Favorite Sondheim Song — Page 2

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#26

Favorite Sondheim Song

Posted: 6/14/11 at 9:55am

Best All-Around Song - Sunday (but the version I love the best is the one Billy Porter does on his "Corner of Broadway..."

Best Collaborative Song - Somewhere
Best Angry or Bitter Song - Last Midnight
Best Hopeful or Reassuring Song - Not While I'm Around
Best Inspirational or Influential Song - Our Time
Best Male Solo - Being Alive
Best Female Solo - Send In the Clowns/Ladies Who Lunch
Best Duet or Trio - We Do Not Belong Together/Move On
Best Ensemble Song - A Weekend In the Country
Best Music/Melody - Sunday
Best Lyrics - "To Flirt with Rescue, When One Has No Intention of being saved" (Not a lyric technically but a quote from A Little Night Music)

"Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around."

#27

Favorite Sondheim Song

Posted: 6/14/11 at 10:11am

Best All-Around Song - Finishing the Hat
Best Collaborative Song - Rose's Turn
Best Angry or Bitter Song - Johanna (Sweeney's version)
Best Hopeful or Reassuring Song - No One is Alone
Best Inspirational or Influential Song - Move On
Best Male Solo - Epiphany
Best Female Solo - Loving You or Send in the Clowns
Best Duet or Trio - Now, Soon, Later
Best Ensemble Song - Sunday
Best Music/Melody-We Do Not Belong Together/Move On and Sunday would be tied here.
Best Lyrics - Somewhere

#28

Favorite Sondheim Song

Posted: 6/14/11 at 10:12am

Best All-Around Song - Good Thing Going
Best Collaborative Song - Everything's Coming Up Roses
Best Angry or Bitter Song - How Could I Leave You
Best Hopeful or Reassuring Song - Not While I'm Around
Best Inspirational or Influential Song - Our Time
Best Male Solo - Epiphany/Being Alive
Best Female Solo - Ladies Who Lunch/Send In the Clowns
Best Duet or Trio - A Little Priest
Best Ensemble Song - God That's Good
Best Music/Melody - Sunday
Best Lyrics - Moments In The Woods

#29

Favorite Sondheim Song

Posted: 6/14/11 at 10:30am

This is easy. I love most of his work, but picking a favorite song is a no brainer for me. Sunday. It never fails to give me chills and make me tear up, regardless of who is singing it. Original cast, revival cast, choral versions - makes no matter. The song is one of the most beautiful melodies I think I've ever heard and is not only my favorite Sondheim song, but one of my favorite songs of all time.

#30

Favorite Sondheim Song

Posted: 6/14/11 at 11:40am

Best All-Around Song (the equivalent of Best Picture or Best Musical, etc.) I Read
Best Collaborative Song -- Rose’s Turn
Best Angry or Bitter Song-- Could I Leave You
Best Hopeful or Reassuring Song -- Being Alive
Best Inspirational or Influential Song -- Move On
Best Male Solo -- No One Has Ever Loved Me
Best Female Solo-- Children and Art
Best Duet or Trio-- It Takes Two
Best Ensemble Song-- Finale of Passion
Best Music/Melody -- Garden Sequence
Best Lyrics-- The Gun Song

This was too difficult.

#31

Favorite Sondheim Song

Posted: 6/14/11 at 12:14pm

I'd like to propose a toast.

Here's to the Sondheim who surprises and delights us.

When I was 10 years old, I was an avid devotee of MAD Magazine. The sarcastic, gleeful anarchic humor was thrilling to me, especially when they would do lyric parodies of songs from Broadway musicals. I was even a member of the Mad Club, which entitled me to a button with Alfred E. Newman's picture on it and the feeling that I was smarter and more sophisticated than any of my friends.

As a birthday present, my parents got tickets to an Off Broadway revue that had just opened, called THE MAD SHOW, at the New Theater on 54th Street, between Lexington and Park, which was torn down in 1974 when they built the Citicorp Center.

The MAD Show was loosely based on Mad Magazine, with music by Mary Rodgers and a cast that included Linda Lavin and a pre-Laugh-In Jo Anne Worley.

The song I liked best had lyrics by someone named "Esteban Rio Nido." Only a decade later, did I find out that "Rio Nido" and "Sondheim" both meant "river nest" and "Esteban," of course, was Stephen.

