Let's discuss the upcoming Sondheim revivals - Page 3

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/20/19 at 4:13pm

John Doyle will be directing ASSASSINS at Classic Stage in 2020!

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 3/20/19 at 5:12pm

Happy to see Assassins come back, but I'm hoping Doyle doesn't do that new thing he does where he cuts a show down to like 30 minutes.

[kdogg36]

Posted: 3/20/19 at 5:25pm

GeorgeandDot said: "Happy to see Assassins come back, but I'm hoping Doyle doesn't do that new thing he does where he cuts a show down to like 30 minutes."

I think you're safe here, since Assassins is so short to begin with. I don't think he made any significant cuts to Passion. I'm very much looking forward to this, since I've only seen amateur productions in the past.

[Sauja]

Posted: 3/20/19 at 5:38pm

I for sure assume this version won't have "Something Just Broke" and the Balladeer will absolutely be played by the same actor as Oswald again.

 

And there won't be guns. Just actors pointing finger guns and shouting, "Pow!"

[kdogg36]

Posted: 3/20/19 at 5:45pm

Sauja said: "I for sure assume this version won't have "Something Just Broke" and the Balladeer will absolutely be played by the same actor as Oswald again."

Based on what I've read, I don't think Sondheim would allow a production without that song. He very much wanted it in the original off-Broadway production, but didn't have time to finish it. That being said, I wouldn't miss it. 

"And there won't be guns. Just actors pointing finger guns and shouting, "Pow!""

Maybe for Fromme and Moore.

 

[qafgenius122]

Posted: 3/20/19 at 7:04pm

As a huge Assassins fan, I am so excited to see a fully staged revival. Classic Stage will be a great space for that show as well. I’m a fan of what John Doyle can do, so that adds to my excitement. Now, we did just have Encores Off Center staged concert a couple years ago, which I enjoyed as it was my first time seeing Assassins performed... but I heard through a friend that Sondheim absolutely loathed it at the final dress rehearsal. Like “wanted to cancel the production right there and then” level of hatred. I obviously can’t confirm that, but it is interesting to see it returning to NY so soon.

I’m absolutely loving the onslaught of Sondheim in NY these past few years. I think that’s how it should be, his work should be done often, and there are plenty of shows to do, and things to do with them. One of my fav days in the theatre the past few years was a double header of CSC’s Pacific Overtures matinee and Barrow Street’s Sweeney Todd evening. What a joy both those productions were. And with Company hopefully in the pipeline, and Road Show (Which I’ve never seen nor heard the score) at City Center, and Ivo’s WSS, 2nd Stages Saturday Night concert, and yes even Fiasco’s Merrily... it’s truly a fantastic time for Sondheimites everywhere, all this, with only two days until his 89th birthday!

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/25/19 at 12:45pm

I have updated the original post to include Assassins. 

I am also happy that we have an onslaught of upcoming Sondheim revivals. 

I am still very excited for Road Show at Encores! If you're on the fence, I encourage you to give it a chance, a as the score is fantastic. 

I hope we get a Company announcement soon. 

Updated On: 3/25/19 at 12:45 PM

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/25/19 at 12:45pm

double post

Updated On: 3/25/19 at 12:45 PM

[AADA81]

Posted: 3/25/19 at 10:51pm

Between 2000 and 2011, there were a dozen Sondheim revivals in New York, 11 of them on Broadway.  Since then, 'Anyone Can Whistle' was done at Encores, 'Company' at Lincoln Center, 'Sunday in the Park' on Broadway again and 'Sweeney Todd' off-Broadway.  Most of them did well but that's a lot in a 20-year span.  I'm not sure there's a clamoring for more Sondheim just yet.

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/25/19 at 10:56pm

With the current Merrily, and upcoming Road Show at Encores, Assassins at Classic Stage, and the likely Company transfer, I wouldn’t say major revivals of his work are slowing down.

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 3/25/19 at 10:59pm

No reason Sondheim can’t be like Shakespeare, or Williams, or Miller. Give us new revivals every few years. As long as the concepts/productions are bring something new.

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/25/19 at 11:14pm

IdinaBellFoster said: "No reason Sondheim can’t be like Shakespeare, or Williams, or Miller. Give us new revivals every few years. As long as the concepts/productions are bring something new. "

I completely agree with this!

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 3/26/19 at 12:20am

For the record, PACIFIC OVERTURES already "broke out" in a successful, off-Broadway production that enjoyed a healthy run at the Promenade in the early/mid-1980s. I saw it and it was lovely.

In fact and though I know the original Broadway setting was gorgeous, I think an intimate production better suits the intimate quality of Weidman and Sondheim's telling of history largely through ordinary individuals.

[broadwaybabywannabe2]

Posted: 3/26/19 at 10:23am

GavestonPS said: "For the record, PACIFIC OVERTURES already "broke out" in a successful, off-Broadway production that enjoyed a healthy run at the Promenade in the early/mid-1980s. I saw it and it was lovely.'''
 

I too saw this great production in the mid-80's and also saw the original production in 1976, on Broadway...truly a show not to be missed...but why does everyone poo-poo ANYONE CAN WHISTLE?...if the book can be reworked some i really think this can work, and especially in this horrible political environment...while A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC is my favorite Sondheim musical, AOCW  has my favorite score!

