Olivier Award winning performers David Bedella and Janie Dee will star in the London premiere of Stephen Sondheim’s musical revue Putting It Together at the St James theatre next year.
Joining them in the rarely performed piece, which will play from 14 January to 1 February following a sell-out run at Guildford’s G Live theatre earlier this autumn, will be musical theatre regulars Daniel Crossley, Caroline Sheen and, fresh from his acclaimed role in the most recent Sondheim West End hit, Merrily We Roll Along’s Damian Humbley.
Billed as a “revue with a difference”, Putting It Together is set at a cocktail party in New York. Two couples – one middle-aged and married, the other young lovers just starting out – explore the complexities of modern relationships through the much-loved songs of legendary American lyricist and composer Sondheim.
Tasked with performing iconic songs from dozens of Sondheim’s hugely successful musicals, including Sunday In The Park With George, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, Follies, Sweeney Todd and Into The Woods, the cast could not be better placed to take on the challenge, boasting performances in many of London’s most high-profile shows between them.
Earning his Olivier Award win for his leading role in Jerry Springer The Opera, Bedella’s many other credits include Sondheim’s Road Show at the Menier Chocolate Factory, and West End productions of Chicago and The Rocky Horror Show. His fellow Olivier Award winner Dee is rarely seen off the stage, starring in musicals including Mack & Mabel, My One & Only and Carousel, as well as numerous plays including Noises Off, NSFW and Calendar Girls.
Crossley is well known to London audiences for his leading role in Singin’ In The Rain, while Sheen has taken centre stage for starring credits in Les Misérables and Mary Poppins. Their forthcoming co-star Humbley has already earned his Sondheim stripes, being described as “wryly funny” in his critically acclaimed leading role in the West End’s recent hit Merrily We Roll Along.
Directed by Alistair Knights with musical supervision by Alex Parker, Putting It Together was first produced by one of the West End’s most well-kinown producers Cameron Mackintosh more than 20 years ago with Julie Andrews famously in the cast.
Speaking about this new production, produced by his brother Robert alongside the St James theatre and Hilary A Williams, Mackintosh expressed his delight that London audiences would be given the chance to experience Sondheim’s little-known work, saying: “I couldn’t be more delighted that my brother is presenting the London premiere of Sonheim’s revue Putting It Together – a companion piece to Side By Side By Sondheim that I put together with Julia MacKenzie in England many years ago.”