Remember, darling?
During the 1970s, Stephen Sondheim composed Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Pacific Overtures and Sweeney Todd–five richly varied masterpieces of musical theater in a nearly miraculous burst of creativity.
stephen sondheim
Either less or more
An elegantly streamlined production of Into the Woods now on stage at Philadelphia’s Arden Theatre makes the best case for the show I’ve yet seen
A crash course in adult relationships
The mixture of romance and realism in Sondheim songs, the revelation that while love could be grand and passionate it could also be mundane or inconvenient or mistimed or just plain embarrassing, was such a relief.
Anyone can puzzle
Steve adored puzzles, solving them and creating them, so it makes you wonder that this one continued to fester—was that so few of his songs attained the rank of “standard.”
Learning how to laugh
When I think of Stephen Sondheim, so many of my memories are not simply about shows of his I loved and learned from—they are experiences that literally shaped my life.
Take Me to the World
Tout le monde assembles online to celebrate the 90th birthday of Broadway legend Stephen Sondheim.
Sondheim sensibility: postmodernism
In crafting his musicals, Sondheim’s focus, regardless of genre, tends towards the processive.
Sondheim sensibility: camp
The singularity of Stephen Sondheim contributes to the conception of him as a camp figure.
Have I got a girl for you
I was floored to find that Company with a female protagonist, at least in Marianne Elliott’s West End production, is a better and more complete show than original recipe Company.
Phone rings, door chimes, in comes Sängerkrieg!
“Heinrich, come on over for dinner! / We’ll be so glad to see you!”
White people problems
How on Earth will these fictitious luminaries of turn-of-the-century Swedish society keep their clothes clean?
It gives her purpose, gives her voice
Here the first video of Natalie Dessay in Sondheim’s Passion at the Théâtre du Châtelet.
Deep in my art, dear
I give you a complete performance of Stephen Sondheim‘s Sunday in the Park with George from the Théâtre du Châtelet.
Leave it to cleaver
If I’d gotten an hour less sleep you’d now find me mixing everything up and writing about Mrs. Lovett making her entrance on a bronze horse like Peter the Great.
“Give me Kitty Carlisle any day!”
“On The Academy Awards [Lady Gaga] was a travesty. It was ridiculous, as it would be from any singer who treats that music in semi-operatic style.”
Not pretty or safe or easy
La Cieca hears that the Théâtre du Châtelet will continue its series of Stephen Sondheim productions with Passion, set to star Natalie Dessay (as Fosca, bien sûr!)
Blood types
“The finale of Sweeney Todd left the stage of Avery Fisher Hall littered with corpses, but the evening, for all its flaws, felt vibrantly alive.”
Hats off!
The stunning New Broadway Cast Recording
of Sondheim’s Follies is currently on sale on Amazon for an astonishing $4.99.
Topper
“…to a certain degree, good critics are no longer necessary to find. The phrase ‘Everybody’s a critic’ has taken on a universal cast. The internet encourages people to share their opinions with the world. In the theatre, the buzz created by chatroom chatters has become increasingly important to a show’s reputation before it opens. There […]
“Then, with financial assistance provided by the United Negro College Fund, Bess got a degree in medical transcription…”
“Instead of Bess’s leaving their Charleston ghetto for New York by herself, with the crippled Porgy giving chase some time later, the Broadway version would include a newly invented scene in which Bess tries to persuade Porgy to start a new life with her up North. She leaves, followed by Porgy; one final stage picture […]
The folly of fidelity
Our Own JJ returns to the pages of Capital New York to reflect on the current Broadway revival of the Sondheim-Goldman musical Follies: “one gorgeous zombie.” (Photo: Joan Marcus)
It ain’t necessarily bold
Musical theater doyen Stephen Sondheim is not amused by plans to “revamp” (or, La Cieca might venture to pun, “devamp”) Porgy and Bess, thus “to transform the classic 1935 opera into a commercial Broadway musical.” La Cieca thinks this controversy will make for a very interesting sidebar in the ongoing Regie debate.
Once more unto the “Beached”
The snafu over “homophobia row opera” Beached by Billy Elliot creator Lee Hall has been resolved thanks to a small lyric change.
Who is Heidi?
UPDATE: La Cieca has just heard from Rosalind Elias‘s management with the news that the veteran mezzo will indeed transfer to Broadway with the Kennedy Center company of Follies. Apparently Playbill was given erroneous information.
I’ll take the fall
The days are getting shorter, but you can keep the prattle going this fall’s Talk of the Town! You will, you can, you must join in the discussion about: Great mezzo soprano performances (October),
Gained in translation (November), Teleport me back to… (December).
Win a Free Ticket to Opening Night at the Met!
Quinn Kelsey and Lise Davidsen star in the Met's new Macbeth. We're giving away one ticket, so screw your courage to the sticking place and enter now!