What a great surprise that my favorite song from the silly show I loved when I was 10 was by my favorite songwriter.

But back then, as a 10-year-old, all I knew was that Linda Lavin singing "The Boy From" really made me laugh--more than it made my parents or my sister laugh...especially the subtle (or not-so subtle hints that the boy was gay ("Tall and slender, moves like a dancer"..."Why are his trousers vermillion"..."Why do his friends call him Lillian?"). As a 10-year-old in 1966, I didn't know what those references meant, but I kinda knew what they meant. And, whatever they meant, I thought it was terrific.

I wish there were a video of Linda Lavin performing it, but here is Julia Mackenzie doing it pretty well.

http://youtu.be/QyUNmB-W0Gk

Updated On: 6/14/11 at 12:14 PM

#32

Favorite Sondheim Song

Posted: 6/14/11 at 12:40pm

Pal...that is a wonderful story...thanks for sharing:)...and i had completely forgotten about that song...a very clever early song by SONDHEIM...nice to hear it again...

#33

Favorite Sondheim Song

Posted: 6/14/11 at 3:33pm

There's a difference between "best" and "favorite". I think my favorite Sondheim song would be Anyone Can Whistle because whenever I hear it, I just think it's about me. But here's my ballot for the best ones:

Best All-Around Song- Opening Doors
Best Collaborative Song- Rose's Turn
Best Angry or Bitter Song- Could I Leave You
Best Hopeful or Reassuring Song- We're Gonna Be Alright
Best Inspirational or Influential Song- Our Time
Best Male Solo- Finishing the Hat
Best Female Solo- The Worst Pies in London
Best Duet or Trio- Opening Doors
Best Ensemble Song- Sunday
Best Music/Melody- Too Many Mornings
Best Lyrics- You Could Drive a Person Crazy

#34

Favorite Sondheim Song

Posted: 6/14/11 at 4:00pm

Best All-Around Song - Sunday
Best Collaborative Song- Somewhere
Best Angry or Bitter Song - Could I Leave You
Best Hopeful or Reassuring Song - Our Time
Best Inspirational or Influential Song - Losing My Mind
Best Male Solo - Maria - is that allowed outside collaboration? Ok, Marry Me A Little then.
Best Female Solo - Send In the Clowns
Best Duet or Trio - Pretty Lady
Best Ensemble Song - Sunday
Best Music/Melody - Sunday or Not a Day Goes By. Simplicity.
Best Lyrics - Could I Leave You/A Little Priest (especially the last line)

The rain we knew is a thing of the past -
deep-delving, dark, deliberate you would say
browsing on spire and bogland; but today
our sky-blue slates are steaming in the sun,
our yachts tinkling and dancing in the bay
like racehorses. We contemplate at last
shining windows, a future forbidden to no one.

Derek Mahon

"Maybe all one can do is hope to end up with the right regrets."

Arthur Miller

#35

Favorite Sondheim Song

Posted: 6/14/11 at 4:29pm

Best All-Around Song - The Ladies Who Lunch
Best Collaborative Song - Rose's Turn
Best Angry or Bitter Song - The Ladies Who Lunch
Best Hopeful or Reassuring Song - No One Is Alone
Best Inspirational or Influential Song - There Wont Be Trumpets
Best Male Solo - Epiphany
Best Female Solo - I'm Still Here
Best Duet or Trio - Now/Soon/Later
Best Ensemble Song - Sunday
Best Music/Melody - Side by Side
Best Lyrics - A Little Priest

<------ Me and my friends with patti Lupone at my friends afterparty for her concert with audra mcdonald during the summer of 2007.
"I am sorry but it is an unjust world and virtue is only triumphant in theatricle performances" The Mikado

#36

Favorite Sondheim Song

Posted: 6/14/11 at 4:44pm

Best All-Around Song - Another Hundred People
Best Collaborative Song - If Momma Was Married
Best Angry or Bitter Song - Liaisons
Best Hopeful or Reassuring Song - No One Is Alone
Best Inspirational or Influential Song - Children Will Listen
Best Male Solo - Finishing The Hat
Best Female Solo - On The Steps Of The Palace
Best Duet or Trio - Every Day A Little Death
Best Ensemble Song - The Ballad Of Sweeney Todd
Best Music/Melody - The bit of music between "Barber And His Wife" and "Worst Pies"
Best Lyrics - Your Fault

