Barbara Bleier and Austin Pendleton ★★★ The Pheasantry | January 13 &14, 2023


Two consummate song stylists bring their talents to interpreting the works of Stephen Sondheim and Oscar Hammerstein in this thoroughly enjoyable evening at The Pheasantry. Both Barbara Bleier and Austin Pendleton have long histories in performing, and they draw on that experience in a show which features the two genius songwriters in the first half and offers a selection of their own favourites in the second. From the opening number, "What Do We Do? We Fly!" taken from Sondheim's show with Richard Rodgers, Do I Hear a Waltz? the audience knows that, unlike the reluctant flyers, we can relax. We are in the capable hands of two seasoned songsters. Indeed, with their excellent accompanist, Paul Greenwood, the pair manages to extract depths of meaning and humour from the works of both the masters and from their other selections, some familiar and some new to us. Their performance of "Anyone Can Whistle" was a showstopper, and a particular highlight was Bleier's wry rendition of "Am I Old Enough for a Younger Man." While the voices are not always perfect and sometimes the lyrics may get muddled, none of this matters too much in what seems like a wonderfully intimate walk down memory lane with two artists who love what they are doing and who manage to communicate their own enthusiasm to the audience. In Britain, the term "national treasure" is often rather tossed around, but we'd say this duo would seem to qualify.

Rated: ★★★

Reviewed by J.C.
Photo by Bill Knight.

Want to save on tickets? See our Tips page.

When, Where, Getting there:
Map & Location: The Pheasantry, 152/154 King's Rd, London SW3 4UT, UK

Most Popular

St. Martin in-the-fields: Lunchtime Concerts ★★★★ FREE

Image
Maybe the best musical value in London. The lunchtime concerts at St. Martin's are always a wonderful way to escape the hustle and bustle that is London and the sensory overload that is Trafalgar Square. This is a beautiful setting with great acoustics, and a church pew hard enough to make sure you don't nod off. Reviewed by J.C.  Our score:    ☆☆☆☆  WHEN, WHERE, GETTING THERE: Mon & Fri: 1 pm - 1:45 pm ( occasionally Tues & Thurs)  St. Martin in-the-fields, Trafalgar Square Nearest tube: Charing Cross https://www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/whats-on
Full Details »

Waiting for Godot ★★★★★ Theatre Royal Haymarket | Sep 13 - Dec 14, 2024

Image
“There's no coming to consciousness without pain.” wrote Carl Jung, but in his masterpiece, Waiting for Godot , Samuel Beckett explores the pain that results from consciousness itself. Set in a bleak nowhere, this absurdist drama engages the most fundamental of questions, the unknowable meaning of existence. Estragon and Vladimir pass their time waiting for a revelation that always lies in the future, and in the interim they engage in a conversation that distracts them and gives temporary purpose to their lives. Their bickering and reflections cover a wide variety of topics including religion and relationships and provide a trenchant parody of human interaction. When two wayfarers pass by, these travellers provide diversion, but not company, for the duo. Pozzo and Lucky are yoked together in what seems to be a parody of the socio-political world which the two hobos, Estragon and Vladimir, exist outside of. It is noteworthy that in the second act when Pozzo and Lucky's condition
Full Details »

The Other Place ★★★ National Theatre | Until November 9, 2024

Image
Alexander Zeldin's The Other Place is loosely based on Sophocles' Antigone. In this version, Annie, a troubled young woman with a history of mental illness, returns to her family for the scattering of her father's ashes. The ritual has been organised by her uncle, Chris, who has inherited, and is now renovating, the family home. Annie, unlike her sister Issy, objects to Chris' decision to deal with the patriarch's remains in the way he has chosen. A squabble ensues and secrets about Chris and Annie's relationship are revealed. With any modernisation of a classic, the danger is always that the epic nature of the original will be lost in the mundane. Here, many of Sophocles' themes, such as the tensions between law and loyalty, or the rightful, perhaps arbitrary, power of the state as opposed to an individual's sense of duty, are lost in the dynamics of a domestic drama. These larger issues absent, the question then becomes how much would we care about t
Full Details »

Gay Pride and No Prejudice ★★★ The Union Theatre | Oct 8 - Nov 2, 2024

Image
Imagine Pride and Prejudice 's Mr Darcy, now in his 70s and happily settled with his partner in quiet domestic bliss. But, who is that partner? This is the frame for Gay Pride and No Prejudice which is the latest riff on the enduring Austen classic. Unfortunately, the title of this updating of the story rather gives away any surprise. In this version of the tale, Darcy accepts that he is gay, and he is enamoured of Bingley who seems determined to see his future in a conventionally heterosexual union with Jane Bennet. Here, Darcy and Elizabeth's sparring, at least on his side, is not motivated by sexual tension, and they actually come together over shared values around feminism and equality. David Kerby-Kendall's story certainly works on some levels, but the comedy of manners bleeds into farce, and some of the rather bawdy humour and explicit sexual discussion seems out of place in Austen's world. In general, there is an unevenness of tone that is jarring throughout, an
Full Details »

