COMPANY question- Page 2

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 7/5/07 at 5:45pm

>> The piano-as-bed also has some sort of symbolism that... I have yet to figure out. Anyone have imput?

I swear to God, when I saw that, I couldnt help but think of the old advertising headline "They laughed when he sat down to play the piano".

Seriously, that moment (the piano-as-bed one) just underscored (for me, anyway) how precious the whole conceit became. I expected to hear those big ol' dissonants that come when you just slam your hands (or, in this case, elbows and posteriors) down on the keyboard. But the idea of Bobby and April fooling around on this grand piano with everyone else standing around with their clarinets and saxophones... sorry, guys, but it was just monumentally silly. As I noted elsewhere, it was like looking at a rehearsal of a Wall Street brokers' marching band.

[SimpleJoysHaveSimpleVoice]

Posted: 7/5/07 at 6:09pm

Can someone explain the Mahler's joke? I feel like I am on the outside looking in. I need to be Company-educated.

Thanks.

[Sondheim Geek]

Posted: 7/5/07 at 6:38pm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahler

[jochang621]

Posted: 7/5/07 at 6:55pm

"Can someone explain the Mahler's joke? I feel like I am on the outside looking in. I need to be Company-educated."

i guess i always feel like i could always use a little bit more company education! people even ASK questions that i've never thought of before, which causes me to rethink the show again.

mahler is a classical music composer who wrote famous symphonies that sought to capture "the world". he had lofty ideas about his symphonies, and often his audiences are either classical music purists (true classical music lovers), or people who didn't know anything about classical music but want to be seen as true classical music aficionados. this is sort of the take that joanne takes on the "ladies who lunch", who she sees as going to matinees and pinter plays and mahler, not because they enjoy them, but because they wanted to be seen as cultured.

this was my take, at any rate.
Updated On: 7/5/07 at 06:55 PM

[vfd88]

Posted: 7/5/07 at 7:02pm

In the Variety article, it says that in the original script, the word f*g was used. I'm very curious as to where in the show it was placed. Anyone know?
Updated On: 7/5/07 at 07:02 PM

[vfd88]

Posted: 7/5/07 at 7:02pm

double Updated On: 7/5/07 at 07:02 PM

[morosco]

Posted: 7/5/07 at 7:05pm

Allegedly explained by George Furth...The Seagram Building is "cold and square and out of place".
Read on...for what it's worth

[Weez]

Posted: 7/5/07 at 7:07pm

"Fag" was in 'You Could Drive A Person Crazy'.

"I could understand a person if it's not a person's bag
I could understand a person if a person was a fag"

Then it became

"I could understand a person if he said to go away
I could understand a person if he happened to be gay"

The F-word (hi, Isaiah! *waves*) was much less unacceptable back in the '70s. ^_^

Updated On: 7/5/07 at 07:07 PM

[artscallion]

Posted: 7/5/07 at 7:08pm

In You Could Drive a Person Crazy:

I could understand a person
If a person was a fag.

eta: slow on the trigger.

Updated On: 7/5/07 at 07:08 PM

[morosco]

Posted: 7/5/07 at 7:13pm

Another variation on the fag line sung by Loudon at Sondheim Carnegie Hall:

I could understand a person
if it's not a person's bag.
I could understand a person
if a person was a drag.
Updated On: 7/5/07 at 07:13 PM

[Sondheim Geek]

Posted: 7/5/07 at 7:34pm

The "drag" line was used at the 'Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnagie Hall' concert and by Bernadette Peters ALL the time... the "happened to be gay" line was added for the '95 revival, right?

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/5/07 at 8:16pm

Remember that the idea of "seeing in" also comes up when Joanne confronts Bobby: she tells him that he was "always on the outside, looking in the window while everyone else was dancing at the party." It's that "Bobby as observer" thread that really ties so many of the vignettes together.

Updated On: 7/5/07 at 08:16 PM

[TheKryptoniteKid]

Posted: 7/5/07 at 9:19pm

As I type this, Stephen Sondheim will be conducting a Q&A and a talk about his life at the State Theatre in Sydney in about 40 minutes from now.

It will be interesting to know if he's seen our local production of COMPANY which has just opened.

Alas, at $100 a ticket, I cannot afford to see the living legend.

[morosco]

Posted: 7/5/07 at 9:22pm

A piece of Mahler's.

Some trivia that most of you already know but I thought I'd share it because I'd forgotten all about it until just now. Jonathan Tunick orchestrated a brief snippet of a Mahler composition into The Ladies Who Lunch. It's played by the flute after Joanne sings "...and one for Mahler".

[TheKryptoniteKid]

Posted: 7/5/07 at 9:28pm

Another long exhausting day,
Another thousand dollars,
A matinee, a Pinter play,
Perhaps a piece of Mahler's.
I'll drink to that.
And one for Mahler!

Isn't "Mahler's" used simply for the for purpose of rhyming with "dollars"?

[Craww]

Posted: 7/5/07 at 9:29pm

Possibly. But I would assume the rhyme was created around making the reference, not vice versa.

[artscallion]

Posted: 7/5/07 at 9:37pm

"Isn't "Mahler's" used simply for the for purpose of rhyming with "dollars"?"

Based on my knowledge of Sondheim's work, I would guess that he always takes many things into account when choosing his words. The rhyme, the rhythm, the meaning and probably a lot more that I wouldn't even understand. I don't think he ever chooses a word just because it rhymes. Though I do know that he uses a rhyming dictionary when he works.

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 7/6/07 at 6:41am

One other little piece of trivia:

In the late 60s, we were going through a bit of a Mahler frenzy: all of his works had been re-recorded, and he was showing up on concerts all over the place (Not sure, but it may have been the centennial of his birth). Yes, it rhymes with "dollars" (well, sorta, and I imagine Sondheim was taking accents into consideration with that), but it was more a comment on our passion for "snob hits", the things people see because they feel they have to.

[MarkRascati]

Posted: 7/6/07 at 1:15pm

it stands alone and looks out of place.