At Vanguard, we have three guys and four gals, making it both easier to segue from one number to another and handle the unrequired costume changes.
The Vanguard show, directed by Sondheim veteran Myrona DeLaney, is a total delight — even when the singers are striving to be heard over a scratchy sound system, as Aaron Wheeler and Michelle Peltz are in their duet "We're Gonna Be Alright." They certainly are, but the jury's still out on the sound.
Both Wheeler and Peltz are freshmen and both no doubt will be heard from again many times over the next four years.
They already excel in the Sondheim revue, Wheeler belting out the anthem to optimism "Being Alive" and Peltz warbling the hilarious — and exceedingly challenging — "Getting Married Today."
The latter number, from "Company," is one of several saluting that landmark show. Jeff Fazakerley and Colleen Warner are particularly appealing in "Barcelona" — the comic aftermath of a one-night stand — while Jenna Lloyd impresses with the frantic "Another Hundred People."
Fazakerley and Caitlin Macy-Beckwith celebrate "The Little Things" and the entire cast chimes in with the title number.
Sondheim's first show, "West Side Story," produced the tension-filled duets "A Boy Like That" and "I Have a Love," splendidly rendered by Warner and Macy-Beckwith. His second, "Gypsy," is comically represented by Peltz, Macy-Beckwith and Lloyd as the three strippers explaining why "You Gotta Get a Gimmick."
