I Was There, You Weren’t

A game of oneupsmanship. For Sondheim mavens, it’s not enough to have seen every show (or every show several times over). Certain rare events, witnessed by only a privileged few, have special cachet. How many of these have you seen?

• Anyone Can Whistle (1964). SS’s early flop-o-rama, which ran a mere nine performances on Broadway. (Good news for Philadelphians — it stopped here briefly en route)

• Anyone Can Whistle (1995). Single concert performance at Carnegie Hall, with unbeatably glamorous if peculiar cast: Madeline Kahn, Bernadette Peters, Scott Bakula

• Sunday in the Park (1984). Preview performance when "Finishing the Hat" was added

• Sunday in the Park (1994). One-time-only original cast reunion concert in New York

• Company (1993). Three cast reunion concerts (one in California, two in New York)

• Wise Guys (1999). Any performance in the workshop production, but special points to those who caught it late in the run (and therefore with more revised material)

• The Frogs (1974). Staged at the Yale swimming pool. Eight performances. Exceptional hoity-toity factors: Aristophanes, the Ivy League, Meryl Streep in the chorus

• A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962). Washington, D. C., tryout performances that still included "Love Is in the Air" (later replaced by "Comedy Tonight")

• A Little Night Music (1973). Boston tryout performances that included "Bang!" (Song was cut before the Broadway opening)

• Follies (1971). Boston tryout performances that still included "Can That Boy Foxtrot!" (later replaced by "I’m Still Here")

• Follies (1971). Original production’s closing night on Broadway. Nearly everyone now claims to have been there, yet the Winter Garden Theatre seats around 1,600. You do the math.

• Muscle (c. 1992). Workshop with Michael Hayden of one-act musical, intended as companion piece for Passion

• Passion (1993). Three invitation-only performances before the official run, with Peter Gallagher as Giorgio (he was later replaced by Jere Shea)