LaChiusa vs. Sondheim- Page 2
LaChiusa vs. Sondheim
re: LaChiusa vs. Sondheim#25
Posted: 4/19/06 at 6:06pm
Try Agnes De Mille vs. Debbie Allen. That's way more fun.
De Mille. No contest.
Nell Carter vs. Jennifer Holiday is a better one.
re: LaChiusa vs. Sondheim#26
Posted: 4/19/06 at 6:12pm
Oh please. Nell. Holiday always looks like she's being electrocuted when she sings and Nell had (God rest her soul) an effortless way of making the most difficult songs seem like child's play. Plus, she could have kicked Holiday's manicured ass without removing her heels.
re: LaChiusa vs. Sondheim#27
Posted: 4/19/06 at 6:16pmBut Jennifer Holiday looks fabulous after her gastric bypass surgery.
re: LaChiusa vs. Sondheim#28
Posted: 4/19/06 at 6:28pm
Maybe so, but I still wouldn't hug her for fear she would do that creepy bug-eyed thing she does when she sings.
Donna Murphy vs. Carolee Carmello
Or are they actually the same person.....
re: LaChiusa vs. Sondheim#29
Posted: 4/19/06 at 6:36pmWhen you are questioning Schwartz' integrity it is likely to be taken personally. I don't care for his recent work but I have nothing to say against Schwartz' integrity.
re: LaChiusa vs. Sondheim#30
Posted: 4/19/06 at 7:00pm
DG/Sum:
I said SIMILAR integrity. Not saying anyone else doesn't have it, but the things that are integral to the work of LaChiusa and Sondheim is not the same thing which is integral to the work of Stephen Schwartz, Alan Menken, Elton John, Billy Joel, ABBA, or anyone else who is currently writing commercial hit shows today.
There is nothing wrong with writing to sell tickets. LaChiusa and Sondheim don't do that.
Matt:
Carolee and Donna Murphy tie I think. I can't choose. They are both so great.
re: LaChiusa vs. Sondheim#31
Posted: 4/19/06 at 7:27pm
Are you kidding me? LaChiusa and Sondheim don't write to sell tickets? That's completely absurd. If they weren't writing to sell tickets why wouldn't they just spend their own money to produce their own shows and not charge anybody to see them? Sondheim certainly could with his share of the West Side Story records.
Stephen Sondheim is and will always be a Broadway Baby. He might not write a show with the express of hope of making extraordinary sums of money but he does write to sell tickets. Sondheim writes for an audience, not himself. If he wrote for himself he wouldn't do the rewrite directors have asked him to do. If he wrote for himself he wouldn'tve changed anything to fit Angela Lansbury's voice or Glynis Johns voice.
Stephen Sondheim is a Broadway Baby who would love nothing more than to have people buy tickets to see his shows.
Broadway Star Joined: 11/9/03
re: LaChiusa vs. Sondheim#32
Posted: 4/19/06 at 8:03pm
The third stair in my apartment building vs. a glass of orange juice
Updated On: 4/19/06 at 08:03 PM
re: LaChiusa vs. Sondheim#33
Posted: 4/19/06 at 8:04pm
Sum, sometimes you are just plain wrong.
It is in LaChiusa's contract that there will be a lawsuit against the producers if his shows recoup/make a profit.
Check your facts, buddy. He does not write to sell tickets.
Updated On: 4/19/06 at 08:04 PM
re: LaChiusa vs. Sondheim#34
Posted: 4/19/06 at 8:08pmI think she looked better before it.
re: LaChiusa vs. Sondheim#35
Posted: 4/19/06 at 8:09pmI actually think LaChuisa is melodically much more accessible.
re: LaChiusa vs. Sondheim#36
Posted: 4/19/06 at 8:12pm
I prefer LaChiusa.
He doesn't use intricate rhymes that spin your head around. His lyrics are very real and don't compromise integrity for a good rhyme.
It's also obvious his music is what is important in his work...the lyrics are dialogue.
re: LaChiusa vs. Sondheim#37
Posted: 4/19/06 at 8:13pm
LaChiusa is more melodically accessible, but his music is much more complex and is sometimes difficult to assimilate.
I love it. I directed a production of Hello Again a few years back, and I think the score to that show is outstanding. One of the best ever written. "Mistress of the Senator" is a wonderful song.
re: LaChiusa vs. Sondheim#38
Posted: 4/19/06 at 8:20pm
I don't think Sondheim ever compromises his lyric for a good rhyme.
I love LaChuisa, but I don't think he's gotten as deep into the soul as Sondheim has, but heck, he's got plenty of time. He's still a youngin' in comparison.
