SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM First Preview?? — Page 4

Yes, he's understudying. It's a very, very recent development.

I believe the plan is for Cleale to cover Wopat and Lewis and for Kyle Harris to cover Morton and Scott.

While it may not be listed that way, N'Kenge technically covers all four of the women at the moment. I would assume that, later in the process, they'll only have her understudy Cook and Williams and will add a younger standby to cover Kritzer and Mackey.

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I realized again last night that loving Sondheim is not a choice. It is who I am.

Quite literally, my life passed before me. It was 40 years ago that I was 14 and went by mystelf to see Company.

When they did that extraordinary "Waiting Around for the Girls Upstairs" and the "Opening Doors" and a "Weekend in the Country" (which should be required viewing for some people), it was like seeing great performers remind me why I fell in love with the man and his talent, because THIS IS HOW IT IS DONE.

Yes! Finally, a Sondheim show on Broadway that "gets" Sondheim. What's most wonderful to those of us who have been obsessed by Sondheim all our lives is that this is a chance to hear him explain what it all meant to him, and have that demonstrated by singers like Barbara Cook and Norm Lewis and the rest of the dazzling cast.

And you get to hear things like "Take Me to the World" and "Multitudes of Amys" and medleys from Passion and Assassins and Sondheim ephemera and juvenalia...

And if the music sounds smallish on the clips, wait till you hear the phenomenal vocal arrangements by David Loud. They pay such tribute to the music that you will weep with happiness.

It is an honor and a privilege to hear Barbara Cook sing these songs, and she looks like she's having fun interacting with the cast. Norm Lewis delivers a simple "Being Alive" that is a knockout. Vanessa Williams also looks like she's having fun--and she does a David Loud-medley of "Losing My Mind" interleaved with Barbara Cook sing "Not a Day Goes By" that is absolutely stunning.

Erin Mackey scores with ""Do I Hear a Waltz?" and Eyan Morton does similarly with "Franklin Shepherd Inc." I want Leslie Kritzer and Matthew Scott to have solos, and I think they will get them as Lapine balances the show in previews. Tom Wopat has a harder time delivering Sweeney and George, but he's a solid presence. Vanessa's "Ah but Underneath" needs a little better choreographic assistance. (I'm sure there all too many homosexuals who have performed the number in front of their mirrors who would be willing to help.)

But I wonder if the "lecture/demonstration/interview" format with incredible singing will find a broad audience beyond Sondheim aficionados, for whom this show is a life statement...

At any rate, I will see it a few more times. I hope it crosses over the way Side by Side by Sondheim once did, surprising a lot of people, and spreading the Sondheim love.

Loving Sondheim is not a choice. It is who I am.

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Thanks AdamGreer... To the OP--- There are plenty of people that like sports and theatre... you're really generalizing.

I hope they plan on filming this.

dramamama611, I would not say live theater never transfers well to film, but it certainly is very difficult (if not impossible) to truly capture the spirit of the live performance. That being said, I'm in favor of as much being filmed as possible.

The more I think about it, the more I enjoyed the show on Friday evening. I loved Barbara Cook and Vanessa Williams, plus some of the ensemble work was gorgeous.

Really looking forward to seeing this again next Tuesday with my parents (who are both huge Sondheim fans). I hope they enjoy it as much as I did.

At last. Something we AGREE on, adamgreer.

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"ex. she didn't even remember the track from Gypsy"

The song from Gypsy that was used ("Smile, Girls") was cut from the show, which is probably why she didn't remembed it!

Wonderland--sounds like you and your mom missed the entire point of the show!

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Re: PalJoey and others

I apologize for the mixup with the Gypsy song - sometimes the audience would keep clapping for so long that you missed what Sondheim intro-ed about each song, and I must not have realized it was a tune that wasn't in the final show. As I said above, I thought it was really interesting that the show included alternate versions of things.

I think it's going a little far to say we "missed the entire point of the show." This show celebrated what Sondheim contributed to Broadway. I didn't want every single number to be the biggest thing from each show, but I had been excited to see some of my favorites (since they were last on Broadway long before I started seeing shows), and the writers picked others. I stand by my opinion that they needed some peppier numbers here and there to mix things up. For "Not Getting Married," I was merely stating my own opinion about a song I would have liked to see in the form I knew - especially since it's such a difficult part to sing, and it would be been interesting to hear Sondheim comment about teaching it to the original Amy.

I saw the show last night as well, and I have to agree that the show, on the whole, is quite a bore. It just seemed really pointless, and is about 20 minutes too long. Perhaps they can improve on some of the things before opening, but the whole concept and execution just isn't my thing. My partner was one of masses that did not return for the 2nd act. The most entertaining parts were listening Stephen Sondheim talk about his shows. I also enjoyed Norm Lewis singing Being Alive, and a few other moments. Unless you are a Sondheim fanatic, I'd skip it. Thank God my tickets were only $10.

For those that think this should be filmed, it was boring on stage. It would lose what little redeeming qualities it had just because it was live performance.