‘Old Friends’ Broadway Review: Do We Need Another Stephen Sondheim Revue?

This tired songfest does nothing to enhance the master composer’s reputation

Bernadette Peters in Old Friends
Bernadette Peters in "Old Friends" on Broadway. (Credit: Matthew Murphy)

Yet another Stephen Sondheim revue is playing on Broadway. This one is called “Old Friends,” and it opened Tuesday at MTC’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre after engagements in London and Los Angeles. This is the sixth Sondheim revue to open on Broadway. In recent decades, legendary composers from George Gershwin to Richard Rodgers have not received this kind of attention.

Hands down, the three best moments in “Old Friends” come when five wonderful singers (Jacob Dickey, Jasmine Forsberg, Kyle Selig, Maria Wirries and Daniel Yearwood) deliver a memorable “Tonight Quintet” from “West Side Story.” The two other great moments belong to Lea Salonga, who brings down the house twice, first with “Somewhere” from “West Side Story” and then “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” from “Gypsy.”

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