The thing I love about Sondheim is the way he enlightens. While I adore most of LaChuisa and love the journey he takes you on, I'm not really haunted by him.
re: LaChiusa vs. Sondheim#39
Posted: 4/19/06 at 8:37pmSorry BSoBW2 I completely forgot!
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/26/03
re: LaChiusa vs. Sondheim#41
Posted: 4/19/06 at 11:19pm
Sum, I have to disagree with you. I don't think either composer is really writing in order to sell tickets. The compromises you mentioned are those of artistic integrity. They are compromises any artist would make because theatre is a collaborative effort, not one in which Sondheim's ego should reign. And he knows that.
However, what they are not compromising is the art THEY wish to produce. Both Sondheim and LaChiusa are perfectly capable of writing an accessible, commercial musical to sell tickets. But they don't. They are about their art.
It's a given that they would like people to buy tickets to their shows and that the experience they want to create is for their audience, but their artistic choices are not made IN ORDER to make people buy tickets.
re: LaChiusa vs. Sondheim#42
Posted: 4/19/06 at 11:21pmHey people let's keep in mind that when Sondheim was LaChiusa's age it was like MAYBE 1974 or so. He would have a decent list of credits, but still no Sweeney,Merrily,Sunday, Into the Woods, Assasins, or Passion. That's a lot of great work. Comparing the two isn't fair period. Not JUST because they're both great, but because they are at least a generation apart.
re: LaChiusa vs. Sondheim#43
Posted: 4/20/06 at 1:13am
If people do not wish to enter the debate, why must they come here and rain on everyone's parade? If you find the comparison unfair then find another thread...no offense, you are more than welcome, but so many people are such naysayers.
Thanks!!
re: LaChiusa vs. Sondheim#44
Posted: 4/20/06 at 1:14amBecause that is what debate is! If you had one side it wouldn't be any fun!!!
re: LaChiusa vs. Sondheim#45
Posted: 4/20/06 at 1:26am
I understand you need two sides in a debate.
"This debate is stupid" is not a side, it's an editorial comment by someone who obviously isn't interested in the debate. That's cool, but why register the complaint. This is just people discussing art...
No one will die if we don't figure out which one is better.
re: LaChiusa vs. Sondheim#46
Posted: 4/20/06 at 1:33am
Well, you can save yourself the stress because you're not going to figure out which one is better.
Especially not from a thread filled with comments like "Sondheim and LaChiusa don't write to sell tickets" or "Sondheim compromises integrity for a good rhyme" (the guy isn't Dr. Seuss...) or assumptions about Stephen Schwartz's integrity. Maybe spend more time defining the artist rather than setting the artist up in an imaginary wrestling match.
It's like... Let's take two nonrealist artists. How about Picasso vs. Dali? Who's better? Aaron McGruder vs. Walt Kelly? Let's go really out there. Stravinsky vs. Beethoven! Who's better?
I do have a question though. What integrity do you mean, BSO? Integrity of the character?
joey
re: LaChiusa vs. Sondheim#47
Posted: 4/20/06 at 2:38am
I don't think there are many people her qualified to know which one is better. Those who are will realize why like I said there is no comparison. In order to find out which one is BETTER (which is different than which one you like more, one must have an intimate knowledge on what it means to write a quality lyric, melodic line (not to mention the use of harmony) and book (which Lachiusa writes almost all of his own. Something Sondheim doesn't do). NOt only do you need to know the art of songwriting AND playwrighting, you also must have a knowledge of what lands with audiences. A lot of that comes from years of doing it. I think it's fair to say that none of us are that qualified. I mean everyone's in agreement that the lyrics to "Jellicle Cats" are pretty bad. Similarly the lyrics to something like "Miller's Son" are brilliant. But really how many people can intelligently talk (in theatrical terms) about WHY the Jellicle lyrics suck and actually have the training to back up what they're saying.
I'm saying all of this to say that debate is good. I love it but like Ron said, you'll never come to a real conclusion about what it is because "which do you like better" is such a subjective question. NO one can be wrong. BTW saying the comparison is unfair is actually contributing to the debate. It just happens to be a neutral answer.
Updated On: 4/20/06 at 02:38 AM
Understudy Joined: 11/16/04
re: LaChiusa vs. Sondheim#48
Posted: 4/20/06 at 2:49am
Wow, this entire board, and this entire generation needs to climb out of Stephen Sondheim's butt. Yes, he's a wonderful, sometimes brilliant composer and lyricist, but people are so enamoured with him that they've lost artistic perspective on his work, something which true appreciation should never do.
re: LaChiusa vs. Sondheim#49
Posted: 4/20/06 at 3:40amWell truth be told, I'm pretty open to other composers, but none have effected me like Sondheim's work. When another dude or dudette comes along who can do that I'll be up his/her butt too.
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