While Broadway revived some of Stephen Sondheim’s most iconic musicals — like Into the Woods and Sweeney Todd — regional productions in California showcased some of his lesser-known works. These post-pandemic performances paid homage to the genius of the late composer-lyricist, who died in 2021, while often championing themes of inclusion and diversity in local communities.
“Sondheim was a favorite for decades,” recalled Janos Gereben, a music news writer for San Francisco Classical Voice.
In no particular order, here are four noteworthy post-pandemic productions of Sondheim’s musicals from the Bay Area and Los Angeles:
Pacific Overtures — Kunoichi Productions
This past May, the Berkeley-based theater company that focuses on producing works with “Japanese aesthetics” tackled Sondheim’s Pacific Overtures, a story of westernization in 19th-century Japan. The musical, which made its Broadway debut in 1976, is widely considered to have been an ambitious but well-executed project. Sondheim’s compositions reflect the story’s 127-year arc through musical motifs drawing from both Eastern and Western traditions. Fifty years later, Kunoichi Productions employed director Nick Ishimaru’s background in traditional Japanese theater arts like noh (dramatic theater) and kyōgen (comic theater) to craft a performance of Pacific Overtures honoring the Bay Area’s Asian American community.
Sunday in the Park with George — Pasadena Playhouse
Although the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s anticipated production of Sunday in the Park with George was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Pasadena Playhouse revived the effort in 2023. The 1984 musical inspired by George Seurat’s famous pointillist painting — of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off fame — was one of two full-scale performances put on by Pasadena Playhouse (the other being A Little Night Music) as part of the company’s six-month-long celebration of Sondheim’s work. The production starred Graham Phillips as Seurat and Krystina Alabado as Dot, his mistress and model.
Follies — San Francisco Playhouse
Full of recognizable tunes like “I’m Still Here” and “Broadway Baby” to accompany a story that reflects on the golden age of early 20th-century musical revues, Follies was an appropriate thematic choice for SF Playhouse to celebrate its 20th anniversary back in 2022. The show’s emphasis on nostalgia upon returning to the theater paired well with the company’s return to the stage after the pandemic, provoking in the audience the same sense of homecoming that the characters themselves reckon with. Follies is extravagant and thus demanding to perform — a bold choice for a regional theater company — but SF Playhouse took the challenge in stride with a 21-person cast and a vibrant set.
Assassins — East West Players
This production of Sondheim’s dark comedy on presidential assassinations finally took to the stage in 2022 after years of delays due to the pandemic. East West Players, a Los Angeles-based theater company, highlights emerging artists of color in its shows and aims to uplift Asian American voices with productions of works by the greats. In Assassins, the company cast diverse performers in historical roles that would traditionally be played by white actors — like John Wilkes Booth, President Lincoln’s assassin, and Charles Guiteau, President Garfield’s assassin — to emphasize the show’s diametric themes of exclusion and community.