#37

Favorite Sondheim Song

Posted: 6/14/11 at 5:32pm

Best All-Around Song: Move On
Best Collaborative Song: Rose's Turn
Best Angry or Bitter Song: Could I Leave You?
Best Hopeful or Reassuring Song: No One is Alone
Best Inspirational or Influential Song: Move On
Best Male Solo: Being Alive
Best Female Solo: Losing My Mind
Best Duet or Trio: Happiness
Best Ensemble Song: The Frogs :)
Best Music/Melody: Sunday
Best Lyrics: The Little Things You Do Together

#38

Favorite Sondheim Song

Posted: 6/14/11 at 5:32pm

Losing My Mind is my favorite song of all time by anyone in any genre. Follies is my favorite musical. Bernadette is my favorite performer. I think it all traces back to the first time I was ever onstage in Annie Get Your Gun as a sophomore in HS. We practiced with the revival recording with her and it's when I was falling in love with theatre. I'm seeing the Kennedy Center Follies final performance on Sunday. If I never post again it's because I've died and gone to heaven.

#39

Favorite Sondheim Song

Posted: 6/14/11 at 6:15pm

Best All-Around Song: Sunday
Best Collaborative Song: Rose's Turn
Best Angry or Bitter Song: Franklin Shepard, Inc.
Best Hopeful or Reassuring Song: Not While I'm Around
Best Inspirational or Influential Song: Our Time
Best Male Solo: Finishing the Hat
Best Female Solo: The Ladies Who Lunch
Best Duet or Trio: Every Day A Little Death/Someone in a Tree
Best Ensemble Song: A Weekend in the Country
Best Music/Melody: Sunday
Best Lyrics: A Little Priest

Honorable mentions: Everybody Says Don't, Epiphany, Send in the Clowns, Losing My Mind, The Worst Pies in London, and the Prologue of Into the Woods

I am a firm believer in serendipity- all the random pieces coming together in one wonderful moment, when suddenly you see what their purpose was all along.

#40

Favorite Sondheim Song

Posted: 6/16/11 at 7:52pm

Not sure I want to categorize the greatest songs the way you guys have been. How 'bout my pick for best song(s) from his greatest shows (can't really include collaborations here):

NOMINEES (the ones I want to hear over and over):
Forum: Everybody Ought to Have a Maid
Whistle: Anyone Can Whistle
Evening Primrose: I Remember Sky
Company: Another Hundred People, The Ladies Who Lunch, Multitudes of Amys
Follies: The Road You Didn't Take, All Things Bright and Beautiful
ALNM: Night Waltz I & II, Send in the Clowns, The Miller's Son, The Glamorous Life (film)
PO: There is No Other Way, Poems, Someone in a Tree, Pretty Lady
ST: Pretty Women
Merrily: Opening Doors, Our Time
SITPWG: Finishing the Hat, Sunday, Move On
Assassins: Another National Anthem, Something Just Broke

FINALISTS (the ones that always make me cry):
All Things Bright and Beautiful
Poems
Pretty Lady
Our Time
Finishing the Hat
Sunday

Sorry, can't pick a winner. Too cruel to ask of us.

Updated On: 6/16/11 at 07:52 PM

#41

Favorite Sondheim Song

Posted: 6/16/11 at 7:56pm

DOBLE POST SORRY!

Updated On: 6/16/11 at 07:56 PM

#42

Favorite Sondheim Song

Posted: 6/16/11 at 8:01pm

Best All-Around Song: Sunday
Best Collaborative Song: Everything's Coming Up roses
Besy Angry or Bitter Song: The Ladies Who Lunch
Best Hopeful or Reassuring Song: Not While I'm Around
Best Inspirational or Influential Song: There are a lot to me
Best Male Solo: Being Alive
Best Female Solo: Send in the Clowns
Best Duet or Trio: Soon/ Now/ Later
Best Ensemble Song: A Weekend in the Country
Best Music/Melody: The Ballad of Sweeney Todd
Best Lyrics: A Little Priest

