Side by Side by Sondheim London Cast Album on CD

With all the Sondheim at 80 hoopla happening this month, I thought I would listen to yet another of the many revue versions of his work. Side by Side by Sondheim may have been one of the first such revues, and was created in 1976 when the composer was just entering his musical maturity. It is interesting to hear a revue created before many of the shows that I most readily name with Sondheim--Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George, and Into the Woods.

With these shows yet to be written, this revue has room for a deeper investigation of Sondheim's early shows. It was particularly interesting to hear songs for which Mr. Sondheim wrote the lyrics but not the music. "The Boy from..." charmed me again as it had done when I listened to a collection of songs composed by Mary Rodgers. The real find for me was "I Never do Anything Twice" which was written for a film. It's hysterical.

The cast of three performers are uniformly good and versatile, particularly David Kernan, who was involved in the creation of this revue. Millicent Martin sings "I'm Still Here" as well as anyone. As I learned when I looked up this production, the London version was created first and imported later to Broadway, with its British cast intact.

Side by Side by Sondheim

Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Mary Rodgers, Richards Rodgers, Jule Styne, Leonard Bernstein

Opened in London in 1976

Cast: David Kernan, Millicent Martin, Julia McKenzie

Assassins--2004 Broadway Cast Album

With the recent release from prison of Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme it seems as good a time as any to dig into the stack of albums waiting for my Thinking and put Sondheim's Assassins on the player.

This is the only Broadway cast album of this show, because the original 1990 incarnation was produced by Playwrights Horizons and never produced on Broadway, although that cast was recorded.

I have heard bits and pieces of this show before--I have a vague recollection of a video clip of Patrick Cassidy (from the Playwrights production) singing "The Ballad of Booth"--but that was all I knew of the show. Given that musical snippet I was hoping for a show with some pastiche musical styles fitting the eras of the various assassins, and while there is quite a bit of that, there was not enough to keep my ears riveted.

Neil Patrick Harris is the vocal stand-out of this vocally good cast. Besides singing more than anyone as he portrayed both the Balladeer and Lee Harvey Oswald, NPH has the right vocal tone to sing Sondheim's music well. By that I mean he has a lightish, forward-placed voice that can hopscotch around the turns in Sondheim's melodies.

My problem with this show is probably more thematic than musical; I don't find the exploration of the mind of a killer to be interesting. At first I thought the show was exploring how Presidential assassins are really just footnotes to history, but the end of the show with Lee Harvey Oswald and the reprise of the opening "Everybody's Got a Right" were too creepy for that interpretation. Whether you believe guns kill people or people kill people, there are lots of both on display.

This is the first appearance of one of my favorite actresses, though, Becky Ann Baker. I've never seen Ms. Baker live (and don't actually know if she's been in other musicals besides this production), but I loved, Loved, LOVED her in the television series Freaks and Geeks from the late 1990s. The whole series is one of my favs, but I digress...

Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by John Weidman
Originally produced in 1990
Opened on Broadway in 2004
This cast: Neil Patrick Harris, Becky Ann Baker, Michael Cerveris, Marc Kudisch, Denis O'Hare, Mario Cantone

Mandy Patinkin--Recital disc "Oscar and Steve"

Like many musical theater fans, I first encountered Mandy Patinkin in his role in Evita, then later in Sunday in the Park with George. I've liked him in the stage work I've seen in him (although I've never seen him live). So I was curious about his recital disc Oscar and Steve from 1995 when I saw it at a used book and record sale this weekend. I thought "for three bucks, how bad could it be?"

The idea of of this album is wonderful--connecting the songs of Oscar Hammerstein and Stephen Sondheim. There are several pairings of songs that are also very interesting, although work more from a thematic standpoint than from a musical one. The pairing of "You've got to be Carefully Taught" from South Pacific and "Children will Listen" from Into the Woods is a prime example--thematically these songs fit together very well, but in the arrangement offered here it seems to play up the musical differences rather than combine their styles. The version of "An Ordinary Couple" from The Sound of Music with "When the Children are Asleep" from Carousel works better--probably because they are by the same composer.

