Reviews

If Tomas Clifford has as much luck as he has talent, being stood up will be a thing of the past. 

I’m thinking of our other favourite gay cousin, the superbly talented Stephen Sondheim who, on top of his talent, also had the extraordinary good luck to go to summer camp where Tom Lehrer was a counsellor and have, as his best friend’s dad, Oscar Hammerstein, who gave him more training in musical theatre than most composers get in a lifetime. 

Hansard is set in 1988, at the end of the week in which Margaret Thatcher's government passed Section 28 of the local government act, which prohibited the promotion of homosexuality by local authorities. The story takes place in the home of conservative member of parliament Robin and his more left-wing wife Diana. The title is based on the name given to parliamentary records.

There is a particular alchemy that happens when music steeped in memory is reanimated on stage: it becomes not only a performance but a living archive of emotion, culture, and place. 16 Lovers Lane at QPAC was exactly that; a warm, unpretentious, and deeply moving celebration of The Go-Betweens’ enduring legacy.

Would it be true to say Stephen Sondheim is one of the most talented, revered and memorable lyricists of our time?  I believe so.  With works such as A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, West Side Story, Assassins, Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods and many more to his credit, it is hard to think of his extraordinary talent as anything less than legendary.