Hat Box - Finishing the Hat/Look I Made a Hat

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 12/29/11 at 5:10am

Grr they would do this for us poor sobs who bought the first book when it came out last year. I know sometimes book publishers will sell the box seperately for a small to customers who already had one of the product, but can't find any information (yes, I can be a bit of a completist with my collecting...) Does anyone know?

[tazber]

Posted: 12/29/11 at 6:39am

I like the idea of a box but I much prefer the sub-titles on the books themselves rather than "The Collected Lyrics".

Plus, the color looks dull compared to the blue and pink.

Still, I would get the box to keep the books dust free.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 12/29/11 at 7:40am

The outside of the box should read "Studying the Hat."

Or "Entering the World of the Hat."

Lame.

Pretty cool, though.

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 12/29/11 at 8:46am

What do you guys think of the American covers versus the British ones?

[uncageg]

Posted: 12/29/11 at 9:12am

I like them both but must say I like the British ones a bit better.

[once a month]

Posted: 12/29/11 at 9:14am

Totally thrilled to have been given the set as a Christmas gift. Less than a month ago, I was lucky to have scored free tickets to the Sondheim/Frank Rich lecture where he talked of The Hat Box, Follies and a myriad other related topics.

[sondhead]

Posted: 12/29/11 at 9:58am

The color of the box is not dull compared to the blue and pink. No picture I've seen online compares to what the set actually looks like. Go to a Barnes and Noble and you'll see. It's a very handsome set.

I do prefer the British covers, though...

[Edna Turnblad]

Posted: 12/29/11 at 12:34pm

I like the cover of Finishing the Hat, but I really like the US ones a lot.

[TheHappyPhantom]

Posted: 12/29/11 at 3:19pm

The british ones are much better. The American version is so tacky to me. I'd really like to know why he chose something so gaudy. People can't help but stare at you when you whip out a book of that size and it's bright pink like a Disney Princess coloring book. Where can I get the cover?

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 12/29/11 at 3:28pm

You guys are all awful. You can't judge a book by its ocver.

[Kad]

Posted: 12/29/11 at 4:46pm

The thing that counts is what's inside.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 12/29/11 at 4:47pm

The endless comments about good taste and quality by people who have enshrined "Phantom" in their screen names never cease to amuse me.

[TheHappyPhantom]

Posted: 12/29/11 at 5:11pm

My name is from a Tori Amos song actually, but continue to assume things. It makes the rest of us feel better about ourselves.

[binau]

Posted: 12/29/11 at 6:39pm

I used to like the British covers until I saw the American ones in reality and I prefer them. The metallic sheen doesn't come across well (if at all) in photos..

[PitPro2004]

Posted: 12/29/11 at 7:42pm

So glad someone brought this up...so while we are on the subject...

Can someone please elaborate/explain Sondheim's comment found on page 350 of the blue book regarding Sweeney Todd...

"He refused to see the humor ( to me ) in the number."

Judge Turpin's song is hardly humorous to me. I can appreciate SS's comments about being the first songwriter to include the F word and have the Judge bring himself to...well..you know what! But what could possibly be humorous about the entire situation?

Incidentally, I've played this show 3 times and every time this particular scene has been cut because even in today's theatrical climate, the director/producer's are too timid to incorporate it.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 12/30/11 at 3:33am

I hated the American covers and much prefered the UK ones until I saw the US ones in person too... Maybe over a year I've grown into the fact on my largely gay lit bookshelf where I placed it I still don't have a shiny blue and a shiny pink tome side by side. (On the other hand, I hate the paper--maybe I just got too exciting reading about the changes from Bounce to Road Show--bought I doubt it--but one page smudged where I placed my thumb...)

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 12/30/11 at 3:43am

Pit I think there is a dark Sweeney level of humour in his song... But I have a lot of issues with what Sondheim has said in the books (as much as I've enjoyed the pleasure of reading through the second book the past two nights and listening with recordings and loving every second, like hearing him talking directly to you about bits). I have a LOT of notes on the second book I've been tempted to write a review of here but haven't had the nerve.

Though I will say it has made me have a lot greater appreciation for Bounce/Roadshow (and appreciate that he realizes his love for it may be equivalent to the love a parent has for a homely child--though any homely child I might have I would wish a lot more success in life). And it also makes me wish the Reiner/Sondheim/Goldman film of Singing Out Loud came to past--Water Under a Bridge is one of my favorite Sondheim songs, and the description of the film sounds amazing.

[raker]

Posted: 12/30/11 at 9:21am

New York Magazine called the Porgy and Bess controversy "Look, I made a spat." Loved that.

[Miranda3]

Posted: 12/30/11 at 7:21pm

Drat! I purchased the first volume this fall and got the second for Christmas, sans box. Maybe we should have a BWW "Look I Made a Box" contest and see who can design the best custom box for the set, voting after pics are posted. Or, on reflection, maybe not.

[charlesjguiteau]

Posted: 12/31/11 at 12:48am

EricMontreal, please share your review with us-- don't hold back. Yours is a voice we'd love to hear on the subject; god (or Stephen) knows the resulting thread would be fascinating.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/31/11 at 1:05am

They should have called the box "Lidsville".

[ChenoKahn]

Posted: 12/31/11 at 1:15am

Phyllis didn't assume anything she simply said Phantom which is in your name.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 12/31/11 at 1:44am

Ha thanks Charles--that's flattering coming from you. I'll post it soon--I actually made (sigh, to quote one of his songs, don't laugh) notes while reading it. Some were errors (though he has far less than in his last book--which he says in this introduction actually went through a second printing that fixed some of them though it sounds like only typos really), but mostly it was just more random thoughts.

I admit, while I *loved* the first book, his voice in the comments he makes feels warmer in this volume, maybe because of the great response the first book got? Around his 80th Anniversary some of his interviews made me worry that he was starting to fall into that grumpy old artist thing some people in their twilight years get (Gore Vidal springs to mind, whose essays and articles I can no longer even stand to read), or worse, a sense of sadness that he'd never produce anything again. Happily, that all seems to be gone judging from this volume.

I just wish it came with a CD of demos for some of these songs or even complete sheet music (like the complex sung scenes in Singing Out Loud, or the fascinating opening from Muscle--even if that one did seem to make me think Sondheim was right that it should be composed by someone of a younger generation--his slang and frequent use of **** didn't really sound legit to the time and character he was writing for, more like someone trying to sound like it).

Anyway I'll post a loing rambling review soon :P

[Brick]

Posted: 1/2/12 at 12:48pm

Reading LOOK, I MADE A HAT, I found something odd.

Why does Sondheim not print the alternate lyrics he wrote for the 2002 revival of INTO THE WOODS? He revised the Witches' rap, "Last Midnight", and "Steps of the Palace", but makes no mention of it in the book.

I was so interested to hear him speak to them. Bummer.

[Kad]

Posted: 1/2/12 at 12:54pm

The lyrics he included for the cut "Second Midnight" are also pared down.