DO I HEAR A WALTZ?

music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by Arthur Laurents (based on his play The Time of the Cuckoo)

Landor Theatre, Clapham North
7 September - 1 October 2005

A Landor Theatre Production

Do I Hear A Waltz? is the only collaboration between Richard Rodgers and Stephen Sondheim. Apparently a dying Oscar Hammerstein made Rodgers promise he would do a musical with Sondheim, who was Oscar’s protégé. This musical was that promise fulfilled. In spite of their inherent dislike of each other the show came out as worthy Broadway fare, its score richly varied with samba, tango, waltz and searing love songs. It is a charming, bittersweet story set in Venice, about the holiday romance between Leona, a thirty something American, and Renato, a somewhat older Venetian shopkeeper. Under the spell of that enchanted city they fall in love, his attentions giving flight to her deepest dreams of romance. Around Leona and Renato revolve two American couples, the owner of the pensione and her maid.

Do I Hear A Waltz? is about love and what it means, about the clash of cultures and about growth and change. Leona can for a short time harness romance, yet realizes that such a relationship would have nowhere to go – Still, might it be better than never having loved at all? Featuring Sondheim’s incisive lyrical wit and Rodger’s last great romantic and sprightly score, this timeless story remains a bitter sweet testament to the complexities of the heart.