April 22, 2025: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler

In her current three-performance engagement at 54 Below, the amazing Donna McKechnie tells the story of her first encountering the world of Stephen Sondheim. At seventeen-years-old, having just arrived in New York City from her native Michigan to begin her dance career, she bought a ticket for West Side Story, then nearing the end of its two-year run on Broadway. Blown away by Leonard Bernstein’s music and Sondheim’s lyrics, a few years later she found herself auditioning for Sondheim and getting the role of Philia, the “lovely” courtesan, in the first national tour of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. By the end of the decade, she was chosen by director Hal Prince (the producer of Forum) for a role in Company, again with music and lyrics by Sondheim. Not only did this show change the course of musical theatre, but McKechnie’s career course as well. Though she had been previously showcased in one memorable dance number two seasons prior in Promises, Promises (“Turkey Lurkey Time” anybody?), this would be her chance to break out in an acting role. Naturally, there was dancing involved and her exceptional solo, “Tick Tock,” was such a stunner that it’s been cut from most subsequent Company revivals ever since, due to its having been crafted so meticulously to McKechnie’s talents. This was due to the special relationship she forged with choreographer Michael Bennett who, for better or worse, looked to her as his muse. Five years later, she would be his Cassie in A Chorus Line and the rest, as they say, is history; a long and complicated history, to be sure.

“Take Me to the World: The Songs of Stephen Sondheim,” has been developed by McKechnie herself and allows showcasing herself in ways that may take audiences by surprise. Her awe-inspiring dancing days may be behind her, but every moment while onstage at 54 Below is evidence of an instrument still in tune with the tiniest of gestures and the slightest of head tilts that speak to her greatness. She embodies her songs as a dancer does even while standing still, something she discusses learning from Angela Lansbury, someone she once attempted to choreograph. That’s only one of the many delightful stories imparted in her show, all while getting to hear fifteen short and long versions of nothing but Sondheim songs.

Her devotion to Sondheim musicals has taken McKechnie to wherever the work is, portraying both Phyllis and Sally in Follies, Desiree in A Little Night Music, and even Joanne, the role created by Elaine Stritch, inCompany. Cheerfully admitting to the sold-out crowd, “I’ve been on the road so long they thought I’d retired!” She knows the Sondheim songbook stem to stern and, also knowing the man personally makes her show entirely personal and utterly charming. As she says early on, “I was in the room where it happened.”

Having experienced tremendous highs and lows in the business, from the Tony Award for A Chorus Line to crippling arthritis at a young age that she bravely overcame, McKechnie is not just a survivor, but a genuine optimist. While singing such songs as “Being Alive” (courageously), “Send in the Clowns” (wistfully), and especially a piercing “Losing My Mind” near the end, there’s an innocence that permeates everything she does. She appears ageless onstage and if there’s math to be done that would prove a specific number, when she's standing right in front of your eyes it disproves everything.

Musical director Ian Herman sticks like Velcro to his leading lady throughout the set, his empathetic piano playing pure joy. Bassist Ray Kilday and Ray Marchica on percussion could not be improved upon. In fact, the sound of this trio is intrinsic to the success of the evening.

Towards the end, McKechnie pointed out that Sondheim created “lyrics to live by,” something “Take Me to the World,” the final song of the night and the one that titles the show, takes to heart. Written for the one-time airing of the 1967 TV drama, Evening Primrose, it’s not by coincidence that its lyrics sum up this marvelous player’s hopefulness, as well as her contributions to what has made Broadway “Broadway” these past sixty plus years:

Let me see the world that smiles
Take me to the world.
Somewhere I can walk for miles
Take me to the world . . .

Just hold my hand whenever we arrive.
Take me to a world where I can be alive.

Donna McKechnie: Take Me to the World: The Songs of Stephen Sondheim is at 54 Below, 254 W 54th Street, April 21st, 24th, and 26th at 7:00pm. For ticket information, please visit. www.54Below.org.

Photos by Ron Fassler.

Ron Fassler is the author of the recently published The Show Goes On: Broadway Hirings, Firings and Replacements. For news and "Theatre Yesterday and Today" columns when they break, please hit the FOLLOW button.