Watch Meryl Streep, Christine Baranski and Audra McDonald troll our quarantine habits in Sondheim birthday concert
27 April 2020, 17:14 | Updated: 27 April 2020, 17:29
Take Me to the World: A Sondheim 90th Birthday Celebration
Streep, Baranski and McDonald = lockdown hangout goals.
The theatres might be empty, and New York’s swanky cocktail bars may have closed their doors, but that hasn't stopped three big screen stars from sharing a luscious Broadway classic. And it’s complete with their favourite tipples to round off the sophisticated mood.
First up, Christine Baranski pours a fat red into a generous glass. “Here’s to the ladies who lunch, everybody laugh…” she intones in a skilled, silky vibrato. “Lounging in caftans, and planning a brunch!”
A few bars later – cue Meryl Streep shaking a martini with metronomic precision (watch above): “Here’s to the girls who stay smart, aren’t they a gas!” Eyes straight down the lens of that lockdown camera – we’re in full Sondheim swing.
After a few lines and sip from Streep, ah – here’s Audra McDonald, clutching her own bottle of booze. What a voice.
Streep, Baranski and McDonald reunited – from their homes, of course – for the Company number, ‘Ladies Who Lunch’, for the ‘Take Me to the World’ Stephen Sondheim 90th birthday celebration that took place on YouTube in the early hours of this morning (1am, Monday 27 April).
Read more: How to watch Broadway and West End shows online during quarantine >
Their take on Sondheim is just about one of the most relatable (for some, *ahem*) and meme-able things to come out of the coronavirus lockdown – and that’s saying something when you consider that measures taken in the face of the pandemic have already given us this and this.
Social media certainly could relate:
absolutely same pic.twitter.com/O76OiySJUf
— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) April 27, 2020
Meryl Streep being the perfect quarantine mood
— Olivia Colman’s Blonde Hair (@streep_lover) April 27, 2020
#Sondheim90Concert pic.twitter.com/9dTsFtb1qF
The way Christine Baranski, Meryl Streep and Audra McDonald singlehandedly sum up the mood for 2020 in one song.#Sondheim90Concert pic.twitter.com/QISkjZfinN
— Rike ✨ 24/7 thinking of Olivia Colman (@THEFAVOURITE_) April 27, 2020
Good morning world!
— Carmen Phillips (@carmencitaloves) April 27, 2020
If knowing that Christine Baranski, Meryl Streep, and Andrea McDonald sang “Ladies Who Lunch” together while in their bathrobes isn’t enough to IMMEDIATELY make you stop scrolling and watch this video, I don’t know what to tell you. pic.twitter.com/wMZBxekkNt
Other artists that appeared in the ‘Take Me to the World’ live Sondheim concert included Bernadette Peters, Patti LuPone, Kristin Chenoweth, Donna Murphy, Mandy Patinkin and Sutton Foster, to name just some of the stage superstars.
As well as celebrating Stephen Sondheim’s 90th birthday, the virtual concert also marked the 50th anniversary of the 1970 opening night of Company on Broadway.
You can still catch the concert – which was live-streamed at 1am BST (8pm ET) today – above or here on YouTube.
Proceeds from ‘Take Me to the World’ are being donated to ASTEP (Artists Striving to End Poverty). Click here to find out more.
