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A VIEW FROM THE AUDIENCE
by Bede Epstein

The impact of an opening night

Attending the theatre is an experience that many New Yorkers tend to take for granted. For them, it is often a rather casual event, sometimes merely the culmination of an ordinary business day. To get an entirely different perspective, you must understand what the New York theatre means to an out-of-towner. I live in a suburb just outside of Detroit. If things go very well, then once, perhaps twice, a year I have the opportunity to visit Manhattan and cram 12 months of theatre-going into five days. This requires months of preplanning: watching for openings; reading the reviews; and finally, juggling my tentative schedule in order to send away for tickets long in advance. For me, each choice is crucial; I will not have a second chance the following week, or month.

With this background in mind, you can well appreciate my exhilaration in obtaining, by mail order, two seats for the opening night of Side by Side by Sondheim. Ever since Forum, I had been an ardent admirer of Stephen Sondheim; therefore, I reasoned, a revue of his music could only provide a most enjoyable evening.

However, no amount of rational thinking could possibly have prepared me for the emotional impact of seeing this particular play on that particular night. In retrospect, the evening's excitement began even before I entered the theatre. Our taxi driver could only attempt a near approach to the Music Box, for milling around the theatre was a large crowd, spilling over the sidewalk onto a street already filled with long, black limousines. "Is that mob for our theatre?" I remember naively asking. Indeed it was, complete with photographers, gawkers, arriving celebrities, and now me, who was only just beginning to comprehend the enormity of the experience which lay before me. Once inside, my astonishment grew, as I watched tuxedo-clad men and formally-dressed women greet each other with warm embraces. Trying not to visibly eavesdrop, I nevertheless caught snatches of conversation about "The Awards" or "this marvelous part." Filled with awe, I stepped aside as the fashionably late Michael Bennett and Donna McKechnie brushed by, followed by Hermione Gingold and her handsome escort. And was that really Lee Remick I saw, sitting just a few rows ahead?

Much later than advertised, the lights dimmed and the curtain parted. Quickly forgetting about everything else, my attention was drawn to the magnetic personalities on stage. From the moment that the urbane Mr. Sherrin began his witty and topical commentary, I sensed that this production was to be more than the pleasant retrospective I had anticipated. Each song, out of the context in which it had originally appeared, took on a new meaning.

I laughed, and I hummed, and I clapped, especially when Miss Martin belted out the show-stopping "I Never Do Anything Twice," in a manner so reminiscent of the great Ethel Merman. However, beyond this surface enjoyment there was something deeper and for the first time I came to truly understand the raw sensitivity and compassion underlying so many of Mr. Sondheim's songs, especially those relating to the tensions of love and marriage. How amazing that it took a British quartet to demonstrate, for me at least, the inner meaning of my favorite American composer.

Somehow, in the midst of my own emotional awakening, I began to sense that I was not alone. A unique rapport had developed between the performers on stage and their receptive audience; a rare alchemy in which I felt fortunate to participate. Finally, after the last bow, when Stephen Sondheim himself appeared on the stage, all of the pieces seemed to fall into place for me. Here I sat, among the insiders of the New York theatre world, as they rose in unison to honor one of their own personal heroes. This, truly was an experience I will never forget!
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Have you had an experience (funny, sad, enlightening) in the theatre, which has had a special meaning for you? Submit your manuscript (700 words or less) to PLAYBILL. Dept. AV, 151 E. 50 St., NYC 10022. We will pay $100 for any manuscript we publish.

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