A Face in the Crowd ★★★ Young Vic | Sep 10 - Nov 9, 2024

Image
Based on the 1957 film of the same name, this theatrical production, with music and lyrics from Elvis Costello, considers some controversial current issues. When a local radio presenter who has a show that focuses on ordinary people interviews a drunk from the local jail, she manages to create a celebrity who goes on to become the toast of New York and an opinion maker who can influence American politics at the highest level. Lonesome Rhodes, the demagogue who emerges from her somewhat Dr Frankenstein experiment, is a combination of Will Rogers and George Wallace, and perhaps a little heavy-handedly, he prefigures the USA's latest embodiment of the populist charlatan who has always been a presence on the American political scene. As Lonesome moves from talk radio to television his views become ever more right-wing, his philandering more obvious and his hypocrisy more heinous. One of the problems with this narrative is that we never believe in Lonesome's man-of-the-people act. H
Full Details »

Silk Roads ★★★★★ The British Museum | Sep 26, 2024 - Feb 23, 2025

Image
Two concepts that might seem to be hallmarks of our current era, connectivity and multiculturalism, are put into a fascinating historical context by this unforgettable exhibition. Silk Roads focuses on the extraordinary connections that existed among Asia, Africa and Europe in the period from about 500 to 1000 CE. The show has five divisions moving from Japan to Ireland, and it demonstrates the amazingly rich and varied interaction of different cultures during the period. A sweeping movement of goods, people, ideas and belief systems leads to a cross-fertilisation which is astonishing, but often insufficiently appreciated. With more than 300 objects and texts from almost thirty lenders, this is a stunning overview that takes the visitor on a journey which provides glimpses into the Nara period in Japan and the Tang dynasty of China. It then goes on to explore the lesser known civilisations of the Sogdians and Aksumites among others, before focussing on the Byzantine empire and the sch
Full Details »

23.5 Hours ★★★★ Park Theatre | Sep 4 - Oct 5, 2024

Image
Popular teacher, Tom, is accused and convicted of having sexual relations with a 15 year old student. Carey Crim's play shows the devastating consequences of that event not only for him, but for his family and friends. While they alternate between support for his protestations of innocence and suspicion that he is actually a sexual predator, they also become victims of what has happened. Their limbo of unknowing strains relations, and the abuse and suspicion of the community becomes a penalty for Tom's defenders as well as the accused. His punishment does not end after he has served his time in prison, but equally, neither does theirs. While painting a powerful portrait of the personal toll taken on all connected to such an occurrence, 23.5 Hours also raises many serious social questions: the distinction between due legal process and justice, the differing definitions and notions of the age of consent, the balance between a community's need to protect itself and its concom
Full Details »

The Lightest Element ★★★ Hampstead Theatre | Sep 5 - Oct 12, 2024

Image
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin was a female scientist whose achievements are extraordinary. She graduated from Cambridge at a time when the university did not award degrees to women. She then went on to do a doctorate at Harvard, which was bestowed through Radcliffe, as the former institution also did not provide such degrees for women. Her work in astronomy was absolutely groundbreaking, but her thesis, developed in the 1920s, that stars were largely composed of hydrogen and helium was misappropriated by a male colleague. Nevertheless her place in the pantheon of science is now secure, and this drama highlights her fascinating personal story, focussing on her determination to become Harvard's first female chair of a department. Unfortunately, the construction of this narrative suffers from various issues that face playwrights when they are trying to introduce the public to little-known historical figures. Facts about her life are rather awkwardly worked into the text, in this case using
Full Details »

The Fear of 13 ★★★★ Donmar Warehouse | Oct 4 - Nov 30, 2024

Image
Based on a true story about a miscarriage of justice in Pennsylvania that occurred in 1982, the story of Nick Yarris is a harrowing indictment of the legal and penal systems. Convicted of a murder which he did not commit, Yarris is a victim of a mendacity, incompetence and brutality that is simply appalling. He spends 22 years in prison awaiting his death until he is finally exonerated by DNA evidence that is only produced when he has at last resigned himself to being executed. The strength of this work is the masterful direction of Justin Martin and a set of powerful performances led by Adrien Brody as Yarris. Despite the fact that most of the story is narrated and the question of Yarris' guilt or innocence is never really much in doubt, the audience is held enthralled by the recounting and depiction of his tribulations. Director Martin ensures that the pace never flags as he moves his players around the stage and constantly refocuses the point of interest, while Brody is simply m
Full Details »

Mean Girls ★★★★★ Savoy Theatre | Until February 16, 2025

Image
The subject of two popular teenage films is now back as a musical. For those who may have been living on some remote part of the planet, the premise is quite simple. Cady, who has been homeschooled in Africa by her scientist mother, returns to the real jungle of an American high school to pursue her studies. In this new environment, she discovers that the apex predator is Regina, who with her followers, Gretchen and Karen, form a clique called The Plastics. These disciples of the credo "More is Better" dominate the school's social life. Cady is at first accepted by this shallow trio, but later plots to undermine Regina, and unsurprisingly this plan results in some unexpected consequences. The moral of the story is that we are all insecure and thus vulnerable to the beguiling call of popularity and power. We need to learn to accept ourselves and to be kind to others. Writer, Tina Fey, has written some great lines, and this is a piece that never takes itself too seriously,
Full Details »

The City Life Magazine | Reviews & Ratings