Serenaded with Sondheim
Mostly Sondheim Show Coming To COM
Nicoletta Carlone
Issue date: 10/17/03 Section: A&E
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Mostly Sondheim Preview
By Nicoletta Carlone
Eight dancers, all female, gather in one of College of Marin's dance studios. All wear the same uniform: tee-shirts, dance shoes and black dance pants. They stretch, get into costume and begin to rehearse for their final, an upcoming show that will pay homage to Stephan Sondheim, the songwriter for such hit shows as "Gypsy," "Westside Story," "Into The Woods" and "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum," among many others.
The Dec. 19 show, "Mostly Sondheim," will feature students from four of Sandi Weldon's classes: hip-hop, dancercise, tap-dance and musical theater. In addition to Sondheim's works, other acts will be performed by the dance students
and guest artists.
The show will open with the first scene from the musical "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum." Entitled "Comedy Tonight," the song is sung and danced by clowns dressed in psychedelic-shaded spandex jump suits.
Another highlight from the show is the musical theater class performing "Together," a show-stopper from the 1961 hit "Gypsy." This chorus line dance number will be performed by girls adorned in scarlet salsa-style dresses.
The song, "Cool" from the musical "Westside Story," is also on the bill. Weldon says this song has been particularly hard to perform because of the complex music that Leonard Bernstein composed to accompany Sondheim's lyrics in the 1960's remake of "Romeo and Juliet." The students from the musical theater class will be costumed in oversized Gortex parkas and backwards hands. They recreate the scene where the Jets, a street gang, sing before they go out to fight a rival gang. The big finale of the show will be 12-minute long disco number involving all three of Weldon's classes.
"It will be like a giant rave," said Weldon
Some of the other acts from the show will include " I'm Still Here" from "Follies," "Everybody Says Don't" from "Anyone Can Whistle," " If Mama Was Married" from "Gypsy," " I Know This Now" from "Into the Woods" and " You Could Drive A Person Crazy" from "Company".
The hip-hop class will perform to the song "Show Me Your Soul" from the "Bad Boys" soundtrack. The tap class will be performing to the jazzy "Fascinating Rhythm" by Squirrel Nut Zippers.
The Town Players will also be featured doing a song from their upcoming show "Fiddler On The Roof." Other guest artists are slated to perform.
By Nicoletta Carlone
Eight dancers, all female, gather in one of College of Marin's dance studios. All wear the same uniform: tee-shirts, dance shoes and black dance pants. They stretch, get into costume and begin to rehearse for their final, an upcoming show that will pay homage to Stephan Sondheim, the songwriter for such hit shows as "Gypsy," "Westside Story," "Into The Woods" and "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum," among many others.
The Dec. 19 show, "Mostly Sondheim," will feature students from four of Sandi Weldon's classes: hip-hop, dancercise, tap-dance and musical theater. In addition to Sondheim's works, other acts will be performed by the dance students
and guest artists.
The show will open with the first scene from the musical "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum." Entitled "Comedy Tonight," the song is sung and danced by clowns dressed in psychedelic-shaded spandex jump suits.
Another highlight from the show is the musical theater class performing "Together," a show-stopper from the 1961 hit "Gypsy." This chorus line dance number will be performed by girls adorned in scarlet salsa-style dresses.
The song, "Cool" from the musical "Westside Story," is also on the bill. Weldon says this song has been particularly hard to perform because of the complex music that Leonard Bernstein composed to accompany Sondheim's lyrics in the 1960's remake of "Romeo and Juliet." The students from the musical theater class will be costumed in oversized Gortex parkas and backwards hands. They recreate the scene where the Jets, a street gang, sing before they go out to fight a rival gang. The big finale of the show will be 12-minute long disco number involving all three of Weldon's classes.
"It will be like a giant rave," said Weldon
Some of the other acts from the show will include " I'm Still Here" from "Follies," "Everybody Says Don't" from "Anyone Can Whistle," " If Mama Was Married" from "Gypsy," " I Know This Now" from "Into the Woods" and " You Could Drive A Person Crazy" from "Company".
The hip-hop class will perform to the song "Show Me Your Soul" from the "Bad Boys" soundtrack. The tap class will be performing to the jazzy "Fascinating Rhythm" by Squirrel Nut Zippers.
The Town Players will also be featured doing a song from their upcoming show "Fiddler On The Roof." Other guest artists are slated to perform.