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Mainstage, Paramount partner for
Valentine’s weekend dinner theater
By Barrett Newkirk, Herald Bulletin Staff Writer
ANDERSON — Mainstage Theatre
and the Paramount Theatre are treating musical theater
lovers with a special show this Valentine’s Day weekend.
A cast full of local performers will perform “Side by
Side by Sondheim,” a two-act cabaret production
assembled by Stephen Sondheim in 1976 that uses some of
his best known early songs. Rick Vale, who directs
and performs in the show, said “Side by Side” includes
fun but less familiar Sondheim works such as songs from
“A Little Night Music” and “Company.”
The
selections also offer a unique take on love for
Valentine’s Day, Vale said. Sondheim’s “views on
love are very three-dimensional,” Vale said. “Even
though it’s not packaged as a show about relationships,
it is. Every song is about relationships from beginning
to end.” Vale described the show as “gritty” and
said some swear words, plus the boozing and smoking
characters of a typical Sondheim musical, make the show
more adult-oriented than most Mainstage productions.
Kelsea
Webb, an Anderson native studying theater and vocal
performance at Indiana Wesleyan University, will be
singing “Send in the Clowns” from “A Little Night Music”
along with several ensemble pieces. Webb said
Sondheim’s work can be off-putting to some performers,
because the characters are everyday people and the
themes can be darker. “He really very much focuses
on the lyrics and exposing the underbelly of society,”
she said.
The pairing
of Sondheim and the Paramount is natural, Vale
explained, because both are the same age. The theater
was dedicated in late 1929 and Sondheim was born just a
few months later. Along with the show, the
audience will be treated to a dinner catered by M&N
Catering and featuring parmesan-encrusted chicken as the
entree.
If you
go...
“Side by Side by Sondheim,” presented by Anderson’s
Mainstage Theatre and the Paramount Theatre. Starring
Lisa Dawson, Kelsea Webb, Schuyler Brinson, Rick Vale
and Paul White. Event includes a meal catered by
M&N Catering and two acts of cabaret style musical
entertainment.
• When:
Saturday, at 6 p.m.; and Sunday, at 2 p.m.
• Where:
Paramount Theatre Centre’s Hardacre Ballroom, 1124
Meridian Plaza, Anderson
• Tickets
are $30 and available by calling the Paramount Box
Office at 642-1234. |