There are some nice rarities offered here, too: a song from the 1935 film version of Show Boat; a song cut from Follies; and a couple of songs originally written for women.

Mr. Patinkin's musical mannerisms are the stuff of legend, and he doesn't leave you wanting here, I should say--every mannerism is on display in spades. As the joke goes--Mandy Patinkin sings "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" so beautifully he makes himself cry. Is the joke from a version of Forbidden Broadway? For me the only thing more tiresome than an overly precious performance is an overly broad performance.

These two types of performances are Mr. Patinkin's stock and trade.

Oscar and Steve

Music by Richard Rodgers, Stephen Sondheim, Jerome Kern, and others
Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein and Stephen Sondheim

Performed by Mandy Patinkin

Released on Nonesuch Records in 1995

Follies in Concert--DVD and cassette tapes

It's a sort of two-fer for today's entry. I had hopes that the Follies in Concert DVD would be a full-fledged taping of the concert, but as it is mostly a behind the scenes documentary with some snippets of the performance, I've had to rely on the two cassette recording I bought back in the 80s, when a Walkman was the height of technology.

I've never seen Follies on stage. It is not produced very often. Sondheim himself comments on why in the documentary. The size of the cast is daunting--given that many roles are represented by a young version and a middle aged version.

I think the idea of this show is fantastic, with characters constantly confronting their memories and their earlier selves. I love most of the score, too, with its collection of pastiche songs and dances in the manner of the earlier era meeting a more contemporary musical idiom in songs the older cast sing.

The cast is also top-notch throughout. While many of the older cast members are significantly younger than their characters should be, everyone is superb at communicating the core of their characters, primarily through music. The young company gets a little bit of the short stick, I have to say, both in the structure of the show and in face time in the behind-the-scenes documentary.

A highlight for me is the Heidis duet "One More Kiss" sung in this concert by Licia Albanese and Erie Mills. I don't know the backgrounds of either performer well, but they seem to perfectly capture the essence of this song from a vocal standpoint. Ms. Albanese was a Met Opera performer long past her prime when this concert was given in 1984. The ghost of a voice is still there, but with many wobbles. Ms. Mills is a young coloratura soprano who handles the runs and high notes quite well.

I've always been curious about the 1971 recording of this show. Apparently it excluded many of the songs to fit onto one record. I'd love to hear Yvonne de Carlo sing "I'm Still Here". I'd also like to hear the 2001 Roundabout Theater cast, which included Kelli O'Hara, Treat Williams, Gregory Harrison, Erin Dilly, Blythe Danner and on and on. Was it recorded?

Follies in Concert
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by James Goldman

Premiered in 1971

This concert took place at Lincoln Center in 1984

Cast: Carol Burnett, Elaine Stritch, George Hearn, Barbara Cook, Mandy Patinkin, Liz Callaway, Howard McGlinn, Daisy Prince, Lee Remick,

Company--a documentary film about recording the Original Cast Album

Forbidden Broadway has an hilarious version the title song from Company in its most recent incarnation: "No strings, no drums, unaccompanied." The only version of the show I've seen is the pared down "unaccompanied" version, so I was interested in hearing the full orchestrations as presented in this documentary film from the long night of recording Company: The Cast Album.

Firstly, I have to get this out of the way: Dean Jones is sexy. I'm slightly embarrassed to admit it, but the dimples, the soulful brown eyes, the long lashes--okay I'm back now. That said, he seems to make a very good Bobby with the boyish appeal, the vulnerability and the singing voice I want from Bobby. I was surprised how well he sang "Being Alive". This is a difficult song (emotionally, too, but I'm mean musically) with a high range that lies so much of the that danger-zone of middle C to F above it. Mr. Jones handles it all very well, and has a lovely sound to boot.

I had wondered why I've seen more pictures of Larry Kert playing Bobby in the original production than I have of Mr. Jones. Mr. Kert was also nominated for the Tony Award for the role. I had to listen to the commentary track to this documentary to find out; in an arrangement with Hal Prince, Mr. Jones was let out of his contract two weeks after the show opened because his marriage was falling apart and his wife was in California with their kids.

