Boring Sondheim Shows?

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 6/22/06 at 3:15pm

Since this board is usually filled with how boring ALW shows are, I was wondering . . . are there any boring Sondheim shows? Discuss!

[JudasIscariot]

Posted: 6/22/06 at 3:17pm

The only Sondheim shows that I really enjoy are Assassins, Sweeney Todd, Into The Woods, and West Side Story. I don't really care much for his other shows.

[buffyactsing]

Posted: 6/22/06 at 3:21pm

Though I'm sure a lot of people will say Passion, I must say I have difficulty with A Funny Thing Happened...

Just not my style.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 6/22/06 at 3:22pm

I never saw BOUNCE, but I'm not a fan of the recording.

I found THE FROGS to be insanely boring.

There are some moments in virtually all Sondheim shows that are a tad slow (FOLLIES, PACIFIC OVERTURES, PASSION, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, SUNDAY IN THE PARK) - but for me, none of them are flat out boring.

[gertiecummings]

Posted: 6/22/06 at 3:27pm

I like a few of the songs, but FOLLIES!!!!!!!!!!!

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 6/22/06 at 3:36pm

I find Pacific Overtures very boring. I know I'm alone in this, but hey.

Updated On: 6/23/06 at 03:36 PM

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 6/22/06 at 3:41pm

If it's a bad production, I can absolutely see why and how most Sondheim shows come off as boring.

[bwayboi4life42]

Posted: 6/22/06 at 3:42pm

I'm a fan of all of Sondheim's work, however, I find there are boring moments in all of his shows.

[thevolleyballer]

Posted: 6/22/06 at 3:43pm

I find Sweeney Todd to just be incredibly boring. I mean, aside from other things, one of the main reasons you hear me dislike it so much is because the music just doesn't shout at me as so many of Sondheim's other shows do. Into The Woods and West Side Story are far superior, in my mind.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 6/22/06 at 3:46pm

I'd take a boring Sondheim show over some of the crap on Broadway right now anyday. Sondheim's worst is better than most people's best.

[sicetergo]

Posted: 6/22/06 at 3:49pm

I have to agree - there have been productions of Sondheim shows that I've seen when the direction has not been great and there are times when you look at your watch. But intrinsically, I don't find anyone of them boring - they are always challenging and intriguing.

And Sweeney Todd boring??? Good grief, compared to what?

[keatonbynumbers]

Posted: 6/22/06 at 3:53pm

Yeah. Personally, I don't think there are any Sondheim shows that are actually boring, but it is VERY easy to do a boring production of almost all them.

That said, I find FORUM to be the most boring of his shows, if I had to pick one. I don't really find it all that boring, but I guess that would be the one.

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 6/22/06 at 3:54pm

I've seen most of Sondheim's shows, on Broadway. The only two that I really liked were FORUM and FOLLIES. The rest, I found fairly uninteresting.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 6/22/06 at 4:00pm

This thread is breaking my heart.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 6/22/06 at 4:00pm

I don't think any of his shows are boring, but many are very dense and someone without the patience to delve into one and work through it, won't get it and these people usually take the easy way out and say "oh it was boring."

SWEENEY TODD? Boring? Not bloody likely. PASSION is slow and deliberate in pacing but those who stay with it are rewarded with the rich emotionalism of the piece. Some don't like FOLLIES book and chracters, but the text of FOLLIES is brief and the songs - those wonderful songs one after another - will more than compensate.

Trouble is TV and movies have conditioned audiences to sit back and spoon feed everything. The best plays (and musicals) demand our involvement, and that (I think) is the secret of Sondheim's success: he can involve audiences in sometimes the most unlikely of stories.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 6/22/06 at 4:02pm

I saw an excellent production of MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG that was extremely boring.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 6/22/06 at 4:07pm

This thread is breaking my heart

I just wanted, for a moment, to point the finger in another direction and make it known that every composer has boring material or boring moments within their shows. Like I said before, it seems like this message board was made to completely bash Webber and I am getting tired of everyone making it seem like that he is a piece of crap and that he has hurt Broadway so badly. I am a fan of both Sondheim and Webber and think both are great!

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 6/22/06 at 4:28pm

I think Company is his most boring show, I cannot bare to sit through it at all...

[buffyactsing]

Posted: 6/22/06 at 4:35pm

Company was pretty tough to sit through, but I saw a pretty poorly directed and performed production of it-except for the Amy.

[devonian.t]

Posted: 6/22/06 at 4:45pm

I don't find any of the shows boring- there is always a brain at work, which is challenging and stimulating.

I guess some shows don't set out to be entertaining in the light entertainment sense.

I can't think of any bits I'd skipon a Sondheim cd, whereas I can skip 3 or 4 tracks at a time for most other composers.

[Shawk]

Posted: 6/22/06 at 5:34pm

I've always loved the implication that if a person isn't completely enthralled with every bit of a Sondheim show, he/she must not be deep enough/smart enough/whatever enough to appreciate the inherent brilliance of every last millisecond.

Parts of Shakespeare's plays are boring, and dare I say, parts of some of Shakespeare's plays are pretty bad. I'm pretty sure that Sondheim does occasionally have his not-so-great moments as well.

I hesitate to mention them as I will instantly be labeled a plebe, however.

[astonishing1985]

Posted: 6/22/06 at 5:37pm

Follies sounds like something ALW would've made

[Mother's Younger Brother]

Posted: 6/22/06 at 5:39pm

Passion is about the most boring thing I've ever seen...Sondheim or otherwise.

And btw, I completely agree with Shawk. There's a very vocal opinion on this board that if you don't "like" something, that means you didn't "get it" or "understand it." And that's crap. Updated On: 6/22/06 at 05:39 PM

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 6/22/06 at 5:39pm

Not sure about the TV aspect. I've been seeing shows since the 50's. I was raised on Broadway shows, and watched very little television (there wasn't much to watch). Sondheim shows are worse than boring, they're not entertaining to me. I'm not saying that someone else shouldn't be entertained, just that I'm not. FOLLIES and FORUM excepted, of course.

[ljay889]

Posted: 6/22/06 at 5:50pm

Follies sounds like something ALW would've made

- I threw up a bit reading that. All Sondheim shows take time to get into, and they make you think. Some people don't want to think, they want sh*t pop scores, and a spoon fed plot..(Schwartz, some ALW)

I find PASSION to be thrilling, heartbreakingly beautiful, and well passionate. Far from a boring show for me.
Updated On: 6/22/06 at 05:50 PM