Broadway Puzzler #112
Broadway Puzzler #112
Joined: 12/31/69
#0Broadway Puzzler #112
Posted: 12/12/04 at 7:18pm
What was the first musical seen by Stephen Sondheim, and when?
#1re: Broadway Puzzler #112
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.
"One no longer loves one's insight enough once one communicates it."
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
Updated On: 12/12/04 at 07:21 PM
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#3re: Broadway Puzzler #112
Posted: 12/12/04 at 7:31pmOh. The first one HE saw? Not the first one he wrote and was seen?
"One no longer loves one's insight enough once one communicates it."
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#5re: Broadway Puzzler #112
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.
"One no longer loves one's insight enough once one communicates it."
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
Mr. TN
Stand-by Joined: 12/2/03
#6re: Broadway Puzzler #112
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
#7re: Broadway Puzzler #112
Posted: 12/12/04 at 7:43pmHis first live theatre was the operetta "White Horse Inn" which was followed later on by "The Boys from Syracuse" - 1938.
"Smart! And into all those exotic mystiques -- The Kama Sutra and Chinese techniques. I hear she knows more than seventy-five. Call me tomorrow if you're still alive!"
Updated On: 12/12/04 at 07:43 PM
#8re: Broadway Puzzler #112
Posted: 12/12/04 at 7:44pmIn BROADWAY: THE GOLDEN AGE he states, "The first show I saw was OKLAHOMA"
"One no longer loves one's insight enough once one communicates it."
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
#9re: Broadway Puzzler #112
Posted: 12/12/04 at 7:50pmHe was also taken, as a child, to see Disney's "Snow White".
"Smart! And into all those exotic mystiques -- The Kama Sutra and Chinese techniques. I hear she knows more than seventy-five. Call me tomorrow if you're still alive!"
another sloe eyed vamp
Stand-by Joined: 8/18/04
#10re: Broadway Puzzler #112
Posted: 12/13/04 at 9:04pmCarousel. At the opening, which would have been 1945.
#11re: Broadway Puzzler #112
Posted: 12/14/04 at 11:37pmSo what's the deal, did Jose' go on vacation or something?
"Smart! And into all those exotic mystiques -- The Kama Sutra and Chinese techniques. I hear she knows more than seventy-five. Call me tomorrow if you're still alive!"
#12re: Broadway Puzzler #112
Posted: 12/14/04 at 11:38pmIt would seem.
"One no longer loves one's insight enough once one communicates it."
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
#13re: Broadway Puzzler #112
Posted: 12/16/04 at 10:45pmMaybe he forgot he asked the question.
"Smart! And into all those exotic mystiques -- The Kama Sutra and Chinese techniques. I hear she knows more than seventy-five. Call me tomorrow if you're still alive!"
#14re: Broadway Puzzler #112
Posted: 12/26/04 at 5:53pmJose' , are you going to answer this Puzzler?
"Smart! And into all those exotic mystiques -- The Kama Sutra and Chinese techniques. I hear she knows more than seventy-five. Call me tomorrow if you're still alive!"
#15re: Broadway Puzzler #112
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.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#16re: Broadway Puzzler #112
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.
#17re: Broadway Puzzler #112
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
"Smart! And into all those exotic mystiques -- The Kama Sutra and Chinese techniques. I hear she knows more than seventy-five. Call me tomorrow if you're still alive!"
millie_dillmount
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/22/04
#18re: Broadway Puzzler #112
Posted: 12/28/04 at 4:50pmWicked.
"We like to snark around here. Sometimes we actually talk about theater...but we try not to let that get in our way." - dramamama611
#19re: Broadway Puzzler #112
Posted: 12/28/04 at 4:51pmHow dare you!
BSoBW2: I punched Sondheim in the face after I saw Wicked and said, "Why couldn't you write like that!?"
millie_dillmount
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/22/04
#20re: Broadway Puzzler #112
Posted: 12/28/04 at 4:52pm
Moi? 
"We like to snark around here. Sometimes we actually talk about theater...but we try not to let that get in our way." - dramamama611
#21re: Broadway Puzzler #112
Posted: 12/28/04 at 4:53pmYou silly thing.
BSoBW2: I punched Sondheim in the face after I saw Wicked and said, "Why couldn't you write like that!?"
#22re: Broadway Puzzler #112
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!
#23re: Broadway Puzzler #112
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. "
"Smart! And into all those exotic mystiques -- The Kama Sutra and Chinese techniques. I hear she knows more than seventy-five. Call me tomorrow if you're still alive!"
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#24re: Broadway Puzzler #112
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.
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