This documentary focuses a lot of attention on Elaine Stritch, who goes from being a car wreck-- as she tries to sing "The Ladies Who Lunch" at the end of a 16-hour recording session--to being a revving Rolls Royce as she completes the song. Ms. Stritch is one of the voices on the commentary track, and she does provide some insight into what was going on, why it was going badly, and how it got righted. But this is only one song (albeit a great one) from this score, and I would have liked a little more time with some of the others.

One beef with the film. It lists identifiers for the producers, composer, director and playwright as they appear on screen, but doesn't have the same courtesy for the performers. Am I supposed to know them all? The ones I recognize are from their later TV roles: Charles Kimbrough (Murphy Brown), Beth Howland (Alice), Barbara Barrie (Barney Miller). The others are a bit of a mystery to me. The commentary track does identify Pamela Meyers who is phenomenal singing "Another 100 People."

One of the other unidentified cast members is Charles Braswell, with a robust baritone voice I've encountered before. Company was his final Broadway show, as he died at the age of 52 folling his run in the show.

Company
Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by George Furth
Opened in 1970
Documentary film made in 1970 by DA Pennbaker
Cast from the show: Dean Jones, Donna McKechnie, Beth Howland, Pamela Meyers, Elaine Stritch, Charles Braswell, and others.
Show producers in the film: Stephen Sondheim, George Furth, Hal Prince, Thomas Z. Shepard

West Side Story--the New Broadway Cast album

The city is sweltering in early summer heat. The news last night reported that hospital blood supplies are low due to an increase in gang activity. And my apartment has been without electricity since early this morning. What better time to put fresh batteries into the Discman (yes, I still have one of those) and listen to West Side Story? (And then go to the library that does have power to post this entry.)

This is another show where the film version is tattooed to my retina, so I was glad to find a recording of the 2009 Broadway cast for my listening. I am ecstatic to find that this is a thrilling (let me say it again) thrilling new recording of a great score.

The "hook" to this production is that the Puerto Rican characters speak in Spanish when they are among themselves. I have to say, I found more exceptions to that rule than I expected. Even though it is sung just among the Sharks crowd, the song "America" is sung in English, undoubtedly to communicate the funny lyrics to the wider audience. In Act Two, "I Feel Pretty" and "A Boy Like That" are sung in Spanish.

All of the singing is of the first order. Matt Cavanaugh handles the challenges of Tony's songs and their operatic high notes with only a slight nasality in his otherwise lovely voice. Josefina Scaglione has a pretty, light soprano that lacks the "spin" needed to sustain some of the final high notes. Karen Olivo's belt singing of Anita is right on the mark.

The best aspect of this new recording is the orchestral playing of the score. The liner notes list an orchestra of 30 players. It sounds like 50. The playing of the dance sections of the show are exciting and fresh-sounding even though they are 50 years old. I was particularly taken with an instrumental section in "Somewhere". With a lot of open sixths and fourths, this section sounded like Aaron Copland music.

I was disappointed with the liner notes for this recording. In 34 pages it has all of the lyrics (which would really only be important for the Spanish sections, I would think), only four photos (most of which don't identify the performers) and no essay. I would like to know something about the history of this show or the development of this production.


West Side Story
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by Arthur Laurents
Opened originally in 1957, this production opened in 2009
Cast: Matt Cavanaugh, Josefina Scaglione, Karen Olivo

Anyone Can Whistle--OBC album on CD

While the liner notes to this 1988 CD reissue to this 1964 original Broadway cast album don't give much in terms of the plot of the show, it gives a lot of information about the ground-breaking nature of the show, and how Anyone Can Whistle was the seed that eventually bloomed into Sondheim's successful shows. I particularly liked reading what other shows played Broadway the same season as Whistle--Fiddler on the Roof, Funny Girl, Hello Dolly! Can you hear me singing "One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn't belong"? Can something really be ground-breaking if the ground doesn't want to be broken?

That sounds mean-spirited and I don't want to be, because I like much of this score. Didier Deutsch describes it as being embryonic of ideas that will come again in later Sondheim shows. And I can hear that, although I hear themes of Follies, not Company, which is the show Mr. Deutsch compares it to. Perhaps that is because there is a chorus in this show, and I can't think of another Sondheim show other than Follies that has a chorus.

