‘Old Friends’ review: Bernadette Peters’ Sondheim show is a stellar tribute

This major moment for Stephen Sondheim’s musicals is not limited to New York, where the late composer’s “Merrily We Roll Along,” “Sweeney Todd” and final show “Here We Are” are all playing at the same time. 

Over in London is a sublime revue of favorite Sondheim standards called “Old Friends” at the Gielgud Theatre that’s led by a deep-feeling Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga.

Given the glut of the composer-lyricist’s creations on lately — since his death in 2021, NYC has also seen revivals of “Company,” “Into The Woods” and “Assassins” — it comes as a wonderful surprise just how fresh, lively and, most remarkably, new “Old Friends” feels.

The laughs are large. As Peters blows her horn playing the stripper Mazeppa during “You Gotta Get A Gimmick” from “Gypsy,” alongside Clare Burt and Joanna Riding, the Tony winner is a scream and proves she’s hardly above bumping it with a trumpet. 

And she’s campy, yet full of wisdom, as she chirps an unexpected tune from “Into The Woods” that I won’t reveal here. Why spoil the fun?

The emotions are enormous, too, and the inherent passion of Sondheim’s music is emboldened by his passing.  

Bring the tissues for when Peters, who originated the role of Dot in “Sunday in the Park with George” on Broadway, takes her iconic umbrella out of storage as the cast wails the “Sunday” finale. The combined effect of watching her inhabit that resplendent part 40 years later and being hit by a glorious wall of sound sends the shaken audience into intermission crying in their wine glasses. 

In the second half, her tortured rendition of “Losing My Mind” is a real heartbreaker.

It’s that shrewd balance of hilarity and ache that propelled Sondheim’s greatest musicals. Consider the cannibalism and comedy of “Sweeney Todd,” or what the upper-crust friends of “A Little Night Music” brittlely admit in the song “A Weekend in the Country”: “With riotous laughter we quietly suffer.”  

Those bold human contrasts are alive and well in the song selections of “Old Friends,” assembled with a knack for what audiences want to hear, and make co-directors Matthew Bourne and Julia McKenzie’s production such a richly satisfying pleasure.

As do the British cast and their clever takes on cherished numbers. 

Bonnie Langford, who was a literal Broadway Baby when she played Baby June in “Gypsy” with Angela Lansbury back in the 1970s, is a brassy, defiant spitfire in “I’m Still Here” from Follies. 

Jac Yarrow and Damian Humbley wring chuckles out of “Agony” as those two dolt princes from “Into The Woods” — a challenge considering we know each and every punchline. 

As Amy, the breakneck bride from “Company,” Joanna Riding manically races through “I’m Not Getting Married Today.”

And Gavin Lee merrily leads the men in a ticklish “Everybody Ought To Have A Maid” that will make you crave the return of “A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum” to Broadway.

Besides Peters, the other marquee star here is Salonga. The actress, who was recently on Broadway in “Here Lies Love,” delivers that big, crystalline voice her fans adore from “Miss Saigon” and “Les Miserables” during classics like “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” and “Children Will Listen,” and her connection to the material will deepen over time. Her legendary co-star, of course, has the advantage of creating many Sondheim roles over the years. 

“Old Friends,” while packed with some 41 songs, does not aim to be comprehensive, like 2010’s “Sondheim on Sondheim” did. Doesn’t matter. His lesser creations from “Road Show,” “Saturday Night” and “The Frogs” aren’t missed. 

And there are no informative “And then Steve wrote…” history lessons shoved in, either. In “Old Friends,” the music speaks for itself. And, backed by an 18-piece orchestra, what wondrous music it is. 

Producer Cameron Mackintosh, sources said, plans to bring the concert to Broadway with Peters, Salonga and many of its British stars.

I’ll drink to that.