Mandy Pantinkin announces West End concert series

I saw him at the Almeida in 1996 when he was touring his Oscar and Steve album and enjoyed it very much indeed. Clearly the voice is unusual but if you like that, I'm sure he'll do a great show. I have just googled the 1996 reviews and there is a mixed one from Edward Seckerson in the Independent if you want another view. I loved his albums from the 90s - I'd recommend Experiment if you don't know his work.

I too saw that concert. 

That was when I was living here on my two-year work visa.  I remember it was a weekend and we were queuing fir tickets and he walked right past us to get into the theatre to get ready- eeek!

I’ve booked, worth a punt

And I am sure most of us have tried to block from our memories him in Paradise Found at the Menier.

With his upcoming concerts the Magic Radio channel- Magic at the Musicals interviewed Mandy Pantinkin. Despite his talent, personally I find him a bit hit-and-miss however this it was quite an interesting listen. For anyone interested this was last night from 7-8pm.

He talked about how he got started. He was singing in the choir at his local synagogue in Chicago. He also spoke a little Yiddish when recalling his time there.

The three shows they really focused on and played songs from were Evita- his Broadway debut, Sunday in the Park with George and The Secret Garden. They also played Anyone Can Whistle.

Amongst other things, he mentioned how when he went to Steve’s (Sondheim’s) house there would always be scraps of paper or notepads open on the piano just trying to find the right word to not only rhyme, but to convey the right meaning of the lyric.

They also asked out of his films, television work (Homeland) and stage work/concerts, which did he prefer and he said, now, it’s concerts. He’s a grandfather now and stated that the dialogue between songs is him, and this can change from show to show, picked upped and dropped again. He gave an example how after once show his son said to him, you don’t need to tell that story again.

He also spoke about acting styles/methods but frequently- whether deliberately or co-incidentally- he kept making reference to themes from Sunday in the Park with George; things like moving on and making a connection and how important that is. He discussed the song Beautiful and how George almost makes the connection with his mother, but this fails.

Surprisingly, he actually said this concert would not be a Sondheim concert; that a whole other concert. However I think, given his association with Sondheim and his involvement with his shows, it seems pretty difficult to not sing one or two.

Any board members attend the first night and can feedback how it was?