It's a sad thing when I have to say that Lee Remick is the vocal standout of this cast, but that's the state of affairs. She sings her three big songs very well--the title song, "There Won't Be Trumpets" and "See What it Gets You" which feels like a typical (and effective) 11 o-clock number. Harry Guardino is strangley effective and I like the quality of his voice if not the pitch, which is often an issue. I continue to like Angela Lansbury as a musical performer, although her efforts into head voice are a bit tortured.

Perhaps there is another legacy that Whistle can claim--opening up new avenues for musicals to be incubated and hatched. Was there such a thing as an off-Broadway musical at this point? Certainly this show could have benefited from opening on a slightly less-White Way.

Anyone Can Whistle
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by Arthur Laurents
Opened in 1964, ran for 9 performances
Cast: Angela Lansbury, Lee Remick, Harry Guardino

Putting it Together--staged review on DVD

Well, I was just complaining the other week about the plethora of Sondheim revues, events, benefits, concerts, etc. and here I am Thinking about one again. My bad. I saw Putting it Together on the musical DVD shelf at the library and was curious.

And by curious, I mean about the performances of some notables in the cast. Actually this cast of five is all notable, I was Thinking specifically about the performances of Carol Burnett and John Barrowman.

Mr. Barrowman is now best known for his roles in Dr. Who and Torchwood, but he has a musical theater past, and I hope, a musical theater future. I own a couple of solo cds of Mr. Barrowman singing show tunes, but I've never seen him on stage in a musical, so I was curious. He's very good, if a bit showy. He is the strongest singer presented here, and that's saying something given the strengths of this cast. He has an ease into his upper register that I envy more than I even envy his physique and good looks.

I was also curious of Ms. Burnett's return to Broadway after an absence of 30 years or so. She sings two of the most difficult songs in the Sondheim songbook--"Ladies who Lunch" and the wedding patter song (does it have a name? Hixx, you're my Sondheim go-to gal). Ms. Burnett delivers on both solo songs. Her duets with George Hearn left me wanting a little, though.

Bronson Pinchot is surprisingly delightful in this production, which was his Broadway musical debut. While he is a rather weak singer, his charm and acting abilities make up for much of his vocal shortcomings. I got tired of the convention of Mr. Pinchot introducing each segment, but his solo numbers were well-done.

A little googling of the history of this review (they use this spelling, which to me is what a critic does) tells me it was revived from a 1993 production that starred Julie Andrews; a version which was released on CD.

So maybe I have some Sondheim Thinking left to do.


Putting it Together
A Musical Review

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Cast: Carol Burnett, John Barrowman, Ruthie Hensell, Bronson Pinchot, George Hearn

Sondheim: a Celebration at Carnegie Hall

Has any musical theater composer been the subject of more special concerts during his life-time than Stephen Sondheim? Doubtful. I wonder why that is?

I believe he appeals to performers, who enjoy the opportunity to sing his songs with orchestra. I don't dislike his music, but I won't be lining up to sing it with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Ravinia this summer (even if they ask me to have done, which they should have asked me to have done). I get that his shows are creatively formatted and explore more contemporary human situations in a more modern setting. He probably also appeals to anyone who appreciates clever, urban word-play--which I do.

Still, so many Sondheim revues/evenings/tributes/galas/concerts/acts? Well, I don't have any more lined up for the remainder of my Year, and gratefully Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall from 1992 is a good tribute concert on which to end my Sondheim thinking.

Firstly, while I groaned when Bill Irwin walked onto stage after the overture, he turned out to be really funny. I hate clowns, but this was a hysterical take on the "fake stage manager" routine. Of course, I'm a fake stage manager myself, so I'm biased.

I mourned the late Jerry Hadley and Madeleine Kahn, both of whom do their songs very well. Liza Minnelli was fantastic in her songs, both of which were new to me. I thought Liza Minnelli was very good. Glenn Close was not quite at the level she was at in the Lloyd Webber tribute I listened to last week. Betty Buckley was miscast singing "Children will Listen". I didn't care for the Tonics.

