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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2016 17:02:23 GMT
Hard to choose a favourite but I think as I was converted to Sondheim back in the early 70s with Company, both the OBC and then then near OBC cast at Her Majesty's, it will always have a special place for me.
As far as favourite song, I love "With So Little To Be Sure Of" from Anyone Can Whistle, "Not While I'm Around" from Sweeney Todd and "No One Is Alone" from Into The Woods.
My favourite lyric is probably "With riotous laughter we quietly suffer the season in town which is reason enough for a weekend in the country."
Of course this could all change next week - nothing is ever set in stone (Benjamin or otherwise).
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Post by crabtree on Aug 7, 2016 17:36:10 GMT
Yep, very passionate about Sondheim, but I admit that 'Liaisons' is my least favourite song. Clever lyrics certainly, but it is a dirge, and I'm always amazed that the signers don't get totally lost in it.
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Post by anthony40 on Aug 7, 2016 17:54:46 GMT
Yep, very passionate about Sondheim, but I admit that 'Liaisons' is my least favourite song. Clever lyrics certainly, but it is a dirge, and I'm always amazed that the signers don't get totally lost in it. I used to feel that way too but over time I got to understand the lyrics and this is a great song. From this song, you understand Mde. Armfeldt's previous life of luxury, how Desiree is of Royal heritage and thus her disgust for the her lifestyle choice (an actor) and thus the tension between the two. It also fits in with the little one line quips she makes to Fredrika. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2016 22:36:46 GMT
I feel like it's almost committing musical theatre sacrilege to say it, but I don't particularly like Sondheim. I much prefer him as a lyricist (I love West Side Story and Gypsy) than composer, and will generally only see a Sondheim show if something about the production itself intrigues me. I did like the Menier production of Assassins, but I am one of the few people who despised the Ball/Staunton Sweeney Todd a few years ago! Staunton was the only good thing about that show as far as I'm concerned.
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Post by whygodwhytoday on Aug 8, 2016 1:02:46 GMT
Sondheim's genius is hard to describe. Some days I cannot stand ANY of his music, and his shows all seem ridiculously pretentious; other days I am kneeling at my Sondheim throne for hours. This is why I consider him a genius, because he taps into that elusive cerebral/emotional space that few composers have so prolifically, and confidently explored. I always understand when people say they can't stand Sondheim... subjectivity and all. In comparison, Webber's music always satisfies and moves me, and he rightly deserves his commercial success, however Sondheim keeps me on my toes and has me engaged instead of standing merely in awe at the sidelines...
1. Company
2. Merrily We Roll Along
3. Sweeney Todd
4. Into The Woods
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Post by crabtree on Aug 8, 2016 7:38:13 GMT
And I ordered off Amazon a 'color me Sondheim' - yep a colouring book of all our favourite productions. Some images are clearly drawn from stills and you can work out the actor. Great fun. I also got the Shakespeare and Broadway books.
I should have worn green - I wore green the last time.
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Post by schuttep on Aug 9, 2016 15:07:01 GMT
From: I Never Do Anything Twice aka The Madame's Song (The Seven-Per-Cent Solution)
I think about the baron
Who came at my command
And proffered me a riding crop and chains
The evening that we shared
Was meticulously planned
He took the most extraordinary pains
He trembled with excitement
His cheeks were quite aglow
And afterword he cried to me, encore!
He pleaded with me so to have another go
I murmured carressingly, whatever for?
Once, yes, once for a lark
Twice, though, loses the spark
Once, yes, once is delicious
But twice would be vicious
Or just repetitious
Someone's bound to be scarred
Yes, I know that it's hard
But, no matter the price
I never do anything twice.
Count the innuendos!
