YORK singer Jessa Liversidge will explore the link between Oscar Hammerstein II and Stephen Sondheim in Some Enchanted Sondheim, an evening of song and revelations at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, on Sunday.

"Not many people know that while still a teenager and shortly after the premiere of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel, Sondheim had the opportunity to be critiqued at length by the legendary Oscar Hammerstein II, who, by a fortuitous coincidence happened to be a neighbour and also the father of Sondheim’s friend and contemporary, James Hammerstein," says Jessa.

"Sondheim was able to learn invaluable lessons about the craft of Broadway from one its great pioneers and he never forgot Hammerstein’s priceless lessons in how to write and how not to write a musical."

What Hammerstein taught the novice at their first mentoring session not only encompassed lyric writing but also addressed larger dramatic issues, as Sondheim recalled nearly 30 years later: "Detail by detail, he told me how to structure songs; how to build them with a beginning and a development and an ending, according to his own principles; how to introduce a character; what relates a song to a character.

"It was four hours of the most packed information. I dare say, at the risk of hyperbole, that I learned in that afternoon more than some people learn about song writing in a lifetime."

Jessa first put the show together in 2013, inspired by American actor and singer Mandy Patinkin's album Oscar And Steve. "I've always been a fan of Hammerstein and Sondheim, but when I looked more deeply into their relationship, I found an appealing story of two writers who are surprisingly similar in many ways, and thus a basis for a show," she says.

York Press:

Pianist John Atkin

"I've taken songs from both writers and woven them together into themes, such as dreams, spring, birds, children and love affairs that may or may not work out! In between, I talk about the writers, their relationship and their witty songs of longing, love, loss, hope and despair."

Jessa's first performance at the Fauconberg Arms in Coxwold in 2013 has since been followed by the Galtres Centre in Easingwold in 2015 and Helmsley Arts Centre in 2016, and this weekend she will be accompanied by pianist John Atkin for her switch to a theatre space from a more intimate cabaret setting.

"I've had some fantastic feedback, like an audience member who commented, 'I didn't think I liked Sondheim but now I really do!'. This is the kind of audience I'm hoping to attract on Sunday," she says. "The show contains Hammerstein and Sondheim songs that will be familiar to all from Oklahama!, Follies and Into The Woods, alongside some songs that many will never have heard. Doing this allows the honesty and sincerity of the lyrics of both writers to shine through."

Last month, incidentally, Jessa was in the York Musical Theatre Company cast for The World Goes 'Round, Kander and Ebb's compilation show of their bold and brassy Broadway musicals, at 41 Monkgate.

Tickets for Sunday's 7.30pm show cost £10, concessions £5, on 01904 501935 or at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk; all profits go to the JoRo.