A glowing review of Side by Side- in the Random Lengths News from Greggory Moore. Excerpts from the review are below and follow the links to read the full article online.
“While the original Side by Side by Sondheim was written for a cast of four (three singers plus an emcee of sorts), right off the top we see that Landmark has gone its own way, populating the stage with 26 performers ranging in age from 8 or 9 to it’s-impolite-to-guess. They’ve personalized the narrative and musical director Curtis Heard — whose piano carries the entire instrumental weight (unless you count a cute cameo by Jadzia Kopp’s trumpet in Gypsy’s “You Gotta Get a Gimmick”) — has adapted the songs to everything from solos to full ensemble numbers.”
“We also get also some fine character work. The most obvious example is Brooke Wittenmeier’s performance of “Losing My Mind”, the emotionality which is so powerful that you feel like you know the backstory. George Carson and Lauren Chambers make a wonderful pair for “Barcelona” (from Company). And Emily Morgan is droll as all get-out doing “I Never Do Anything Twice” (from the film The Seven-Per-Cent Solution).”
“It’s clear that Heard, O’Toole, and the cast have put a helluva lotta effort into delivering these wonderfully wordy songs just so, many of which depend on especially precise rhythms, phrasing, and even pauses for their musical and verbal wit to fully come across.”
“While on average the singing is solid, it never flies higher than the harmonies in a pair of duets: Malakai Howard & Cole Whiter in “We’re Gonna Be All Right” (from Do I Hear a Waltz?), and Briana Bonilla & Sia Carter in “A Boy Like That / I Have a Love” (from West Side Story). Bonilla also stands out on Company’s ridiculously tongue-twisting “Getting Married Today”.”
On that score, this Side by Side by Sondheim is a complete success.
— Greggory Moore, Random Lengths News