Directed by Sonya Suares. Presented by Hayes Theatre Co
Unequivocally beautiful melodies transport us through the treasure trove of Stephen Sondheim’s work to remind us of the beauty and pain of ‘Being Alive’
Reviewed by Justin Clarke
Hayes Theatre, Potts Point
Until 12th July, 2025
Tickets: https://hayestheatre.com.au/event/being-alive/
Type: Cabaret, Song Cycle, Musical
If You Liked: Just about anything and everything by Stephen Sondheim
Where do you even begin when paying tribute to the late, great Stephen Sondheim? The legendary composer and lyricist has often been hailed as one of the most (if not the most) important figures in the 20th century of musical theatre, credited with reinventing the musical theatre genre as we know it. It’s a tough act to follow, though many are trying.
Passing away at the end of 2021, Sondheim leaves behind a treasure trove of a legacy, with songs that have his fingerprint imbued into them. You know it when you hear those patter songs that require olympic feats of eloqution and diction. You sense it when you hear the curvature in quartet harmonies. And even if you don’t know Sondheim’s musicals, his essence has burrowed its way into pop culture – Krusty the Clown singing “Send in the Clowns” from The Simpsons may have been one of my own first introductions.
Made specifically for the Hayes Theatre, Being Alive is an ode to the genius of the man himself. Directed by Sonya Suares with musical direction by Michael Tyack and musical supervision by Luke Byrne, there is an intense passion and love for all things Sondheim embedded within. Musically and sonically, Being Alive is a glorious evening of a Sondheim songbook, but between the music, there’s a muddled vision that detracts from why audiences are there.
The throughline which strings the songs together is created from the beginning, with a rehearsal space constructed piece by piece by our quartet and band. Blazey Best runs diction warmups, whilst Kala Gare and Raphael Wong run intimate line rehearsals with Tyack at piano. Clarinettist Lillian Hearne and double bassist Amanda Jenkins set up and there’s a slight lull before our fourth piece of the quartet, Lincoln Elliott runs in late, and the piece swiftly begins.
There’s a fruitful balance throughout Being Alive when seeing which songs the creatives chose to include in the 70-minute cabaret, and it’s a delight to see lesser-known songs make the list. There are those that are well known, such as the title of the show “Being Alive” from Company – of which Gare gives a momentous performance – and A Little Night Music‘s “Send in the Clowns” sung with captivating brittleness by Best. Then, there are some who – for those not intimately familiar with Sondheim’s work – will have them turning to their seat partner whispering, “which one is this from?”
Obvious choices are made to top and tail the show, with “Invocation and Instructions to the Audience” from The Frogs kicking off the ‘rules’ for the evening, whilst “Comedy Tonight” from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum sends us off and into the cold night air.
…you’ll often find yourself swept away in the music, riding the waves of the intense beauty and tragedy
In between these, there are a scattering of pieces from throughout Sondheim’s portfolio: Assassins, Company, Into the Woods, Follies, Merrily We Roll Along, Pacific Overtures, Sunday in the Park with George, and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. It’s the choice of songs from Pacific Overtures that are, at first glance, an odd choice to have something so few know to star in a larger portion of the show. But these choices are, surprisingly too, highlights of the evening. All four of the cast joining in for “Someone in a Tree” weaves in connotations of calls for treaty and tales of invasion, which in itself plays with the universality of Sondheim’s lyrics.
It’s after the melodic buttons are played and the audience are allowed to applaud that the head scratching begins. Philosophical literary quotes about the notion of humanity feel at odds with the overall premise. Placing language from the likes of Carl Jung and Ursual K. Le Guin amidst the likes of “Agony” from Into the Woods, and a discoteque combination of “Losing My Mind” from Follies with “You Could Drive a Person Crazy” from Company may perhaps be asking too much of the audience in such a small space of time. There are moments when Being Alive yearns to be its own full blown piece of theatre, rather than a sung through cabaret.
Still, there’s some unequivocally beautiful melodies and mashups that melt into one another from one song to the next. Between the full bodied richness of Wong’s baritone, the tenor lilt of Elliott that gives him a smooth ability to bounce through Sondheim’s words, as well as Gare and Best’s underniably behemoth sized vocals, you’ll often find yourself swept away in the music, riding the waves of the intense beauty and tragedy that Sondheim spoke of when exploring the idea of being alive.
Theatre Thought: The Hayes and Sondheim are a delightfully perfect match. Is it too much to place bets on the gender-flipped revival of Company to appear in their 2026 season?
