The Stephen Sondheim Society

The second half took off – in every sense of the word – with Janie Dee’s superlative execution of “Getting Married Today” [Company], complete with veil, split-second timing, crystal-clear diction and a flawless sense of rhythm that kept her going at a vertiginous rate through the hairpin bends of this notoriously taxing showpiece.

 

Then we got Katie Buchholz making us listen to the story being told in “Liaisons” [Night Music]. Not every performer who attempts this number – or indeed many other numbers of his – is able to find and maintain Sondheim’s sense of narrative, but Buchholz can and did. (A decade ago, she was around the corner at the Garrick, playing Fredrika in Trevor Nunn’s A Little Night Music.) This she paired with Graham Mercer’s sublime “My Favourite Guy”, one of the best – and certainly most memorable – new ballads of recent years from a show, Americana, crying out for a decent production somewhere.

 

There was a widespread adoption of “General American” accents here, sometimes for songs that were absolutely not set in the USA, still less in the ill-defined and amorphous parking lot where this bland inflection is presumably most at home. Why? It’s not as if the audience has not heard real American accents: we know what the true ones sound like, and we recognise fakes when we have to listen to them. Fakery doesn’t do the singer – or song – or show – any good. So, why not just be yourself and sing with your own voice? A question...

 

Verity Blyth joined in this set, and carried off one of the evening’s most dazzling acts of professionalism in calmly continuing through a rare technical fault, when the theatre’s PA suddenly started piping through some extraneous backstage chat, right when she was beginning “Losing My Mind” [Follies]. Luckily, the voices were silenced quickly enough for us to focus on her story, which she sang with considerable assurance, and matched it with the impeccably crafted “I’m A Dunce” by Marc Folan and Carl Miller.

 

Next, Jack Whittle put on a nice display of “I’m Calm” [Forum] and then achieved a theatrical high-point of the event: “My Island” by Christopher Dickins and Tom Wright. Whittle, a last-minute signup for the list, replacing someone who had to drop out because of subsequent employment, will be remembered vividly.

 

Finally, we got a smashing trio of Oscar Conlon-Morrey, Izuka Hoyle and Joseph Wiltshire-Smith. Conlon-Morrey has a stunning voice and smashed Pirelli’s “The Contest” [Sweeney Todd] into the middle of the stalls of the theatre three blocks down the road, pairing this with a fine “Work To Do” by the new Stiles and Drewe Mentorship winner, Ben Glasstone, a writer of abundant originality and daring: and a very good choice to follow on from last year’s inception of the award. His show is diametrically opposed to the folksy charm of last year’s The Wicker Husband (which has just enjoyed a fine workshop presentation at The Other Palace). Glasstone’s Reanimator, based on the H P Lovecraft cult story, is going to be very, very different!

 

For these remarkable efforts, Conlon-Morrey picked up a newly minted prize, third place, thanks to the generosity of the Sondheim Society Patron and judge, Julia McKenzie, spontaneously reaching out to help him on his way.

 

Wiltshire-Smith, on the other hand, hit home runs with both “Buddy’s Song” [Follies], brilliantly articulating the two contrary female voices within it, and the triple-time “Underneath” by Chris Ash and Carl Miller (veteran collaborator), that culminated in a tidy prat fall that did not fail to delight. He must have given the judges a lot to agonise about.

 

But finally, it was the experienced and also natural grace of Izuka Hoyle (who recently brought the Large stage to life at the Southwark Playhouse in the “young ensemble” of newcomers in the European première of the modernised version of Working) who walked off with the first prize for her combination of “The Last Midnight” [Into the Woods] and Claire McKenzie and Scott Gilmour’s “The Matchmaker”, two well contrasted numbers. Hoyle is destined for great things. Indeed, she is about to travel to Hollywood and make her first film there, with a featured role.

 

There remained a comfortable amount of time for a few cabaret turns from a few of the Society’s old friends: Courtney Bowman – last year’s winner with “Me and My Town” [Anyone Can Whistle], and who has not been out of work since – reprised her winning number, then Michael Rouse (who recently created the role of the titular Superhero in Richy Hughes, Joseph Finlay and Michael Conley’s show at the Southwark Playhouse) gave us last year’s best song, “Don’t Look Down”. Both of these artists demonstrated in the most practical way possible the utility of this exercise: to give new stars and new repertoire a well-deserved start in life.

 

And, finally, on came Ferris and Milnes with their turn of “33 Sondheim Songs in 5 Minutes” before Clive rounded off the party with a delicious “Broadway Baby”. And then there squeezed on to the stage of the Noël Coward a smattering of the many, many, many dedicated and hard-working faces from the industry, and I wish I had time and space to mention them all here, it seems so unfair to miss anyone out – from Edward Seckerson, to Alex Young, to Paul Taylor-Mills, to our very own Craig Glenday and Stiles and Drewe themselves – who helped make the whole competition function this year. The prizes were given and graciously accepted. The photographs were taken. And then we all adjourned to the penthouse reception at the Edwardian Radisson Hotel Hampshire, Leicester Square, to relax, and drink, and keep the networking going… laying plans for the next one. All in all, a pretty good way to spend an afternoon. See you there next year!