We'll be doing justice to the harmonies. I believe that for sure.

[41:58] Beth Leavel: Have you ever gotten the Sondheim spins where the lyrics are just flying around in your brain and you have no idea what you're gonna say next?

[42:05] Jeremy Secomb: All the time? You don't even go there.

[42:07] Beth Leavel: I mean, I love the trickiest lyric you've had to learn.

[42:10] Jason Pennycooke: Well, I've got butts and it's the ends and the butts, is it?

[42:14] Beth Leavel: Oh, ands and the butts and the shows and some of that.

[42:17] Jeremy Secomb: Oh, very fast.

[42:20] Beth Leavel: Sure. But we don't have "Joe" in our show, "Getting Married Today," which of course is the most ridiculous, brilliantly speeding traits ever.

[42:31] Matthew Bourne: Yes, but um can't even breathe in that song, let alone speak the words. I mean it's when you uh when you've grown up listening to all the cast albums, I kind of knew all the lyrics to all the songs before I even started because they were just ingrained in my brain.

[42:44] Beth Leavel: Yeah, because I love them so much. Yes, uh, I love that. What about your favorite Sondheim show?

[42:50] Matthew Bourne: Today, I know it changes all the time.

[42:51] Beth Leavel: Yeah, this is so hard.

[42:55] Matthew Bourne: No, we somebody said something like that earlier, and I can't. And then you then you you give your answer.

[42:59] Beth Leavel: We gave three answers a minute ago to someone else.

[43:01] Matthew Bourne: And then you're like, oh no, I shouldn't have to be able to do that. But just for the heck of it, I'm gonna say my favorite is "Merrily We Roll Along."

[43:09] Beth Leavel: Oh yes.

[43:10] Matthew Bourne: But you know what? I don't know why, because I could listen to "Pacific Overtures," which is one is often forgotten about, but that cast album makes amazing. "Assassins," "Into the Woods," interesting about it.

[43:23] Beth Leavel: I saw "Into the Woods" in the Regent's Park open air, it was beautiful because it was in the woods.

[43:28] Matthew Bourne: Oh in the woods. Um yeah, "Company," um "Company" was great.

[43:33] Beth Leavel: Uh "Follies," "Follies," celebrating. I mean, just oh the old ghosts of the thieves. We can we cannot ask it. Do not ask that question.

[43:40] Matthew Bourne: It's ridiculous.

[43:41] Beth Leavel: It's a hard one.

[43:43] Matthew Bourne: It's crazy, right? I can't even always decide myself.

[43:45] Beth Leavel: Okay, my favorite show is "Old Friends."

[43:48] Matthew Bourne: Yay!

[43:51] Beth Leavel: What do you want the audiences to take away from this show?

[43:54] Matthew Bourne: Oh, they will take away absolute joy, emotion. Um that they want to come back.

[44:01] Beth Leavel: Yes.

[44:04] Matthew Bourne: You can't actually grasp all of it. Some of the time you think, oh, I just want to relish that moment.

[44:11] Beth Leavel: Yeah.

[44:11] Matthew Bourne: And then you go, oh, but we're on to another one. Oh, we're on to another one. It's literally an absolute poetry.

[44:18] Beth Leavel: Juggernaut is it, yeah.

[44:19] Matthew Bourne: Songs powering through. And I think so many of my friends are going to see when every time the audience is played the intro, they were like, oh, they're doing this one.

[44:30] Beth Leavel: Yeah, this one. And hopefully, for people who have not seen any Sondheim before, as I said before, it's like a Schwagas board, you're getting a little taster of all his different styles in all his different musicals.

[44:41] Matthew Bourne: Hopefully, they will believe leave our show going, well, I have to go see "Company" now.

[44:41] Beth Leavel: Well, I have to go see "Into the Woods" now.

[44:49] Matthew Bourne: Because I love that. You're getting everything in this show, and hopefully it will broaden your mind for newbies to go, and now I need to go see Sondheim shows.

[44:57] Beth Leavel: Oh, thing I love about this show as well is the joy. Quite often people will think that Sondheim is sad or angry or angsty, but there's so much joy and irony.

[45:08] Matthew Bourne: And I think that we need that at the moment.

[45:10] Beth Leavel: We definitely need the joy for sure.

[45:13] Matthew Bourne: I love that. Thank you so much for joining me today. I appreciate the time, and I can't wait to see the show.

[45:21] Beth Leavel: Thank you.

[45:22] Matthew Bourne: Thanks so much.

[45:23] Peter Neureuther: Hi, my name is Peter Neureuther.

[45:25] Kevin Earley: I'm Kevin Earley.

[45:26] Paige Faure: I'm Paige Faure.

[45:28] Alexa Lopez: I'm Alexa Lopez.

[45:30] Peter Neureuther: I think working with Matthew Bourne, our director, and Stephen Mear, our choreographer, they are both so passionate about the work here and really have very high expectations, but always delivered with such kindness and rooted in story and the flow of the evening being a celebration, and it's just been so interesting to watch it all come together because you know you learn it in bits and pieces here and there, but then to watch the flow of the evening unfold before you as you're putting it together, you go, right, this is really a ride I want to be on.

