Negative Positive
Title: An extraordinary occasion
Review: The Carnegie Hall event celebrating the work of Stephen Sondheim will most likely never have a sequel, nor in some cases, better interpreters. Briefly, the late and underestimated Madeline Kahn blazing through "Getting Married Today", the estimable Dorothy Loudon combining a torch song with a comic response that brings down the house and Bernadette Peters doing full justice to "Not a Day Goes By" from Merrily We Roll Along, one of Sondheim's few commercial failures. But the best is near the last, with Glenn Close giving a beautiful version of the all too overused "Send in the Clowns" (perhaps the best rendition ever) and the closing hymn "Sunday", from Sunday in the Park With George magnificently sung by a choir, nearly as perfect as being able to see the show performed once more. Only missing is Elaine Stritch performing "Ladies Who Lunch" from Company. Had it been included, it would have been absolute perfection. As it is, it is still a joy.
Is the review positive or negative? 