While I have heard most of this music before, just about everything from Merrily We Roll Along and Assassins was new to my ears.

Perhaps I do need to look for a little more Sondheim.

Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall
Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Staged in 1992
Released on video in 1993
(Amazon says this is a two-disc set and Netflix sent me only one disc that seems to contain a compilation of what is on the two-disc version. What gives?)

Cast: Bernadette Peters, Billy Stritch, Liza Minnelli, Glenn Close, Betty Buckley, Patti Lupone, Mark Jacoby, Dorothy Loudon, Patrick Cassidy, Victor Garber, Bill Irwin, Jerry Hadley,

Follies in Concert on CD

I've never heard the original cast album of Follies; apparently it was missing many songs in order to fit onto the vinyl of the day. So this 1985 concert version of the show is much more complete and gives a better impression of the score.

The format of Follies fascinates me. I've never seen it on stage, but the idea of "ghost" chorus girls floating through scenes, and the past and the present inhabiting the same space is very cinematic and endlessly intriguing to me. Its not often staged and understandably when so many characters are doubled with young and old versions.

There is so much music I like in this score--and surprisingly for me, I like the "contemporary" songs of the score as often as the follies-era songs--"In Buddy's Eyes", "The Road you didn't Take", "I'm still Here", "Losing My Mind", and "Too Many Mornings" are all good or better.

The number of wonderful performers in this concert also makes this recording a gem. About the only cast member I have issues with is Mandy Patinkin--and that's more for his being much too young for the role. Although I believe his ultra-manic version of "Buddy's Blues" is a drastic change from the original stage version.

I bought this concert album soon after it was released in 1985, the version I own is on two audio cassettes. I'm listening to it today on CD, because I don't even have a cassette player any more. I remember being so taken from the very start with Arthur Rubin's robust tenor in "Beautiful Girls" and with the two Heidies singing "One More Kiss". This was before I'd ever been to an opera, but I was still attracted to the most "legit" singers in the cast.

Of course, in 1985, I wouldn't have known any of the famous names in the cast (except Carol Burnett and Mandy Patinkin, which is probably why I bought the thing in the first place). No, I wouldn't have known George Hearn, or Barbara Cook, or even Elaine Stritch.

So, I came a long way even before starting my Year of Musical Thinking.

Follies

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

Book by James Goldman

Opened in 1971, this stage version recorded in 1985

Cast: Arthur Rubin, Barbara Cook, George Hearn, Jim Walton, Howard McGillin, Mandy Patinkin, Lee Remick, Liz Calloway, Daisy Prince, Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Lilane Montevechhi, Elaine Strich, Phyllis Newman, Carol Burnett, Licia Albanese, Erie Mills

Barbara Cook in Mostly Sondheim on DVD

Call me stereotypically gay, but Barbara Cook is one of my favorites. She infuses her performances with more of herself than many singers and has better legato singing than any musical theater singer. I think it is that good legato which has kept her voice as relatively fresh as it is as she reaches her 80th birthday.

This concert of Mostly Sondheim was taped when Ms. Cook was only 75. I don't know many 75 year olds who could sustain a whole recital, let alone one I want to hear sing a high B-natural.

As the title of this concert indicates, the program is more than half music by Stephen Sondheim along with songs Mr. Sondheim stated in a 1999 article he wished he had written. I had heard most of the Sondheim songs before, but many of the non-Sondheim fare was new and delightful to me. I was particularly taken with the Harold Arlen songs near the beginning of the program. I must check out more of Arlen. Also fun to hear sung in a very different way are the two songs from Annie Get Your Gun--definitely not a role I would equate with fine legato singing. Ms. Cook proves that there is not only one way to sing a song when it is a good song being sung by a good singer.

Barbara Cook in Mostly Sondheim
Music by Stephen Sondheim and others
Lyric by ditto
Musical direction and pianist Wally Harper
Taped before a live audience in 2002, released in 2003

Sweeney Todd in Concert--PBS broadcast on DVD

There are so many versions of this show that I could have chosen from, perhaps more than any other musical theatre piece. There are opera versions, Broadway versions, concert versions, a film version, and studio cast versions. What is it about Sweeney Todd that elicits such a desire to produce and record it?

