Saturday Night

Synopsis

One of Sondheim's earliest works set in 1929. Gene, a lowly Wall Street broker, has dreams of the exciting society life to be found in Manhattan. He and his less ambitious, middle-class, bachelor friends have no Saturday night dates on the horizon so Gene gatecrashes a party meeting Helen. Gene's decision to risk all their money in an attempt to get rich quick will resonate just as strongly with today's audiences as when it was written in 1955.

Our Review:

26 March 2009

Note: This review dates from 15 February 2009, when this production premiered at the Jermyn Street theatre.

It's April 1929 in Flatbush, Brooklyn. A man wanders on to the stage, and, sitting on a bench, takes out the New York Times and begins to read. Gradually the actor musicians enter one by one, playing their instruments, building up what was originally the overture in this, Stephen Sondheim’s first attempt at writing a musical.

The late 20s atmosphere is established as one would expect. There are flappers, speakeasies, and guys who gamble on horses or the turn of a card, but mainly on the stock exchange. Our hero, the handsome Gene Gorman (David Ricardo-Pearce), is a runner on Wall Street, where stocks are constantly rising, and where he builds a habit of giving out insider tips to his friends.

Gorman wants to get rich and acquire “class”. He says “I don’t wanna be what I...

Read more of the review

Latest User Review

Rick Light - 27 March 2009:

Well, that was fun! It's great to see a young, talented cast obviously enjoying themselves and an audience responding in kind. The tone was set in the Overture played by Ted, Artie, Ray and Dino - starting as a jam session -and contest between the four, beautifully illustrating their relationships with each other. It was witty, light-hearted and possibly the only time I've seen an audience nod along and tap their feet in time with any Sondheim piece. The actors David Botham, Lloyd Gorman, Harry Waller and David Osmond provided most of the orchestral sound, along with Nick Trumble (Hank) and Lee Drage as Bobby, who can make a trombone, seem like one half of a very funny double-act. The musicianship was of great quality - a couple of the cast are recent graduates of the actor-musician course at Rose Bruford. It was good to see Joanna Hickman, again, and in fine form and voice as Celeste, she and Nick Trumble were a great pairing. Joanna Hollister was a very funny Mildred and has a wonderful voice. My two worries were the leads......David Ricardo-Pearce was suitably debonair and very charming as Gene but, I just didn't believe for a second that he was in anyway attracted to Helen (Helena Blackman) or she, with him. Unless, in love means looking doleful at times - they're not really helped by the script, it has to be said, or some of the singing choices, especially in Miss Blackman's case. Her interpretations of both So Many People and All for You may well have been correct emotionally for the character, but unfortunately, for the songs she kept them pretty much earthbound and hesitant, when they should have soared; her voice seemed to be strained, tired and lacking any volume (if I hadn't known the words, I'd have been kept guessing). However, that all said, there was plenty going on to distract attention from that issue. As for the show itself - the financial references obviously get a response - it's pretty dizzy but there was enough of the Twenties feel to the pacing and the show, that the ending somehow worked, as long as we weren't taking it too seriously...

Read more and add your own review