I honestly think the best Sondheim score ever is- Page 4

[Huey's Pop]

Posted: 9/6/12 at 10:34am

I have been haunted by the Follies score ever since I first heard it in the early 70s.

[SFFrontRow]

Posted: 9/6/12 at 10:51am

I always found the scores for both Sondheim and Kander & Ebb musicals to be very interesting and stick in my head (the music as much as the lyrics).

My favorite Sondheim is Into the Woods (my first Sondheim theater experience) and my second is Assasins (saw it in downtown LA in a small theater with a bare stage and props as well as at Studio 54 in the last mounting - awesome).

But also love in order of most favorite:

Sweeney Todd
Sunday in the Park with George
A Little Night Music
Follies

But, I think if you like the type of musicals Sondheim writes (very intricate score, urbane and thoughtful lyrics), they are all very good and interesting (except maybe The Frogs).

[chris d]

Posted: 9/6/12 at 11:15am

I can't choose between Follies, Sweeney Todd, and Sunday in the Park With George. All are incredibly brave and ambitious, technically meticulous and emotionally generous.

[It's a fine life!]

Posted: 9/6/12 at 12:07pm

Passion

[dreaming]

Posted: 9/6/12 at 12:26pm

Passion is my favorite because I connect to it. I know people don't like it as much and it's considered one of his less accessible scores.

[jv92]

Posted: 9/6/12 at 9:04pm

SUNDAY IN THE PARK... . It never fails to move me and thrill me and surprise me.

Picking a 2nd favorite, however, is like picking a favorite child.

[justoldbill]

Posted: 9/6/12 at 9:18pm

PACIFIC OVERTURES

Updated On: 9/6/12 at 09:18 PM

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 9/6/12 at 10:05pm

I'd say that ALNM is probably my favorite Sondheim score.
And am I the only one that thinks Company's score is better than the show as a whole?

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 9/6/12 at 10:34pm

I think the trip through the history of the American musical, not just as a technical exercise but as a dramatization of character and action, in FOLLIES sets it apart from all Sondheim's other scores.

But I really have no argument AGAINST anybody's choice here, with the following exception:

I also believe that ROAD SHOW is as good as anything Sondheim has ever written. Why people believe it is "minor" Sondheim is beyond me.

I don't know and won't argue that ROAD SHOW isn't as "good", but it's the first Sondheim score that seems so dominated by motives from earlier scores. So I hear it almost as a medley of his other work than as a score in its own right.

To be clear and fair, lots of great composers have repeated themes, so I'm not criticizing the master. I just don't see ROAD SHOW as one of his greater efforts.

Updated On: 9/6/12 at 10:34 PM

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 9/7/12 at 8:44am

On reflection, it's Pacific Overtures by a nose.

[tazber]

Posted: 9/7/12 at 9:15am

I had the same reaction to Bounce when I first heard it, GavestonPS.

After a few listens though those Sondheim trademark motifs became less overwhelming and the beauty and originality shone through.

I definitely recommend revisiting the score.

I do think that it's as good as his other works.

I love the following:

Bounce (renamed Waste)
The Game
Gold!
Talent
Go

And "The Best Thing That Ever Happened" is perhaps one of the loveliest melodies he's ever written.

For the record (pun intended) I prefer Bounce to Road Show both score and performance wise.

[EponineAmneris]

Posted: 9/7/12 at 10:09am

INTO THE WOODS

[jv92]

Posted: 9/7/12 at 12:35pm

I think ROAD SHOW works really well as a show. I like a lot of the individual songs ("The Best Thing That Ever Happened" AND ESPECIALLY "Isn't He Something!") but I think the show itself, at least as I saw it at The Public as directed by John Doyle, was marvelous. I don't go back to the album all too often, though I think it's a very well produced album.

Then again, I feel the same way about GUYS AND DOLLS. I see it and think it works well and is extraordinary. (Save for the last revival.) But it's not a cast album I replay over and over. I don't think there's any GUYS AND DOLLS cast album I really love either anyway.