Well, the strength and variety of the music in the show may be the first reason. There are many memorable songs and musical moments in Sweeney, but I was struck in watching this concert version how much music between the big numbers I didn't remember, and how good and interesting is that connective music. This version may make more of the music than many others as the score is played by a top-notch symphony orchestra. Vocally, this version is also strong across the board, as you might suspect from an orchestral production. However, most of the performers do not come from the opera house or the concert stage, they come from the Broadway tradition.

George Hearn and Patti Lupone are particularly well matched vocally. Both are firmly from the Broadway tradition and are willing to let "vocal beauty" be subordinate--when appropriate--to characterization. I was particularly struck with the ability of George Hearn to stand on equal vocal footing with Timothy Nolen, an operatic baritone who portrays Judge Turpin. I've seen Mr. Nolen live on stage in this role, at the Lyric Opera where Sweeney was sung by Bryn Terfel. Nolen can hold his own with anyone and I believe it is the strength of both Messrs Nolen and Hearn that they can morph their vocal style to match not only the character and the moment, but also their colleagues.

Props must be given to the production team for this concert version, too. This is an ambition take from a production standpoint for an orchestra in a orchestra hall. The staging is detailed, the script and music memorized by the performers, there are costumes, furniture, some props, many light and sound cues. It must have really pushed the limits of the capability of Davies Hall.

Sweeney Todd
In Concert with the San Francisco Symphony and Chorus
Conducted by Rob Fisher
Directed by Lonny Price
Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Aired on PBS in 2001, released on DVD in 2002
Cast: George Hearn, Patti Lupone, Neil Patrick Harris, Timothy Nolen, Davis Gaines, Lisa Vroman, John Aler, Stanford Olsen, Victoria Clark

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum film on DVD

Eek, a week since my last entry. Sorry, a combination of work obligations and internet connectivity issues have hog-tied me. So it's a good thing I had a farcical romp like A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum to entertain me.

I didn't realize this had music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. For some reason I thought he did the lyrics only, like he had for Gypsy and West Side Story. But no, he did both for this show. Was this Sondheim's first Broadway score? If so, "Comedy Tonight" is a home-run. The rest of the score is probably greatly compromised from stage to film and doesn't really hold its own.

The clowning does hold its own for me, even if the very 1960s filming techniques seem a bit dated now. Zero Mostel and Jack Gifford reprise their roles from the stage version, which premiered in 1962. Phil Silvers is added to the film along with Buster Keaton, to create a whos-who of top-notch clowns. Bland-ola Michael Crawford is the young lover, Hero. He has the skinniest legs ever, and should never were a toga again. Fortunately, the primary song for Hero "Lovely" is better suited to Crawford's voice than what he was asked to sing in the film version of Hello Dolly.

About ten years ago, this show was remounted with Nathan Lane in the Zero Mostel role. I can imagine the antics being much funnier on stage than on screen, which tends to flatten the action for me sometimes. Mr. Lane was later replaced by Whoopi Goldberg. Did she play the character as a man or a woman? The sex-capades of the romp would change dramatically, depending on that answer.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart
Film directed by Richard Lester
Released in 1966
Cast: Michael Crawford, Zero Mostel, Jack Gifford, Phil Silvers, Buster Keaton, Annette Andre

Passion stage performance on DVD

Manipulative bitch!

I don't get this story. Are we supposed to side with someone? Feel sorry for someone? Can someone please tell me why Passion is admired by so many? Even the commentary track doesn't really help me.

The music never reaches the same fever pitch of the characters' situations. In fact, a lot of the music sounds to me as if it is recycled from Into the Woods or Sunday in the Park With George. The characters' situations never speak to me. The staging by James Lapine is beautiful to look at, but a bit cold. The story-telling feature of letters is also rather cold. And I don't get why the chorus repeats lines from other characters. Actually, I don't get why there is a chorus at all. Wouldn't this be a better "chamber musical", with just 5 or 6 actors rather than 14?

