ALW vs. Sondheim
ALW vs. Sondheim
#0ALW vs. Sondheim
Posted: 6/12/05 at 10:15pm
Soo..the big broadway debate of the ages continues
Who do you prefer- Andrew Lloyd Webber or Stephen Sondheim?
Or are you part of the very small minority (which includes me) who appreciates both writers for their talents?
"No two shows are alike in the making. Each show is a living
piece of your life in a small unreal world with its own character
and integrity; its own new set of memorable experiences and
incredible happenings. You begin to love and adapt to its strangeness.
Dreams harden into substance. Values come into focus. You wish
it would never end. The dream world vanishes like mist before a
rising sun; part of you vanishes with it. And back you land in the
real world with a thud- fogged, uneasy, jittery, difficult to get
along with. There is only one cure. A new show. A new, small
unreal world; new visions, experiences, incredible happenings.
Again you love it, adapt to it, wish it would never end.
But end it does. Another part of you vanishes.
That's show business."-Anonymous
#1re: ALW vs. Sondheim
Posted: 6/12/05 at 10:16pmEven though I adore Joseph...Dreamcoat, I'd take Sodheim over ALW anyday.
http://avdagen.blogspot.com/
ashley0139
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/3/05
#2re: ALW vs. Sondheim
Posted: 6/12/05 at 10:16pmI actually do like both, but I prefer Sondheim. He is so clever. Love it.
"This table, he is over one hundred years old. If I could, I would take an old gramophone needle and run it along the surface of the wood. To hear the music of the voices. All that was said." - Doug Wright, I Am My Own Wife
#5re: ALW vs. Sondheim
Posted: 6/12/05 at 10:17pmi like bits and pieces of ALW. but WAY prefer Sondheim
"Picture "The View," with the wisecracking, sympathetic sweethearts of that ABC television show replaced by a panel of embittered, suffering or enraged Arab women" -the Times review of Black Eyed
WiCkEDrOcKS
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/13/04
#6re: ALW vs. Sondheim
Posted: 6/12/05 at 10:17pmSondheim has written some lovely, creative, and breathtaking music as has Andew Lloyd Webber. I'd have to go with Sondheim but with ALW very, VERY close behind.
#7re: ALW vs. Sondheim
Posted: 6/12/05 at 10:19pmALW has his brilliant moments, I will admit. But I much prefer Sondheim.
GovernorSlaton
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/14/04
#8re: ALW vs. Sondheim
Posted: 6/12/05 at 10:20pmThenardier, it's really not -- there is, has been, and always will be a clear winner.
#9re: ALW vs. Sondheim
Posted: 6/12/05 at 10:20pmALW- i can't help it...i grew up with him- from jesus christ superstar to...*deep breath* starlight express...
"talent is wanting something hard enough to work for it" - my drama teacher :)
Mythus
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/16/04
#11re: ALW vs. Sondheim
Posted: 6/12/05 at 10:24pmSondheim all the way. The only ALW show I like is JC Superstar. All his 80's stuff is just so....80's :0)
-Anyone want to turn anarchist with me?"Bless you and all who know you, oh wise and penguined one." ~YouWantItWhen????
nmartin
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/3/05
#12re: ALW vs. Sondheim
Posted: 6/12/05 at 10:25pmSondheim has muscialized stories that one would have thought could not have been musicalized. That his shows have not always been well attended in no way detracts from his unsurpassable artistic achievements.
hypertruffle
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/22/05
#13re: ALW vs. Sondheim
Posted: 6/12/05 at 10:29pmBoth have their moments, but I perfer Sondheim.
"The cynicism you refer to, I acquired the day I discovered I was different from little boys!~All About Eve
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#14re: ALW vs. Sondheim
Posted: 6/12/05 at 10:34pmas far as shows go, sondheim wins hands down. ALW has some good songs, and his songs work much better out of context. but i will forever favor sondheim....he is just a million times more talented....
gavrochegirl
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/16/05
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#17re: ALW vs. Sondheim
Posted: 6/12/05 at 10:40pm
No contest. Sondheim is the BE ALL AND END ALL
"Not a day goes by..."
Updated On: 6/12/05 at 10:40 PM
#18re: ALW vs. Sondheim
Posted: 6/12/05 at 10:52pmAs much as I love Phantom, I prefer Sondheim by a mile.
#19re: ALW vs. Sondheim
Posted: 6/12/05 at 11:01pmS to the ONDHEIM
"I love talking about nothing. It is the only thing I know anything about." - Oscar Wilde
#20re: ALW vs. Sondheim
Posted: 6/12/05 at 11:02pmALW will always be my guilty pleasure but I much prefer Sondheim.
David walked into the valley
With a stone clutched in his hand
He was only a boy
But he knew someone must take a stand
There will always be a valley
Always mountains one must scale
There will always be perilous waters
Which someone must sail
-Into the Fire
Scarlet Pimpernel
#21re: ALW vs. Sondheim
Posted: 6/12/05 at 11:09pmThere are a lot of closet ALW fans on this board i'd suspect. It's just not 'cool' to be a theatre fan and like ALW i'd guess. Both composers have brilliant moments. ALW has been more commercially successful, but Sondheim has won more praise from critics and theatre fans. Webber tends to write lush melodies and his shows often include dazzling effects. Sondheim tends to write shows where the music is the focus. I don't know that it makes him better though. I can honestly say, that in my 16 years of theatre-going (i'm 26), I've been more entertained overall by Webber.
"Y'all have a GRAND day now"
#22re: ALW vs. Sondheim
Posted: 6/12/05 at 11:15pmI prefer ALW's scores and Sondheim's lyrics. ALW write beautiful and heartfelt melodies, and Sondheim is a lyrical genius.
JudasIscariot
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/20/05
#23re: ALW vs. Sondheim
Posted: 6/12/05 at 11:23pmALW, way better than Sondheim in my opinion. Phantom of the Opera was the first musical I ever heard, and it scared the daylights out of me. My uncle used to play it when I was about four, and he would turn all of the lights off so I got really frightened. Later on, I listened to his stuff, and realised how beautiful it is. Sondheim really doesn't do anything for me, I am not as emotionally attached to his work.
Matt_G
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/1/04
#24re: ALW vs. Sondheim
Posted: 6/12/05 at 11:24pm
"Noah, someday we'll talk again. But there's things we'll never say. That sorrow deep inside you. It inside me, too. And it never go away. You be okay. You'll learn how to lose things..."
Updated On: 5/9/06 at 11:24 PM
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