Broadway Puzzler #112

[Unknown User]

Posted: 12/12/04 at 7:18pm

What was the first musical seen by Stephen Sondheim, and when?

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 12/12/04 at 7:21pm

BY GEORGE-1946

He wrote it when he was 15 and attending the George School.

Oscar Hammerstein said it was the worst thing he had ever read.

Updated On: 12/12/04 at 07:21 PM

[Unknown User]

Posted: 12/12/04 at 7:30pm

Wrong answer!

Read the question again.

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 12/12/04 at 7:31pm

Oh. The first one HE saw? Not the first one he wrote and was seen?

[Unknown User]

Posted: 12/12/04 at 7:33pm

Yes. The first musical he SAW.

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 12/12/04 at 7:36pm

OKLAHOMA.

But he likes to say that the first he saw was CAROUSEL, because he remembers the night that Hammerstein took him to New Haven to see the very first performance of CAROUSEL as one the greatest nights of his life.

[Mr. TN]

Posted: 12/12/04 at 7:36pm

I am going to guess either Ziegfeld Follies (1934 or 1936) or The Boys from Syracuse 1938. Am I in the ballpark?

Edit: I think I'm a little too early. Maybe Pal Joey from the early fourties. Or I would second Oklahoma if it wasn't so close to the writing of his own play. Updated On: 12/12/04 at 07:36 PM

[pab]

Posted: 12/12/04 at 7:43pm

His first live theatre was the operetta "White Horse Inn" which was followed later on by "The Boys from Syracuse" - 1938.

Updated On: 12/12/04 at 07:43 PM

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 12/12/04 at 7:44pm

In BROADWAY: THE GOLDEN AGE he states, "The first show I saw was OKLAHOMA"

[pab]

Posted: 12/12/04 at 7:50pm

He was also taken, as a child, to see Disney's "Snow White".

[another sloe eyed vamp]

Posted: 12/13/04 at 9:04pm

Carousel. At the opening, which would have been 1945.

[pab]

Posted: 12/14/04 at 11:37pm

So what's the deal, did Jose' go on vacation or something?

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 12/14/04 at 11:38pm

It would seem.

[pab]

Posted: 12/16/04 at 10:45pm

Maybe he forgot he asked the question.

[pab]

Posted: 12/26/04 at 5:53pm

Jose' , are you going to answer this Puzzler?

[paradox_error]

Posted: 12/28/04 at 9:05am

Jose'?!?!?!?!?!?!
I want to know the answer to this...I think it's Oklahoma! but Priest had beat me to it when I found this thread 2 weeks ago.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 12/28/04 at 1:08pm

I lost track with the madness of the holidays. My apologies.

I tentatively say it's CAROUSEL. I understand the confusion, however, surrounding OKLAHOMA or CAROUSEL.

So, while I believe the correct answer to be CAROUSEL I will re-verify and respond again.

[pab]

Posted: 12/28/04 at 4:41pm

Please allow me, if you will, to post the following paragraph taken from "Stephen Sondheim : A life". It's a biography of Stephen Sondheim by Meryle Secrest. The following paragraph can be found on page 20 of that book and the last third of said paragraph talks about his first theatre experiences:

He did not recall having any marked interest in music. He did concede, "I can't remember when I didn't go around humming things," but dismissed the idea that this was in any way indicative of special talent. All children had similar gifts, he believed, but their interests were not allowed to develop, or were even discouraged by misguided parents and teachers. He could just have easily have been a mathematician, and was "very strongly attracted" by the idea. He had no interest in art and poetry, and his inability to conjure up a visual image remains striking. When asked to describe his mother, he said helplessly, "You'll have to see pictures of her." As the description of the Capehart phonograph would indicate, he was intensely interested in how things worked, and once took a slot machine apart—it took him three days—because it had jammed and he wanted to solve the puzzle. He was taken to the movies—he vividly remembers seeing Disney's "Snow White"—and to the theatre on rare occasions. He saw his first live theatre at age six, Benatzky's operetta "White Horse Inn". He remembers seeing Rodgers and Hart's "The Boys from Syracuse", which opened on Broadway in the late fall of 1928, and Oscar Hammerstein II's "Very Warm for May" the following year. He also met the great man himself that year but remembers nothing about it.

If you don't have a copy of the book you can find this paragraph, and a lot of other interesting information about Stephen Sondheim, using Amazon's "Search inside this book" feature.
A Link to the book

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 12/28/04 at 4:50pm

Wicked.

[Sumofallthings]

Posted: 12/28/04 at 4:51pm

How dare you!

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 12/28/04 at 4:52pm

Moi?

[Sumofallthings]

Posted: 12/28/04 at 4:53pm

You silly thing.

[paradox_error]

Posted: 12/28/04 at 7:21pm

wow.
Not even jose' knows the answer.
Someone get on the phone to Mr. Sondheim (aka God) and find out, stat!

[pab]

Posted: 12/28/04 at 7:49pm

From the Amazom.com review:

"Stephen Sondheim himself was interviewed for the book, as were many of his closest friends, and the author makes perceptive use of this material. "

[Unknown User]

Posted: 12/28/04 at 8:47pm

I just reran the filmed interview with SS on "BROADWAY: The Golden Age."

Here's what SS has to say.

SS: "Yeah, the first show I saw was OKLAHOMA, but the first one I particularly remember was CAROUSEL, because Oscar took me to New Haven and I saw the first performance of CAROUSEL and that was one of the great evenings of my life."

Q: It was in previews?

SS: It was the first performance, ever. In New Haven.

Q: What was it like?

SS: It was thrilling. It was just thrilling. I cried."

So, anyone who said OKLAHOMA is correct, but anyone who said CAROUSEL is also correct.