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It was decidedly louder at Duplex, which was an ad hoc reunion of “Mostly Sondheim,” an open mic that ended a 12-year run in 2016, across the street from Marie’s. Inside, musical theater insider jokes freely mixed with raunchy curses and references to “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.” Still, the gratitude room fell silent at all the right moments, like when music director Brian Nash’s eyes watered during the keynote of “Sunday in the Park With George.”
“Look, I cry a lot,” she said. Then he and hosts Emily McNamara and Marty Thomas got right into the upbeat “Comedy Tonight.”
Shortly after hearing the news of the day, Mr. Nash decided to bring back “Mostly Sondheim”. Fortunately, the upstairs cabaret duplexIt was available a few doors down from the Stonewall Inn. “It seemed important to leave a space where people could feel everything they needed, sing and cry and laugh and be with people who understand what a great loss this is for those who love theatre,” he said in an email sent near dawn.
He had no trouble recruiting soldiers.
“I was so ready to go home and go to bed,” said Ms. McNamara, who was at a large family gathering in New Jersey. “But when Brian called me, I was like, ‘I’m going to get some caffeine, put on some eyelashes and let’s go!’ said. ”
There was trivia: “Now we’ll find out if there are real cows in the room: on which song did Sondheim write the lyrics under the pen name Esteban Río Nido?” (Reply: “The Boy From…” with music by Mary Rodgers.) And there were memories of first encounters with Sondheim and high school performances.
And even those stuck at home could join in when Telly Leung (who had once appeared in a Broadway revival of “Pacific Overtures”) encouraged the crowd to sing “Not a Day Goes By.” It was broadcast live on Facebook. (One commenter rejoiced: “I’m trapped in Delaware, where I don’t have access to a piano bar. Thank you Brian and everyone for bringing the tribe to me.”)
Others mourned and celebrated Mr. Sondheim in theater: his performances on Broadway continued and closed when he died, and their Friday night performances were highly emotional.
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