NEW YORK (AP) ā The great theater composer loved puzzles, and when he died in 2021, he left one for his good friend, British super-producer He left him an unfinished show.
The two men conceived of a revue of Sondheim's songs during the pandemic and they both began lists of tunes they wanted. But with the death of his friend, it was up to Mackintosh to make the show real.
āI did say to him, āI really want to concentrate on the music,āā recalls Mackintosh. āI want it to be personal, but we never really got that far with the construction of it.ā
Sondheim died in November 2021. Between Christmas that year and New Year's, Mackintosh created the skeleton of what would be which has landed on Broadway starring Tony Award-winners and
Old friends create āOld Friendsā
The final rundown has some of Sondheim's most memorable songs, like āThe Ladies Who Lunch,ā āIām Still Here,ā āSend in the Clowns,ā āLosing My Mind,ā āEverythingās Coming Up Rosesā and āChildren Will Listen.ā
āI wanted the songs to reflect the fun Iād had with him,ā says Mackintosh. "Weāre both klutzy, we canāt dance, we canāt sing, we make terrible puns.
āWe were silly together, and I think we loved being silly, making each other laugh. We never had a conversation in 45 years where we didnāt make each other laugh even when we were grumpy.ā
Mackintosh had produced two Sondheim revues before ā āSide by Sideā in 1976 and āPutting It Togetherā in 1993. He wanted the third to emphasize that Sondheim, who had a reputation for brainy lyrics and complicated melodies, was actually an accessible writer.
āThe great thing with 'Side by Side' is for the first time people saw the songs shorn of the books, and they were all like little playlets. And you realize, āOh my God, they live in their own worldā and therefore anyone can understand it. You didnāt need to have an intellectual passport to enjoy Steveās work.ā
āPhantom of the Operaā and āLes MisĆ©rablesā
āStephen Sondheimās Old Friendsā is just one of several projects the tireless Mackintosh is overseeing as one of the last great theater impresarios, one who champions Sondheim as well as Andrew Lloyd Webber.
There's a revitalized, multiyear North American tour starting in November of āThe Phantom of the Operaā and two tours of āLes MisĆ©rablesā ā one and the other a traditional staging
A new production of āMiss Saigonā will launch a U.K. tour in the fall and there's a fresh revival of āOliver!ā ā The Standard newspaper called it āexceptionalā ā that opened earlier this year in London, which could end up on Broadway.
Mackintosh has a knack for returning to former triumphs, stripping them down and then building them up again, adding fresh new talent and delighting a new generation.
āMost of my shows have turned out to be really good shows. They are, then, worth reinventing,ā he says. āI donāt want it to ever become Madame Tussauds.ā
Keeping the shows fresh
Mackintosh, doesn't do gut renovations to his revivals, just makes them more nimble with tweaks. Like the new āPhantom,ā which reduced its orchestra from 27 players to 14. The speed may be quicker, too.
āIf you listen to a cast album of 40 years ago ā for instance āLes Mizā ā to modern ears, well that sounds a bit slow. Weāve got used to doing materials slightly faster," he says.
āHave we changed the material? Have we cut it? No, itās just treating it as if itās brand new. And you go into it with a group of talented people and you create the show in the moment. What happened 10, 20, 30 years ago doesnāt matter. To keep the shows fresh, youāve got to create it as it is today.ā
Bonnie Langford, who was the original Rumpleteazer in āCats,ā and has known Mackintosh for decades, recalls seeing him backstage when she appeared in āOld Friendsā in the West End.
āI just couldnāt get over his enthusiasm after all these years. He was still so excited,ā she says. āHe can be like a little boy in a candy shop sometimes. He was having the time of his life, and I found that so endearing for someone whoās been in the business a long time. He just loves theater and shows.ā
āOliver!ā has a new lease on life, too
Mackintosh has brought āLes MisĆ©rablesā to Broadway three times but doesn't plan to bring either current iterations to Broadway. He wants regional theaters to do it, even if that means leaving money on the table.
āIāve got more than enough money, but the show needs to get back into the capillaries of the entertainment business and be great shows to bring new generations of audiences and actors into the profession.ā
If that's the plan for āLes Miz,ā he's plotting the return to New York of his new āPhantom,ā its 35-year Broadway run.
His reimagining of āOliver!ā is a full-circle moment. He was an assistant stage manager ā and understudied ā in a touring company of āOliver!ā in 1965.
This time he worked with noted choreographer to ācome up with a modern contemporary spin on it.ā Mackintosh even wrote a few scenes to strengthen the connective tissue.
āI donāt mind changing it, but you donāt change it unless itās at least as good. And maybe in a few instances you come up with a better idea,ā he says. āIāve always had a very good instinct. for whatās missing.ā
Mackintosh must be won over first by the dialogue and the plot, not the songs. āI have to fall in love with the words ā the characters ā first. I want the music to be great, but if I donāt love the story and the characters, I donāt feel Iāve got anything to add to them,ā he says.
He loves classic authors, taking work by Charles Dickens, Victor Hugo, Giacomo Puccini, P.L. Travers or Gaston Leroux and putting their stories to soaring scores, luxurious costumes and sets.
āAll the great musicals were mostly driven by the passion of the authors against the customary wisdom of saying, āI donāt think thatāll work. No, no, no.ā And then they become the classics,ā he says, laughing.
Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press