Marin Mazzie seems to go through a ridiculous number of dresses with hoop skirts. The mole on Donna Murphy's face seems to have a life of its own. Jere Shea's character seems to have the emotional depth of his chest hair. Sorry, I know lots of people love Sondheim, and I'm often with them. But I can't get a hold on this one.

Passion
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book and Direction by James Lapine
Original Broadway cast taped for television in 1994
Cast: Donna Murphy, Marin Mazzie, Jere Shea, Tom Aldredge

Sunday in the Park with George stage version on DVD

Do you think Georges Seurat was OCD? What about Stephen Sondheim? How about Mandy Patinkin? I say meds are needed all around.

Fortunately, everyone is at the height of their powers in the creation and performance of Sunday in the Park with George, filmed from the stage musical in 1985. Sondheim, Patinkin, Peters, Lapine and even Seurat combine in some kind of alchemy to produce one of the greatest musicals of all time--beloved by many.

Movement and stillness are important components of this production, and I assume director and book writer James Lapine is due the thanks for so carefully choreographing this aspect of the show. Light also plays an important part of the show, and the physical aspects of the production are exceptionally good and really help build the drama (not to mention the painting) in the first act.

I was surprised by my reaction to Act Two. I have never seen this show on stage, but had heard the cast album many times. I was prepared to think less highly of the second act than I did of the first act. Judging just by the music, it feels, at times, a little preachy on issues that have been dealt with more subtly in the first act. On the contrary, I found the second act very emotionally moving. I had a good cry during it, actually. Perhaps it was because of the family connection that Marie dotes on, or the love of a grandparent exhibited by second act George, but it was very moving. I was moved. Now I have to move on.

Sunday in the Park with George
Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book and stage direction by James Lapine
Original broadway cast filmed on stage in 1986
Cast: Bernadette Peters, Mandy Patinkin, Charles Kimbrough, Brent Spiner, Barbara Bryne

A Little Night Music film on DVD

Even with much of the wit and charm of this score and story dead on arrival in the film version, A Little Night Music is a wonderful musical. I've never seen it on stage, nor had I seen the 1977 film before, so this is my first experience with it. I had heard some of the music before, but didn't know how it all fit into the story.

With the complexities of the score and the difficulties of Sondheim's music in general, I'm surprised so many non-singers were cast in this film--Diana Rigg and Elizabeth Taylor in particular. Hermoine Gingold, Len Cariou and Laurence Gittard are hold-overs from the Broadway debut from three years before the film.

"You Must Meet My Wife" must be one of the funniest songs of all time, and although Ms. Taylor plays it a bit too on the surface, it still works. Lesley-Anne Down is young enough and pretty enough, to make Anne's naivety work. Diana Rigg does well with characterization, but not with the music. Actually there isn't much of the singing that I really like, even Len Cariou.

There was a television version of this musical done in 1990. Is it available to rent?


A Little Night Music
Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by Hugh Wheeler
1977 film directed by Harold Prince
Screenplay by Ingmar Bergman
Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Len Cariou, Diana Rigg, Hermoine Gingold, Lesley-Anne Down, Christopher Guard, Laurence Gittard

Company 2006 Broadway production filmed for television on DVD

RRRRRRauuuuuuuuuuullll!

This entry is for a friend who introduced me to the charms of Raul Esparza. A Sondheim fan, she went to the Kennedy Center and saw Mr. Esparza perform. She came back singing "Marry Me A Little, Raul!" And who can blame her. Mr. Esparza seems the perfect embodiment of Bobby--the guileless bachelor at the center of Company--charming, vulnerable, flirty, and handling all the twists and turns of Sondheim's music.

This stage production was by John Doyle and it uses the actors as the orchestra as well. I imagine the audition process: "You sang 'Not Getting Married Today' very well, I could understand every word. Can you play the trumpet?" It's an interesting form, although I don't know if it really adds anything to my understanding of this work of theater.

In a discussion on the extras of the DVD, Raul Esparza talks about how much he tried to strip away the theatricalities of Bobby to be a true observer in the play, and that seems the right approach, where Bobby reacts to so much, but isn't an active participant until the finale (when for the first time, not coincidentally, he plays an instrument).