[CT2NYC]

Posted: 4/3/19 at 2:11pm

FYI, tickets for Road Show at City Center are now on sale, along with the other two Encores! Off-Center shows, Working: A Musical and Promenade.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 4/3/19 at 11:13pm

ljay889 said: "Encores! Did Anyone Can Whistle in 2010 with Donna Murphy, Sutton Foster, and Raul Esparza. Obviously, it wasn't a commercial mounting, but it was astaged concert version met with a lot of excitement. The performances and score were obviously lovely, but that book.....my god."

York Theater did it fully staged back in the mid-1980s. (I don't know if that counts as "fully professional" or not; I assume they used Equity actors, like any AEA showcase of that era.)

To paraphrase Sondheim in FINISHING THE HAT, the show really is "too smart-ass" for its own good. One is well into the second of three acts before one knows who any of the characters really is (and even then Faye is pretending to be French). But, God, I love the score!

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 4/5/19 at 10:10pm

CT2NYC said: "FYI, tickets forRoad Showat City Center are now on sale, along with the other two Encores! Off-Center shows,Working: A MusicalandPromenade."

I was on the fence but it's been years and I still haven't listened to The Frogs, Saturday Night, Anyone Can Whistle, and Road Show, so I thought I might as well see then show and then listen to the cast album. Also, there are still a TON of the $25 orchestra tickets left if you qualify.

I saw the NYCC Assassins. As much as I love Assassins, I don't really need to see it again unless the casting is great. Then again, I'm still kicking myself for missing CSC's Passion.

[Here I Am]

Posted: 4/6/19 at 12:59am

The Secret Theatre, an Equity company in Long Island City, is doing Assassins next month.

I have a friend in the show who says it’s excellent so far. Something just broke has not been cut.

Updated On: 4/6/19 at 12:59 AM

[John Adams]

Posted: 4/6/19 at 1:52am

broadwaybabywannabe2 said: "...but why does everyone poo-poo ANYONE CAN WHISTLE? [...] while A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC is my favorite Sondheim musical, AOCW hasmy favorite score!"

OK... The combination of those two shows in the same breath means nothing to anyone except me, but you just hit on my two Sondheim "sweet spots". 

A Little Night Music was the very first Sondheim show I ever saw. I was in High School (drama class field trip), and the yellow school bus was waiting to take us all back home, but I refused to leave the theater until the last note of the exit music was played. (yup... I got in trouble for that)

Anyone Can Whistle was my go-to audition song, and booked me a lot of work. I think it was because of the contrast between my baritone, downward glissando to the second syllable of "Eaaaaa-sy" and the use of falsetto on the last phrase, "Whi-stle for meeeeee".

Anyways.... apropos of nothing, but I was "triggered" by you mentioning both in the same post. 

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 4/6/19 at 4:03pm

A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC was my first Sondheim show as well (and my second Broadway show ever). New Year's Eve 1973 heading into 1974. We were in nearly the last row of the balcony peering down to that beautiful green carpet of Boris Aronson's set with the lexan panels of birch trees gliding by. I'll admit to finding the first half of Act 1 really sleep-inducing from that height. Somewhere around "In Praise of Women", when Patricia Elliott's Countess rode on from the stage left palette sipping her tea cup, the show kicked into high gear and sailed for the rest of the night.

Two moments of pure magic still bring tears to my eyes: the sleight-of-hand reveal of the mansion at the climax of "A Weekend in the Country", and the oboe solo that begins Desiree's first verse of "Send in the Clowns". Imagine having never heard that song before. The farce rhythm of the night has been galloping along nearly non-stop, and suddenly you have a lady in a beaded red dress and a man in tails sitting on a day bed topped by a tiny canopy center stage pausing long enough to look at the mess they've made of their lives. Then the oboe starts its arpeggios and Glynis Johns finds her wobbly first notes "Isn't it... rich...?" The view to that lady in red from the back row of the Shubert balcony will be one of my favorites in a lifetime of theater-going. 

[BenElliott]

Posted: 4/6/19 at 4:42pm

Just saw Glenda Jackson last night in King Lear and couldn't help but imagine hearing that feminine baritone perform Liasons. Someone please bring A Little Night Music back in a full production in its full, opulent glory.

Updated On: 4/6/19 at 04:42 PM

[David10086]

Posted: 4/7/19 at 7:22pm

BenElliott said: "Just saw Glenda Jackson last night in King Lear and couldn't help but imagine hearing that feminine baritone perform Liasons. Someone please bring A Little Night Music back in a full production in its full, opulent glory."

 

Can I second this suggestion?  As I've stated before, I fell in love with this musical after hearing the Jean Simmons cast recording many years ago on CD. Too bad no one ever videotaped that back then so we can enjoy it now. 

 

I did see the Peters / Stritch production in 2010, and enjoyed it so much - except for the bare-bones staging and costumes. Without it's opulence it was missing something...

[bruzson]

Posted: 4/7/19 at 8:37pm

I would love to discuss the new Sondheim show, but alas...  Does anyone know if the Nathan Lane 'Frogs' has ever been done since LTC?  It was a fun but somewhat empty evening.

[BenElliott]

Posted: 4/7/19 at 10:06pm

Anyone heard anything about the new Sondheim musical? Any whispers?

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 4/7/19 at 10:16pm

BenElliott said: "Just saw Glenda Jackson last night in King Lear and couldn't help but imagine hearing that feminine baritone perform Liasons. Someone please bring A Little Night Music back in a full production in its full, opulent glory."

Blanchett/Jackson NIGHT MUSIC please.