#43

Favorite Sondheim Song

Posted: 6/16/11 at 9:37pm

Best All-Around Song: Finishing the Hat
Best Collaborative Song: Somewhere
Best Angry or Bitter Song: Could I Leave You?
Best Hopeful or Reassuring Song: No One is Alone
Best Inspirational or Influential Song: Being Alive
Best Male Solo: Someone is Waiting
Best Female Solo: Losing My Mind
Best Duet or Trio: Sorry-Grateful
Best Ensemble Song: Side by Side by Side/What Would We Do Without You?
Best Music/Melody: Everything's Coming Up Roses
Best Lyrics: A Little Priest

Wow, that was tough but so much fun. Then again, that's Sondheim for you. And my love for Company is really showing. Company, The Ladies Who Lunch, Another Hundred People, You Could Drive a Person Crazy, The Little Things You Do Together, Getting Married Today . . . what a show! Way to go, Mr. Sondheim!

Updated On: 6/16/11 at 09:37 PM

#44

Favorite Sondheim Song

Posted: 6/16/11 at 9:44pm

"This Week, Americans" for Collaboration

#45

Favorite Sondheim Song

Posted: 6/16/11 at 9:52pm

Best All-Around Song: The Miller's Son
Best Collaborative Song: All I Need is the Girl
Best Angry or Bitter Song: Could I Leave You
Best Hopeful or Reassuring Song: No one is Alone
Best Inspirational or Influential Song: Move On
Best Male Solo: Someone is Waiting
Best Female Solo: Anyone Can Whistle
Best Duet or Trio: A Weekend in the Country
Best Ensemble Song: Sunday
Best Music/Melody: Every Day a Little Death
Best Lyrics: Losing My Mind

echoing how hard that was!

"I've never encountered such religiously, you know, loyal fans as Broadway musical theater fans. It's amazing." --Allison Janney

#46

Favorite Sondheim Song

Posted: 6/16/11 at 10:41pm

Best All-Around Song - Someone In a Tree
Best Collaborative Song - Rose's Turn
Best Angry or Bitter Song - Could I Leave You?
Best Hopeful or Reassuring Song - With So Little To Be Sure Of or Being Alive
Best Inspirational or Influential Song - Someone In a Tree
Best Male Solo - Finishing the Hat
Best Female Solo - I'm Still Here
Best Duet or Trio - Someone In a Tree (Now/Later/Soon for runner up)
Best Ensemble Song - A Weekend In the Country
Best Music/Melody - Another Hundred People
Best Lyrics - A Little Priest or Remember

#47

Favorite Sondheim Song

Posted: 6/17/11 at 11:40am

Awesome Danny, I, too, love the title song "Anyone Can Whistle" for it's beautiful melody and because I feel it speaks to me.

chewy 5000, good for you for remembering the collaborative work of Stephen Sondheim and Richard Rodgers for DO I HEAR A WALTZ. My favorite song from that show is the title song. I wish I had seen it. Incidentally, Sondheim did not enjoy his collaboration with the often feisty and opinionated Rodgers.

"Madam Rose...and her daughter...Gypsy!"

#48

Favorite Sondheim Song

Posted: 6/17/11 at 11:54am

Move On
With So Little To Be Sure Of
Road You Didn't Take
I'm Still Here
Losing My Mind
Not a Day Goes By
Everybody's Got The Right (for real!)
Last Midnight
No One Is Alone
Every Day a Little Death
Ladies Who Lunch
You Could Drive A Person Crazy is up there, I love the lyrics..
the entire scores of ALNM and Follies, pretty much

These are not in order, except for the first two.

"I chose and my world was shaken--so what? The choice may have been mistaken, the choosing was not. You have to move on"

#49

Favorite Sondheim Song

Posted: 6/17/11 at 12:03pm

Gypsy...not just Danny but others, including myself posted ANYONE CAN WHISTLE as best all around song..it is the one song that i also think was wrtitten for me...:)

#50

Favorite Sondheim Song

Posted: 6/17/11 at 3:12pm

It's too hard for me to seperate the songs from the shows--so my faves are all non Broadway.

What Can You Lose (espeically when Judy kuhn sings it)

and Water Under the Bridge (when anyone sings it but Liza)

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