This production is well-filmed for television, with lots of camera angles and camera movement. I wonder if that runs counter to the feeling when one saw the play live on stage. Except for a couple of very choreographed songs, with instrumentalists/singers bounding all over the stage, a lot of Company seems like it would be purposefully visually static.

Musically the show is very satisfying, with each song well-performed. Barbara Walsh seems to channel (or should I say Chanel) Elaine Stritch in the "Ladies Who Lunch" song.

Company
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by George Furth
2006 Broadway production
Directed by John Doyle
Produced for WNET Channel Thirteen New York
Released on DVD by Image Entertainment
Cast: Raul Esparza, Kelly Jeanne Grant, Angel Desai, Elizabeth Stanley, Matt Castle, Amy Justman, Fred Rose, Leenya Rideout, Keith Buterbaugh, Kristin Huffman, Robert Cunningham, Heather Laws, Bruce Sabath, Barbara Walsh

Gypsy film on DVD

Two days in a row with film versions of shows that starred Ethel Merman, but where the film didn't. At least with Gypsy, the story and music from the show are faithfully preserved in the film.

Despite it's title, the show is not really about Gypsy, but about Mama Rose. Or perhaps its about how Mama Rose created Gypsy--or rather how Gypsy created herself for Mama. Regardless, this is a first rate musical, well done on film, with all the showbiz hokem and human desires to fill a big story against a bigger cyclorama.

Rosalind Russell is very good as Mama and if her singing doesn't quite live up to the demands of Jule Styne's powerhouse music, Ms. Russell's bravura more than makes up for it. Karl Malden is also great as fast-talking Herbie, a very different type of role for him from most of his film and television credits. I may be in the minority (again) but I like Natalie Wood as Gypsy; I think her personal history with a poor background and pushy stage mother helps inform her performance.

A tangent that is truly tangent. A few years ago I read February House by Sherill Tippins. It tells about a house in Brooklyn where in 1940 and 1941 an unusal collection of artists lived. The unlikely group included composer Benjamin Britten, tenor Peter Pears, authors Carson McCullers, W.H. Auden, Jane Bowles, Paul Bowles, Richard Wright, and budding memoirist Gypsy Rose Lee. Do communities like this exist today, where artists of varying disciplines and varying experience come together to foment their ideas?

Well, with all the drinking and Benzadrine-taking that took place in February House, maybe the artists are better off if they don't congregate too much.

Regardless, the musical Gypsy offers a good time at the theater or on the screen.

Gypsy
Music by Jule Styne
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by Arthur Laurents
Film directed by Mervyn LeRoy
Released by Warner Bros. in 1962
Cast: Rosalind Russell, Karl Malden, Natalie Wood

Into the Woods Broadway Production on DVD

I suppose I couldn't avoid him for long, but I have to confess a love/hate relationship with Stephen Sondheim. I find his musicals smart and insightful, and good explorations of interesting themes. And I like his music, but I can't sing it worth beans.

Into the Woods is one of my favorites of Sondheim's works. I like how it uses childhood fairy-tales to explore very adult themes of risk/reward for "straying from the path", personal responsibility, sense of community, and parenting. It also marks the second appearance in my year for Bernadette Peters, now in the prime of her career and warranting applause from the audience at her first entrance (even though she is done up in the old witch make-up and costume).

I find Joanna Gleason a wonderful singing actress. I was more familiar with her television experience (West Wing) and saw her in a brief role in the Sex and the City movie, which is out right now. I'm going to need check out more of her musical background. I believe she was in a musical based on the Nick and Nora Charles stories--perhaps with Barry Bostwick.

I saw Woods live maybe a decade ago at the Marriot Lincolnshire Theater outside of Chicago. It was done in the round, or maybe 3/4 round. The proscenium version of this production seems very 2-dimensional, especially at the beginning when the three fairytales each have their own small proscenium. It's better when the storyline goes into the woods--perhaps part of the point.

Into the Woods
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book and Direction by James Lapine
Taping of performance by original Broadway cast in 1990
Cast: Bernadette Peters, Joanna Gleason, Chip Zien, Barbara Byrne, Robert Westenberg