BWW Exclusive: Sondheim's 80th Birthday at Carnegie Hall - Kate Baldwin

2010 has been a landmark year for Stephen Sondheim. He celebrated his 80th Birthday on March 22nd, and has been honoured in many very special ways (including having a theatre named after him). To close out the year, the last Sondheim celebration is happening on November 19th at Carnegie Hall, where Steven Reineke and the New York Pops have put together a special evening in his honour, featuring many of the great songs and music he has written through his career. Joining Mr. Reineke and the New York Pops are four very talented performers: Kate Baldwin, Christiane Noll, Aaron Lazar and Alex Gemignani.

In a year that has seen two Broadway productions of Sondheim's work (Sondheim on Sondheim and the revival of A Little Night Music) what better way to end the birthday celebrations than by hearing Mr. Sondheim's amazing music with the backing of a full symphonic orchestra and a choir, and as sung by some of the leading talents to grace the Broadway stage in the last few years. BWW is thrilled to bring you exclusive interviews with each of the five main people involved in this special celebration, as they share with us stories of Stephen Sondheim and how his music has shaped their lives and careers.

Today we are speaking with Kate Baldwin:

Congratulations on partaking in Sondheim's Birthday Celebration. If you could pick a favourite Sondheim show, what would it be?

I love Assassins, it's my favourite show. I really think it's a perfect show. Long after seeing it, it still stays with me. But he has so many masterpieces like Sweeney Todd and Sunday in the Park with George. He is incredibly unique and no one else has tackled what he has done which makes him totally daring. Unfortunately the show won't have anything from Assassins, but hopefully everyone has seen or heard it!

What are you most looking forward to performing?

Right now I would have to say "I Remember" from Evening Primrose. I have done that song twice this year, the first time at a benefit with just a piano and now with this huge orchestra. It's truly amazing. After the first performance people actually came up to me afterwards asking about the piece and where it was from which I think is great. It was a bit of a Sondheim discovery for some people. Evening Primrose has had a very limited audience until now - but it's out on DVD so hopefully more people can discover this beautiful story. The song I sing is by a girl trapped in a department store, and she sings about the world she remembers. It's haunting and beautiful.

I first heard I Remember when I was about fifteen or sixteen. I had no idea where it was from and I didn't understand it. But it was so beautiful, and then to learn it and figure out the when and the why and the how behind the song - it's an experience only great musical theatre can give you.

Do you remember your first exposure to Sondheim's music?

I distinctly remember the Carnegie Hall celebration back in the late 80s when I was in high school or junior high and we watched it on TV. I saw Bernadette Peters sing Not A Day Goes By and remember thinking how incredibly and marvelous it was that she was opening up her heart like that.

Then I saw Dorothy Loudon performing Losing My Mind followed by You Could Drive A Person Crazy and she was hysterical. I didn't know the pieces then, so to an untrained ear I thought they went together! I wasn't in on the joke, but I still loved it.

If you could pick any female Sondheim role to get the chance to play, what would it be?

Definitely Dot in Sunday in the Park with George.

Do you find you need to prepare yourself differently when performing his music with a Symphony instead of in a Broadway type production?

It's not really any different in terms of preparation. There is a wonderful feeling of support. Performing his music with the New York Pops is like painting with all the colours. I think it will be very gratifying for the audiences who are coming to hear that big sound. And for musical theatre geeks, it will be an amazing experience to hear original orchestrations the way they were meant to be played.

Do you have a moment in the show you are really excited for?

Right now I would say when we perform Another Hundred People. It is amazing with all the different pieces, the percussion, the trumpets and the vocals. It is a super way to hear and experience that music. At a concert like this you may not get the timeline or the story and the blocking but it is an incredible way to hear the sound and the music the way it is intended. We are all fine actors, you would really have to be in order to handle Sondheim. Nothing is going to be skimped on in terms of the emotional life of the songs. So cross over and come experience the magic with us.

When and Where?
Stephen Sondheim's 80th Birthday Celebration

Carnegie Hall
W 57th & Seventh Ave.; New York NY

November 19th, 2010 at 8PM

Select tickets still available and can be purchased by phone at 212-247-7800 or online at www.carnegiehall.org