#1
Posted: 7/20/05 at 11:59am
I just bought this song by Bernadette Peters. She is so amazing. And this song is just glorious. Who sang it originally?
#2
Posted: 7/20/05 at 12:04pm
Dean Jones was the original Robert in COMPANY.
"For me, THEATRE is an anticipation, an artistic rush, an emotional banquet, a jubilant appreciation, and an exit hopeful of clearer thought and better worlds."
~ an anonymous traveler with Robert Burns
#4
Posted: 7/21/05 at 12:24am
I saw Dean Jones perform this in an original cast reunion concert in Long Beach in 1993 and by John Barrowman at the Kennedy Center production. It never fails to send chills up my spine and tears down my face. It ranks up there with the finest of 11 o'clock numbers
'Our whole family shouts. It comes from us livin' so close to the railroad tracks'
#6
Posted: 7/21/05 at 12:40am
Bernadette gives me chills every time I listen to it. The song is absolutely amazing!
#7
Posted: 7/21/05 at 2:13am
Patti Lupone sings it on the Sondheim concert at Carnegie Hall
#8
Posted: 7/22/05 at 4:51am
Am I alone in absolutely loathing this song? I mean, when Patti sings it she knocks it out of the park, but it feels so schmaltzy to me. It's a "loud" song, but I don't find it terribly moving or interesting. I love all the other songs in Company, but Being Alive has to be one of my least favorite Sondheim works. I know, I know, I've got wax in my ears.
#9
Posted: 7/22/05 at 5:58am
I find the song extremely moving in the context of the show as Bobby's whole journey builds to this point, but all the 'diva renditions' of it have no effect on me at all.
Updated On: 7/22/05 at 05:58 AM
#10
Posted: 7/22/05 at 6:01am
Love the Hirschfeld Liza in your icon. Love the song too. I only like it if It is sung well though.
#11
Posted: 7/22/05 at 8:12am
From what I understand, correct me if I'm wrong, Dean Jones was going through a divorce at the time and found singing that song to be one of the most emotionally challenging moments of his life in the theater and sometimes had difficulty getting through it.
"I know now that theatre saved my life." - Susan Stroman
#12
Posted: 7/22/05 at 9:06am
Listen closely to the underscoring of the song. I did a production of Company a few years ago, and I loved to sit and listen to the piano during this song before we got the entire orchestra. The piano line is slowly playing the title song from Company, and it sounds so different and pretty to hear it slowed down. This is why I love Sondheim!
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