And I know I'm in the minority of liking ROAD SHOW as a whole. I thought it was great. A lot of people did not.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 9/7/12 at 5:54pm

Thanks for the recommendation, tazber. I have both recordings, so I'll try BOUNCE.

[AwesomeDanny]

Posted: 9/7/12 at 8:45pm

I'm going to be weird and say my favorite scores by Sondhiem are:

1) Evening Primrose
2) Anyone Can Whistle
3) Merrily We Roll Along

And then they all jumble together and I can't pick.

[NoHSMisNotAMusical]

Posted: 9/8/12 at 1:06pm

Wow, four pages into a Sondheim thread, and no After Eight!

[jv92]

Posted: 9/8/12 at 6:25pm

Don't jinx it!!

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 9/9/12 at 3:21am

AwesomeDanny, I adore Evening Primrose and Merrily as well. I still wish he would expand Evening Primrose into a full stage musical because the material fascinates me, but I'm pretty sure he's said in the past that he has no interest in pursuing it. I guess I understand it but the existing material is so great that I wish there were more of it.

I think my favorite over time has grown to be Sunday in the Park...I discover something new and beautiful every time I listen to it. "Color and Light" in particular is one of my favorite Sondheim songs. I've also always been fascinated by Assassins because of how deeply it draws on Americana and then completely twists it...I found a very interesting TV special on Youtube the other night from when the original production was happening where Sondheim spoke about the score and what he was trying to accomplish with it.

[After Eight]

Posted: 9/9/12 at 8:54am

"Wow, four pages into a Sondheim thread, and no After Eight!"

Careful, now. I might think you actually want me to post in these threads.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 9/9/12 at 10:07am

It's like waiting for Maleficent to show up in "Sleeping Beauty."

[Wynbish]

Posted: 9/9/12 at 10:21am

I'm an Evening Primrose fan as well. "I Remember" can break my heart as easily as "Losing my mind"

[After Eight]

Posted: 9/9/12 at 10:21am

Oh, my God!, I can't believe it.

My good friend Reginald, it was specifically for YOU that I refrained fom posting here, because I know how irked you get every time I post in a Sondheim thread. (We know the line by heart: "Why does someone who dislikes Sondheim constantly post in Sondheim threads?")

So here I was, being deferent to YOU, and you send a jibe my way anyway.

I'm telling you....

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 9/9/12 at 10:28am

I thought it a gentle jibe.

(And I'm never irked, though it does sometimes baffle me.)

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 9/9/12 at 12:05pm

Now that I've finally seen "Evening Primrose", I can understand why Sondheim has no interest in returning to expand it. Despite two breathtaking numbers (I agree with Wynbish about "I Remember") and a not-bad introductory number for Tony Perkins, it's pretty thin stuff.

If one cared, I suppose the governing elders could be developed further, but it doesn't seem that Sondheim or even Goldman cared enough to bother. The play basically has two stock characters (the "sensitive artist" and the "naif") and a "shock ending" that isn't very shocking. I'd even go so far as to wager that Sondheim looks back on the Harold-Pinter-meets-Rod-Sterling teleplay and finds it juvenile.

I realize some also find Goldman's characterizations thin in LION IN WINTER and FOLLIES; but isn't it remarkable that Sondheim was able to wrench such complex and moving material from simple characters? Maybe the characters were more substantial in Goldman's mind than on the page, or maybe Sondheim took the most interesting parts of them (as songwriters will do) and Goldman had nothing left.



Updated On: 9/9/12 at 12:05 PM

[jarndyce]

Posted: 9/9/12 at 1:37pm

I'm sure it's up here elsewhere, but the challenge is impossible because each score is so its own. There's no criterion except excellence, unlike other composers who follow styles and themes. I think PO is the best because of its haunting melodies and sheer power. I think 'Follies' is the best because it's so freaking brilliant all around, and 'All Things...' is, to me, his most exquisite song ever. I think 'Whistle' is astounding. I think 'Assassins' and 'Company' are also his best scores. Or is it 'Sweeney'? Forget about it, people. Just do what I do, and practice 'Now' from 'Night Music' when grocery shopping.