Composers you either love or hate

[Zeitoujo]

Posted: 4/14/08 at 8:07pm

My list is:
1. Sondheim
2. Lloyd Webber

[bertandrew2]

Posted: 4/14/08 at 8:10pm

I dont know if I actually HATE Sondheim....but I'm tired of him. Do we have to revive every one of his shows?? Enough! I appreciate his talent, I like one or two of his shows...but I'm very over him.

[TooDarnHot]

Posted: 4/14/08 at 8:14pm

Your post is unclear. Are you saying you LOVE both of them or HATE both of them or hate one of them and love one of them?

for what it's worth...

HATE: the Cry-Baby composers and Andrew Lloyd Webber

LOVE: Marc Shaiman, Tysen & Miller, Georgia Stitt (JRB's wife), Scott Alan

INDIFFERENT/OVERRATED: Sondheim and Jason Robert Brown.
Updated On: 4/14/08 at 08:14 PM

[Weez]

Posted: 4/14/08 at 8:18pm

I think they want Marmite composers. Ones where people are very definite on their opinion, ones with no "I think they're okay" fence-sitting.

Frank Wildhorn and Andrew Lloyd Webber, I reckon. The people who hate them are very vocal about hating them, but there's enough people around who think they're great to keep 'em going. I for one love Wildhorn, even though I recognise I should possibly feel shame at this fact.

[zooxanthellae]

Posted: 4/14/08 at 8:20pm

Sondheim, definitely, although for the record I LOVE him!

I feel like Schwartz would fall under this category... I consistently dislike his work

[misschung]

Posted: 4/14/08 at 8:32pm

Agreed with Schwartz and Sondheim.

[philly03]

Posted: 4/14/08 at 8:40pm

Love: Andrew Lloyd Webber & Frank Wildhorn.
Hate: Schwarts, and the majority of Sondheim's stuff. And his attitude.

[TooDarnHot]

Posted: 4/14/08 at 8:43pm

"majority of Sondheim's stuff. And his attitude."

... says the poster who has Webber under the LOVE category.

but I'll stop right there.

[Urban]

Posted: 4/14/08 at 8:55pm

If you are talking about a sharp polarisation between theatre fans in general, definately Schwartz. People even love him or loathe him. He just doesn't have alot of the grey middle ground where people just go 'bleh'.

[philly03]

Posted: 4/14/08 at 8:55pm

Sondheim's attitude is all there's better things to life than composing music, like making video games.

Atleast Lloyd Webber continues to make it.

[TooDarnHot]

Posted: 4/14/08 at 9:05pm

Sondheim has been more successful than Webber and is much older. He's not at the same stage...

Webber is still writing crap upon crap.

Sondheim is relaxing, enjoying his hobby of creating board games (not video games), and working on BOUNCE rewrites.

[philly03]

Posted: 4/14/08 at 9:31pm

I don't entirely hate Sondheim. I do enjoy Sunday + Sweeney & if you want to include Gypsy.

But inregards to Sondheim being more successful than Webber? I say no way. Lloyd Webber in 1988, according to the Time Article, was worth a personal $200 million. (http://tinyurl.com/5ckw9z)

And if you're talking about shows, a lot of Lloyd Webber's shows play for about 1000 performances, give or take, while Sondheim's longest running show is 964. Lloyd Webber is much more popular and well-known to the general public, and his shows generally speaking run over a year. Sondheim shows do not usually, not even the 'recent' revival of Sweeney Todd which starred two broadway 'legends.' http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=12430

[ashbash1990]

Posted: 4/14/08 at 9:34pm

Am I the only one who thinks Adam Guetell's music sounds like nothing? He's got a few lovely songs, bit for the most part, I'm not a fan...

[bschneid76]

Posted: 4/14/08 at 9:37pm

Love: Jule Styne, Stephen Sondheim, and Jerry Herman
Not too fond of: Andrew Llyod Webber and Stephen Schwartz

[dramarama2]

Posted: 4/14/08 at 9:45pm

Larry O'Keefe...love some...hate some...

[SpellingBeeFan4Ever]

Posted: 4/14/08 at 9:49pm

Updated On: 4/14/08 at 09:49 PM

[TooDarnHot]

Posted: 4/14/08 at 10:01pm

dramarama - do you mean Larry O'Key Change?

see: LEGALLY BLONDE score

on the other hand, I loved his work in BAT BOY. gotta take the good with bad I guess..

[Tom148502]

Posted: 4/14/08 at 10:10pm

I like Sondheim's work, but detest the ego-centric man

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 4/14/08 at 11:18pm

Count me in on Guettel. I've tried an tried, but Piazza's score does absolutely nothing for me.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 4/14/08 at 11:24pm

I cannot stand Michael John LaChiusa's work. Everything I've seen of his has been more dreadful than the last.

[skb2010]

Posted: 4/14/08 at 11:26pm

i'm both with sondheim.

is that possible?

[sondheimgeek]

Posted: 4/14/08 at 11:35pm

I don't hate any of Sondheim's work, but like any other composer he has his ups and downs.

However, Andrew Lloud Webber has more downs than ups, but out of 100, he's had 5 ups. He can write some nice things, but I just think a majority of it are filler songs and fluff. He does however, write nice anthems.

Larry O' Keefe is definitely a hit or miss with me. Some of it is nice, some of it is...worse.

I don't have many composers that are hit or miss. I really just appreciate what each composer has to offer.

I understand how Sondheim can be hit or miss, but I've never found him ego-tistical. Just a different sense of humor, that's all. And as another poster said: he's older now, he wants to enjoy life, and any theatre composer can tell you how much of a challenge it is to write a show. I just think he likes to poke fun at it now.

Updated On: 4/14/08 at 11:35 PM