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Post by anthony40 on Aug 9, 2016 18:00:54 GMT
Sondheim's genius is hard to describe. Some days I cannot stand ANY of his music, and his shows all seem ridiculously pretentious; other days I am kneeling at my Sondheim throne for hours. This is why I consider him a genius, because he taps into that elusive cerebral/emotional space that few composers have so prolifically, and confidently explored. I always understand when people say they can't stand Sondheim... subjectivity and all. In comparison, Webber's music always satisfies and moves me, and he rightly deserves his commercial success, however Sondheim keeps me on my toes and has me engaged instead of standing merely in awe at the sidelines... Couldn't have put it better myself |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Aug 9, 2016 18:40:30 GMT
Where can I get a reasonably priced region 2 DVD of Sunday In The Park With George? My esteemed theatre buddy anthony40 has extolled its virtues and I trust him but Amazon is telling me £29.99  |
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Post by anthony40 on Aug 9, 2016 18:41:44 GMT
Where can I get a reasonably priced region 2 DVD of Sunday In The Park With George? My esteemed theatre buddy anthony40 has extolled its virtues and I trust him but Amazon is telling me £29.99 Finally!!!!! Tried Ebay? |
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Post by alece10 on Aug 9, 2016 19:25:51 GMT
I've got it on video. BBC had it on TV one Christmas. More years ago than I care to remember. Those where the days when before Christmas you sat down with the Radio Times and circled all the programmes you wanted to record. It was a nightmare to organise with all the blank videos lined up ready to record and to fit everything in.
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Post by Polly1 on Feb 25, 2017 16:06:27 GMT
On Graham Norton's prog last night, Patrick Stewart said he had always wanted to play the judge in a version of Sweeney Todd with Hugh Jackman as Todd. He joked with Ian McKellan (at least I hope it was a joke!) that he could play Mrs. Lovett. Finally he said to Norton that he could play the juvenile lead - to which Norton said "I'll play a pie" 😃
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2017 18:24:55 GMT
'How the kind of woman willing to wait, is not the kind that you want to find waiting'
Which just about sums up my love life....albeit with men not women.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2017 20:06:46 GMT
I like all of them. I like the fact that whichever show you go to, you're guaranteed the same song just with different words. It's very comforting. lol love this! I like Sondheim but there's definitely an element of truth in that statement |
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Post by orchestrator on Feb 26, 2017 22:06:07 GMT
I like all of them. I like the fact that whichever show you go to, you're guaranteed the same song just with different words. It's very comforting. It’s the same for me and Shakespeare plays, Picasso paintings and Bach fugues. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2018 14:55:26 GMT
I've been thinking recently, does Sondheim have a prodigy of sorts?
At 88 there's a wealth of knowledge and genius held by Sondheim with ultimately a limited amount of time left (dark thought). Not just his own from his experience as a composer and lyricist but from being nurtured and taught by Bernstein. I've heard in interviews Sondheim talking about the lessons Bernstein gave him with regard to composition and music but was very coy about actual details. Understandably so. But two generations of musical genius in one vessel soon to expire, does sober me somewhat.
It's an incredible shame if the knowledge that Bernstein passed on to SS should end it's journey there.
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Post by Oleanna on Sept 13, 2018 15:54:14 GMT
I've been thinking recently, does Sondheim have a prodigy of sorts? At 88 there's a wealth of knowledge and genius held by Sondheim with ultimately a limited amount of time left (dark thought). Not just his own from his experience as a composer and lyricist but from being nurtured and taught by Bernstein. I've heard in interviews Sondheim talking about the lessons Bernstein gave him with regard to composition and music but was very coy about actual details. Understandably so. But two generations of musical genius in one vessel soon to expire, does sober me somewhat. It's an incredible shame if the knowledge that Bernstein passed on to SS should end it's journey there. Not to mention, Oscar Hammerstein. |
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Post by karloscar on Sept 13, 2018 17:14:46 GMT
He's offered a lot of help and encouragement over the years to Adam Guettel, Jason Robert Brown, Lin Manuel Miranda and Jonathan Larson before he died.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2018 17:54:10 GMT
He's offered a lot of help and encouragement over the years to Adam Guettel, Jason Robert Brown, Lin Manuel Miranda and Jonathan Larson before he died. Didn't know this, brilliant. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 14, 2018 9:36:15 GMT
He's offered a lot of help and encouragement over the years to Adam Guettel, Jason Robert Brown, Lin Manuel Miranda and Jonathan Larson before he died. I did read somewhere he offered some guidance and development to Pasek & Paul with regard to Subtext. They then produced The Greatest Showman soundtrack, the most single layered soundtrack of 2017, so obviously fell on deaf ears. |
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Post by karloscar on Sept 14, 2018 11:30:13 GMT
Well there's no guarantee that any advice offered will be followed. And Sondheim himself would always advocate finding your own voice rather than try to replicate anyone else's style. The complaint for many years was that "Everybody wants to be Sondheim...", and there were a lot of second rate imitations, but things have progressed somewhat since then.
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