A Free Public Event at the Anvil Centre in New Westminster
Curated by PSP, and led by Director/Producer Peter Jorgensen, each session will be a 45 minute presentation followed by a Q&A. Grab a coffee or tea at Truffles, Waves, or Old Crow and then come grab a chair in the lobby for any of these wonderful chats.
The event is free, but to save your spot you can register here.
Sondheim the Composer
April 2 at 3:30pm
Sure to be inspiring for any lover of musical theatre, this session will dive deeper into Sondheim’s compositional craft: how he uses inflection to find melody, how he shapes the dramatic arc of the song, his use of harmony to give deeper expression and subtext to the lyrics, and his meticulous attention to writing ‘active’ compositions.
In this session, local composer/lyricist Anton Lipovetsky (Best Laid Plans, The Elbow Room, The Park) will share one of his own songs and we will ask the question, “What would Sondheim do?”
Sondheim and Prince
April 9 at 3:30pm
In the 1970s musicals found new forms of expression due in large part to Sondheim and director Hal Prince. Together they created musicals such as Company, A Little Night Music, and Sweeney Todd. These were adventurous works that pushed the form of musical theatre into new territory.
With PSP artistic associate Chris Allan (stage manager of the original West End production of A Little Night Music) this session will explore this dynamic duo: the strength of the relationship and the work they created together.
Singing Sondheim
May 14 at 12:30pm
Sondheim states the reason actors love to sing his songs is because he thinks like an actor. He understands that he isn’t just writing a song to be sung, he is creating a story to be told and composing the behaviour with which that story is expressed.
In this session Peter, with the help of a local actor/singer will deconstruct one of Sondheim’s famous songs to reveal the reasoning behind the composer’s choices and illuminate how, when it comes to singing Sondheim, the best director an actor can have is Sondheim himself.
Sondheim and Lapine
May 21 at 12:30pm
After working with Prince for a decade Sondheim turned to a new collaborator: director and playwright, James Lapine. Three of Sondheim’s greatest pieces were created: Into the Woods, Passion, and Sunday in the Park With George. These works reach for new heights of expression and humanity very different from his previous work.
For this session we will bring Amiel Gladstone (Onegin, Craigslist Cantata) a local playwright/director to delve into the relationship between playwright and composer, words and music.
