By CANDACE MIERS

Contributing Editor

Maids, mamas, mare sweat and music were brought to life in the intimate Stone Theatre Jan. 13-15.

Louisiana Tech Theatre's Opera Workshop presented "Stephen Sondheim: The Man, the Words, and the Music" each night at 7:30 with guest artist Pamela Myers, to three sold-out audiences.

The play was 15 small skits, each skit a piece of larger, mostly Broadway, plays whose music and /or lyrics were written by Stephen Sondheim.

The first skit was from the comedy "A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Forum," but it barely garnered a laugh in Stone Theatre.

Next was a piece about two lovers getting married from "West Side Story." The two singers' eyes were locked on each other during the whole song, making for a realistic touch.

"Saturday Night" was the next skit about six men with no date on Saturday night. They were all sitting around pouting and reading the paper looking for something to fill the female void. The phrases in their song like "when you're at home alone on a Saturday night you might as well be dead" had the audience giggling on their Saturday night.

"A Little Night Music" followed the dateless men skit and was performed by the whole company.

The company included: Stuart Amidon, a sophomore vocal performance major; Toni Brown, a junior vocal performance major; Jake Chapman, a sophomore vocal performance major; alumni Benjamin and Heidi DeCou; and Lamar Dowling, a senior at Cedar Creek High School.

Other members of the company included: Erica Fairburn, a senior vocal performance major; Casey Franklin, a senior speech major; Gregory Gauthier Jr., a sophomore engineering major; and Jamie Hearne, a sophomore music education major; Christina Hendrick, a junior political science major; Charlie Jones, a vocal performance major; and Joni Jordan, a sophomore fashion merchandising major.

Melissa Keaster, a sophomore vocal performance major; Ashley Larsen, a junior speech major; Mindy Martin, a freshman music education major; Nick Norwood, a sophomore graphic design major; Cody Parker, a freshman vocal performance major; Crystal Robinson, a sophomore vocal performance major; and Joel Sharpton, a graduate of Tech and narrator, were among other members of the company.

After three more small skits about someone wanting their mom to get married, a man lusting for his lover and one unmarried guy juggling three women, came a skit about famous presidential assassins from history, wanting to be happy.

Assassins like John Wilkes Boothe, Lee Harvey Oswald and Charles Giteau came together to sing the ironic song, "Everybody's Got a Right to be Happy."

After intermission, Act II picked up with another skit from "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum." This skit seemingly boiled down to what is on men's minds -- sex.

Apparently the audience connected with this skit on a personal level because they applauded and laughed loud.

After two more skits came Tony Award Nominee Pamela Myers, who sang a song Sondheim wrote specifically for her, called "Another Hundred People."

"I won't get to sing this song too much longer because if I ever get false teeth they'll fly out and land in the front row," Myers said.

After Myers' song, the company performed the last three skits in tribute to Sondheim's musical works. Two hours and thirty minutes after the play began, it ended. No costume were changed, no sets changed either.

It was left to just a caricature of Sondheim and a piano in Stone Theatre, which was now quiet.

"This has been such a wonderful experience," Myers said. "I love playing for colleges. The kids just soak it up. I'm happy I got the chance to share [this music] with Tech."