Sweet Smell Of Success

[BobbyBaby244]

Posted: 8/9/05 at 12:16am

...this musical had a pretty short run, despite John Lithgow headlining, and a score by Hamlisch...I just got the CD and LOVE alot of the music, especially "At the Fountain" and "Don't Know Where You Leave Off"...did anyone see the show - know why it didn't work??

Plus, Kelli was in it...and she was unbelieveable in Piazza...what a voice!!

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 8/9/05 at 12:18am

Is Lithgow's performance worthy of stealing the Tony from Hunter Foster for Urinetown -- winning the same year as his sister?? Huh?

[magruder]

Posted: 8/9/05 at 12:20am

Hunter wasn't nominated, so... I'd have given the Tony to Cullum, myself. But the Tony to Lithgow was sort of a Medal of Valor that year.

[Thenardier]

Posted: 8/9/05 at 12:21am

HE stole it from Patrick Wilson.

I too got it cause I love me some Kelli (http://kellionline.conforums.com)

I LOVE it...so jazzy!

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 8/9/05 at 12:22am

Hunter totally should have been nominated. That was a huge mistake.

[zoran912]

Posted: 8/9/05 at 12:25am

And you are hugely fanatic.

I like the music. I like the repeated "Column" motif.

[Thenardier]

Posted: 8/9/05 at 12:27am

Track 7!

[Calvin]

Posted: 8/9/05 at 12:30am

I saw it, but while I enjoyed it enough at the time, it was fairly unmemorable to me. I never got the cast recording, but I've been hearing some of the songs lately, and they've been growing on me.

The only song that really stuck with me from the first viewing, however, was the one J.J. sings about Susan. (It was called "For Susan," wasn't it?)

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 8/9/05 at 12:31am

I saw it in Chiago and I loved it. Brian D'Arcy James is a talented man!

[Thenardier]

Posted: 8/9/05 at 12:31am

It was...and still is.

Besides that d'Arcy James is in it, Sweet Smell reminds me a lot of Lippa's TWP.

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 8/9/05 at 12:33am

When I knew him he was just Brian James.

[Thenardier]

Posted: 8/9/05 at 12:36am

I only like the d'arcy part.

[magruder]

Posted: 8/9/05 at 12:36am

Sweet Smell was another of those shows that got reviews all out of proportion with what was onstage. More respectable failure than an outright disaster. It was a show that seemed like a good idea, but probably wasn't. The film it's based on is quick-paced and unsentimental, without a single sympathetic character. While the film has a jazzy instrumental score, it doesn't exactly have characters that have reason to sing, particularly the star role of J.J. Hunsecker. "At the Fountain" was the most effective moment for the character of Sidney Falco, but he's just too shark-like a hero for a musical.

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 8/9/05 at 12:39am

T - He wanted to make sure that the Mayor of Chicago knew he was Irish!

[Thenardier]

Posted: 8/9/05 at 12:42am

Look what I had in my drawers!



lwyr - I see. Interesting. But I still like the D'Arcy part

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 8/9/05 at 12:56am

In your drawers huh?

[Thenardier]

Posted: 8/9/05 at 12:58am

What can I say?

I LOVE Kelli.

No, j/k

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 8/9/05 at 1:03am

What's Sweet Smell about anyway?

[jlm96um]

Posted: 8/9/05 at 1:06am

I saw it... I don't know. It was okay. Not that great, but not that bad. The songs have grown on me through the years, though. I will also agree with those of you who say that John Lithgow's performance was not necessarily Tony-worthy.

[Blair]

Posted: 8/9/05 at 1:07am

I bought the CD for Kelli as well, and I while I didn't really expect it to be my thing, I was pleasantly surprised. She sounds absolutely beautiful, and I love me some Brian d'Arcy James. I enjoy "Don't Know Where You Leave Off" the most, I think. And Kelli's reprise of "I Cannot Hear the City"

[Thenardier]

Posted: 8/9/05 at 1:11am

It's about a man (d'arcy) who wants to be in JJ's column (Lithgow)...and that's about all I'll say.

[chinkie azn jai]

Posted: 8/9/05 at 2:12am

I loved SSOS. It had a great score, an amazing cast, and an interesting book. It's too bad it didn't do well.

hehe it was also my first exposure to my future wife (aka Kelli O'Hara )

[WOSQ]

Posted: 8/9/05 at 9:49am

This musical failed because no one asked a basic question that needs to be asked when an idea is first proposed. "What do these people have to sing about?"

The characters in Sweet Smell of Success have nothing to sing about. They are about as non-musical as they come.

Gower Champion had a rule of musical theatre. "Who do you root for?" In Sweet Smell the answer is no one.

Rent the movie which is nasty, sharp, mean-spirited and damn good.

[twogaab2]

Posted: 8/9/05 at 9:56am

"Sweet Smell" was a great show that gave much more than it got. Some of us liked it at the time. Now some people are begining to appriciate the score. It is a shame that we live in an age where people are afraid to stand up for high quality material, in the face of largely negative reviews. We need to spend some time thinking before we start talking. The internet is WAY to powerful.

Posted: 8/9/05 at 10:02am

Most of the folks in SSOS are despicable and the action of the show is grim. "For Susan" was an electrifying number, but as the audience understood the underlying message you could hear the flesh crawl. During intermisson, I heard many people talking about how much they hated John Lithgow playing a character like that. It's hard to take a lovable galoot and make him play an anti-hero. I didn't dislike the show, but I sure didn't love it.

I do wonder if that film could be musicalized. It is not a subject that lends itself to song.