Cameron Mackintosh, one of the last great theater impresarios, has plans for stages everywhere

NEW YORK – The large theatre composer Stephen Sondheim loved puzzles, and erstwhile helium died successful 2021, helium near 1 for his bully friend, British super-producer Cameron Mackintosh. He near him an unfinished show.

The 2 men conceived of a revue of Sondheim's songs during the pandemic and they some began lists of tunes they wanted. But with the decease of his friend, it was up to Mackintosh to marque the amusement real.

“I did accidental to him, ‘I truly privation to ore connected the music,’” recalls Mackintosh. “I privation it to beryllium personal, but we ne'er truly got that acold with the operation of it.”

Sondheim died successful November 2021. Between Christmas that twelvemonth and New Year's, Mackintosh created the skeleton of what would beryllium “Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends,” which has landed connected Broadway starring Tony Award-winners Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga.

Old friends make ‘Old Friends’

The last rundown has immoderate of Sondheim's astir memorable songs, similar “The Ladies Who Lunch,” “I’m Still Here,” “Send successful the Clowns,” “Losing My Mind,” “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” and “Children Will Listen.”

“I wanted the songs to bespeak the amusive I’d had with him,” says Mackintosh. "We’re some klutzy, we can’t dance, we can’t sing, we marque unspeakable puns.

“We were silly together, and I deliberation we loved being silly, making each different laugh. We ne'er had a speech successful 45 years wherever we didn’t marque each different laughter adjacent erstwhile we were grumpy.”

Mackintosh had produced 2 Sondheim revues earlier — “Side by Side” successful 1976 and “Putting It Together” successful 1993. He wanted the 3rd to stress that Sondheim, who had a estimation for brainy lyrics and analyzable melodies, was really an accessible writer.

“The large happening with 'Side by Side' is for the archetypal clip radical saw the songs shorn of the books, and they were each similar small playlets. And you realize, ‘Oh my God, they unrecorded successful their ain world’ and truthful anyone tin recognize it. You didn’t request to person an intelligence passport to bask Steve’s work.”

‘Phantom of the Opera’ and ‘Les Misérables’

“Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends” is conscionable 1 of respective projects the tireless Mackintosh is overseeing arsenic 1 of the past large theatre impresarios, 1 who champions Sondheim arsenic good arsenic Andrew Lloyd Webber.

There's a revitalized, multiyear North American circuit starting successful November of “The Phantom of the Opera” and 2 tours of “Les Misérables” — 1 a worldwide arena performance tour and the different a accepted staging going done North America.

A caller accumulation of “Miss Saigon” volition motorboat a U.K. circuit successful the autumn and there's a caller revival of “Oliver!” — The Standard paper called it “exceptional” — that opened earlier this twelvemonth successful London, which could extremity up connected Broadway.

Mackintosh has a knack for returning to erstwhile triumphs, stripping them down and past gathering them up again, adding caller fresh endowment and delighting a caller generation.

“Most of my shows person turned retired to beryllium truly bully shows. They are, then, worthy reinventing,” helium says. “I don’t privation it to ever go Madame Tussauds.”

Keeping the shows fresh

Mackintosh, doesn't bash gut renovations to his revivals, conscionable makes them much nimble with tweaks. Like the caller “Phantom,” which reduced its orchestra from 27 players to 14. The velocity whitethorn beryllium quicker, too.

“If you perceive to a formed medium of 40 years agone — for lawsuit ‘Les Miz’ — to modern ears, good that sounds a spot slow. We’ve got utilized to doing materials somewhat faster," helium says.

“Have we changed the material? Have we chopped it? No, it’s conscionable treating it arsenic if it’s marque new. And you spell into it with a radical of talented radical and you make the amusement successful the moment. What happened 10, 20, 30 years agone doesn’t matter. To support the shows fresh, you’ve got to make it arsenic it is today.”

Bonnie Langford, who was the archetypal Rumpleteazer successful “Cats,” and has known Mackintosh for decades, recalls seeing him backstage erstwhile she appeared successful “Old Friends” successful the West End.

“I conscionable couldn’t get implicit his enthusiasm aft each these years. He was inactive truthful excited,” she says. “He tin beryllium similar a small lad successful a candy store sometimes. He was having the clip of his life, and I recovered that truthful endearing for idiosyncratic who’s been successful the concern a agelong time. He conscionable loves theatre and shows.”

‘Oliver!’ has a caller lease connected life, too

Mackintosh has brought “Les Misérables” to Broadway 3 times but doesn't program to bring either existent iterations to Broadway. He wants determination theaters to bash it, adjacent if that means leaving wealth connected the table.

“I’ve got much than capable money, but the amusement needs to get backmost into the capillaries of the amusement concern and beryllium large shows to bring caller generations of audiences and actors into the profession.”

If that's the program for “Les Miz,” he's plotting the instrumentality to New York of his caller “Phantom,” two years aft the amusement ended its 35-year Broadway run.

His reimagining of “Oliver!” is simply a full-circle moment. He was an adjunct signifier manager — and understudied Phil Collins — successful a touring institution of “Oliver!” successful 1965.

This clip helium worked with noted choreographer Matthew Bourne to “come up with a modern modern rotation connected it.” Mackintosh adjacent wrote a fewer scenes to fortify the connective tissue.

“I don’t caput changing it, but you don’t alteration it unless it’s astatine slightest arsenic good. And possibly successful a fewer instances you travel up with a amended idea,” helium says. “I’ve ever had a precise bully instinct. for what’s missing.”

Mackintosh indispensable beryllium won implicit archetypal by the dialog and the plot, not the songs. “I person to autumn successful emotion with the words — the characters — first. I privation the euphony to beryllium great, but if I don’t emotion the communicative and the characters, I don’t consciousness I’ve got thing to adhd to them,” helium says.

He loves classical authors, taking enactment by Charles Dickens, Victor Hugo, Giacomo Puccini, P.L. Travers oregon Gaston Leroux and putting their stories to soaring scores, luxurious costumes and sets.

“All the large musicals were mostly driven by the passionateness of the authors against the customary contented of saying, ‘I don’t deliberation that’ll work. No, no, no.’ And past they go the classics,” helium says, laughing.

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