by Kitty Felde

I think the last musical I saw was my niece’s high school production of “Beauty and the Beast.” Back in the 80’s, my best friend Julie was going to Shakespeare school in NYC and we’d line up for hours at TKTS for anything affordable. Unfortunately, my husband’s not a fan of people singing in the middle of a story, so I’m always looking for a buddy to join me for a musical.

Last night, I took myself out for a date to see the Stephen Sondheim tribute show “Old Friends.”
It was packed with veteran Broadway singers and actors who often outshone the two legendary stars Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga. The show is headed to Broadway after a run in London’s West End and it looks like it: polished, fantastic costumes, clever set, well directed, terrific orchestra. Cameron Mackintosh produced it. I was surprised that there was little dance since it was directed by the fabulous choreographer Matthew Bourne.

I loved it, even though the show couldn’t decide whether it was a concert of Sondheim’s greatest hits, or a series of favorite scenes from favorite shows.

Which brings me back to the power of story.

The most powerful bits were the snapshots of past plays. There was a long sequence from “Sweeney Todd” which introduces the Demon Barber of Fleet Street as he and his unfortunate customer sing “Pretty Women” all the way to Mrs. Lovett peddling meat pies made of lawyers and priests. “West Side Story” was summed up in a powerful balcony/mean streets scene performing “Tonight.” It wasn’t just Sondheim’s incredible music and lyrics carrying us away: it was the story the music was telling.

We all want a story, with or without music. We want to carry those characters around in our heads and hearts. We care what happens to them. We want to root for them. Or cheer when they’re killed off.

We are blessed to be writers, creating those characters and those stories – imaginary beings that will live in the hearts and minds of others, whether in a Broadway house or a storefront theatre on a night when the cast outnumbers the audience.

Don’t be discouraged. Go back to your laptop. Sharpen that number two pencil. Go make magic.

Kitty Felde, in addition to writing plays, is the author of The Fina Mendoza Mysteries series of novels for young readers that introduce civics to kids. Her latest title Snake in the Grass” about the bitter partisanship in Washington, DC these days will be published April 1, 2025 by Chesapeake Press.