A Sonnet for Sondheim.
Presented by Lexi Sekuless and Belco Arts. Directed by
Lexi Sekuless. Musical Accompanist. Carl Rafferty. Choreographer Annette Sharp.
Cast: Jay Cameron. Katerina Smalley. Tim Sekuless, Martin Everett. Lexi
Sekuless. Belco Arts. Belconnen Arts Centre. June 29 – July 2 2022. Bookings:
https://www.belcoarts.com.au/
Reviewed by Peter Wilkins.
Let me begin with a
summary. A Sonnet for Sondheim is a beautiful, uplifting and life affirming
tribute to the late great Stephen Sondheim and to all artists who create and
celebrate their art. Director Lexi Sekuless and her highly talented team of
performers and creatives have interspersed songs from Sondheim’s musicals with
writings by Shakespeare (Sonnet 23 and Enobarbus’s speech from Antony and
Cleopatra), Elizabeth Barrett Browning (Sonnets from the Portuguese 38 and My
Heart and I) and Emily Dickenson (Fame). The audience is reminded of the
artist’s struggle and attempt to conquer the fear that envelops them in
audition, rehearsal and performance. When in doubt and consumed by the anxiety
of their art they can always turn to Sondheim for the reassurance in his lyrics
for Parabasis from Aristophanes’ play The Frogs. “It really doesn’t matter.
Don’t worry relax. After all you’re only human. Besides it’s only a play.”
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| Lexi Sekuless |
In
November last year Stephen Sondheim shuffled off this mortal coil at 91, leaving
behind a legacy unrivalled in the history of music theatre. Others have scaled
the heights but none with such profound humanity. Sondheim is the actors’
composer, who once advised the legendary Geraldine Turner “Bring along your
talent and follow the punctuation” Lexi Sekuless’s new company did just that.
The talent is extraordinary, the concept for A Sonnet to Sondheim ingenious and
insightful and the celebration of the great man’s music both reverential and
effusive. The cast boldly embrace the challenges of Sondheim’s occasionally
discordant and emotionally resonant tone. Not only has Sekuless selected
excellent singers, including herself, but also actors who understand the passion
that Sondheim arouses in his lyrics and his music. Jay Cameron’s rendition of I
Wish I Could Forget You from the seldom performed Passion is a magnificent
performance by a shining light on the Canberra music theatre scene. Cameron
deserves a solo show and Canberra is so fortunate to have an artist of his
calibre. I have just returned from seeing Philip Quast, Geraldine Turner and
Queenie van de Zandt performing the songs of Sondheim and Cameron belongs in
their league.
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| Jay Cameron and Katerina Smalley |
There are too many splendid moment in this tightly programmed show
to mention. Let me list a few. Cameron’s Finishing My Hat from Sunday in the
Park with George. Lexi Sekuless also brings out the longing and the heartache in
Loving You from Passion. Tim Sekuless and Martin Everett capture the absurdity
and comedy in the ironically titled Agony from Into The Woods. Sekuless shows
his phenomenal range with Giants in the Sky also from Into The Woods and the
pathos of Buddy’s Bkues from Follies Katerina Smalley’s rendition of a young
woman’s desire to live life to the full skilfully negotiates the challenges of
Sondheim’s The Miller’s Son from A Little Night Music. and Everybody says Don’t
from Anyone Can Whistle.
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| Tim Sekuless and Martin Everett |
The wonderful ensemble with the masterful Carl Rafferty
on piano excel in the company numbers as they burst into frenetic life with You
Could Drive A Person Crazy from Company and the glorious Sunday from Sunday in
the Park With George. In fact I would have preferred that to be the closing
company number, but I appreciate the sensitivity and true Sondheim humanity in
the popular Send in the Clowns from A Little Night Music which brought to a
close a show that could have continued to enthrall with Sondheim’s prolific repertoire..
Sekuless’s production with its sonnets, literary text and personal
anecdotes referencing Sondheim’s profound grasp of human nature and his deep
empathy for the human condition is a dazzling comet across Canberra’s cultural
horizon. It is not spectacular in the sense of a Frozen or a Wicked. It is not a
beacon of technical wizardry. It is an honest and heartfelt acknowledgment of
Sondheim’s genius and the artist’s talent, tenacity and fortitude in the face of
their own human failings and anxieties. It may only be a play but A Sonnet to
Sondheim is a gift to the memory of Stephen Sondheim and to Canberra
audiences.