[46:04] Kevin Earley: So yeah, I think to watch each person get their individual take on each song and have Matthew and Stephen look at them in this fresh light for Broadway for Los Angeles, and even give some of the people who have been doing these songs for a while kind of a new take on it, or why don't you try something else? Or why don't we, you know, work it a different way and see what happens has been really special to watch.

[46:30] Paige Faure: Yeah, I think the best part of the show is that we jump from show to show to show, and you get to reinvent all of these characters with the interpretation, obviously that Matthew approves of. But you know, and for that's the beauty for us, standbys is that some of these numbers were covering three of the people in it. So that's three stories that you get to tell. So it's really cool.

[46:50] Kevin Earley: Um just getting to perform this music, Sondheim is a genius, and the show, like Peter was saying, it's non-stop. Um, just showstopper after showstopper.

[47:02] Paige Faure: Um, and the material is so good. It is I'm so blessed to be able to perform it with this group of people.

[47:08] Alexa Lopez: Oh, crazy. Well, I uh I am one of uh I had the privilege that gets to cover "I Am Not Getting Married Today," and had the opportunity to do it in rehearsal this week, and it really was the test of my own will.

[47:25] Paige Faure: Uh and it went well.

[47:27] Alexa Lopez: It went well enough.

[47:28] Kevin Earley: It went terrific when you talk.

[47:29] Alexa Lopez: I appreciate it. But we uh, you know, but that one that one's pretty tricky to spit out there.

[47:35] Paige Faure: And I was in the company revival that was just on Broadway, and so I just watched Matt Doyle do it because it was a male identifying song at that point, and so I didn't take the time to learn it because I was standing by for all the females, and I went, dang, it got me. I had to learn it, but I did, I did. I'm there now, so um, and it's and it's a gift, all it's all a gift.

[47:57] Kevin Earley: Yeah, yeah.

[47:57] Paige Faure: I'm working on "Buddy's Blues" right now, which I'm like halfway into figuring out what the complete story is, and to watch Jason Pennycooke do it is just it's a joy.

[48:13] Alexa Lopez: It's a joy to watch him create it and craft it, you know, working with Steven and Matt to make it his own, and hopefully I'll get a chance to do it, but just to work on it is fantastic.

[48:25] Kevin Earley: I've always wanted to work on it because I did the production in Los Angeles where Harry Grohner was playing Buddy, and his interpretation was so amazing that I'm glad I get the opportunity now to work on it.

[48:36] Paige Faure: I think it's definitely muscle memory a little bit, and the good thing about Sondheim's work is you can just lose yourself in it. So when you're really present with the material and you rehearsed it, you usually are just there and present with it.

[48:53] Kevin Earley: So I haven't had too many issues with lyrics except for like learning them.

[48:58] Paige Faure: I mean, "Weekend in the Country" is "Weekend in the Country," yeah.

[49:01] Kevin Earley: Quick.

[49:02] Paige Faure: Yeah, "Tonight Quintet," I'm covering Bernardo, Riff, and Tony. So when I get to the end of that song, I'm really thinking about which harmony I'm gonna sing there.

[49:12] Kevin Earley: Yeah.

[49:12] Paige Faure: Who am I in?

[49:13] Kevin Earley: Which team?

[49:14] Paige Faure: Identity crisis.

[49:16] Kevin Earley: I think that this will be a joy for them.

[49:21] Paige Faure: I think that every song feels just slightly reinvented enough to where it will perk your ears and your heart to kind of go, wow, I didn't think about it that way.

[49:32] Kevin Earley: And I hope that people keep thinking about it once they leave the theater.

[49:35] Paige Faure: I think they will, um, because it's just inherent in what Sondheim has created for us to interpret.

[49:40] Kevin Earley: And um, and so yeah, so just continual joy throughout not just the evening you're there, but for the rest of your life, potentially.

[49:48] Paige Faure: Yeah, each one of these songs is accessible to any individual, no matter where you come from, no matter, you know, what your background.

[49:56] Kevin Earley: And I think that's universally captured in this production.

[50:01] Peter Neureuther: Well, one thing that Cameron has really been adamant about is that this music that Sondheim created, it's for everybody.

[50:08] Kevin Earley: And so I think that what you were saying, Kevin, this music, just like anybody who hears it, you can relate some part of it to you.

[50:16] Paige Faure: And I really think audiences will leave feeling different than when they came in, right?

[50:21] Kevin Earley: Yeah, exactly what Peter said. Um, hopefully people can come in however they're feeling and be able to leave the theater.

[50:29] Paige Faure: Um, you know, with new questions in their brain, with you know, a new feeling in their soul.

[50:35] Kevin Earley: Um, you know, it's a little reprieve from the crazy world that we live in right now.

[51:02] Sarah Goodman: That's all for this episode of Good Show. Thank you for joining me for this fantastic press event all about Sondheim's Old Friends. Special shout out and thank you to Alan Seales from the Theatre Podcast. Alan attended this press event with me and also helped cover my Lea Salonga interview because I was mixing a reading of a brand new musical on the same day, and I had to run six blocks uptown to go to Open Jar to mix that reading. So thanks again, Alan, for helping me out and being my tech support for the day.