SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM First Preview??- Page 4

[Dollypop]

Posted: 3/20/10 at 11:31pm

I just learned that Lewis Cleale has left THE FANTASTICKS to be part of this show. What does he do in it? u/s?

[RyToast1]

Posted: 3/20/10 at 11:42pm

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

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/20/10 at 11:46pm

Is he understudying Wopat who has no understudy listed in the Playbill? Is Cook getting an understudy too?

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 3/21/10 at 12:08am

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.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 3/21/10 at 12:11am

Ooh I'd be very interested to see Lewis Cleale...he has a fantastic voice.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/21/10 at 9:41am

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.

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 3/21/10 at 10:48am

"Loving Sondheim is not a choice."

It is who I is as well...but...

I take reference to your earlier comment, Pal Joey, and do not pass judgment on this show still so early in its gestation. Still, I was underwhelemed and I hope for a heftier sound, pressince, and look of this show in the future.

* For starters, the introduction was very weak: the stage and wall of screens was settled in a very customary (read: bland) position that wouldn't form into something more exciting until much later.

* Please, Mr. Lapine, can we ditch the Gap-like customs that everyone but the three principals must wear?

* Along with gorgeous and lush ballads, Sondheim also wrote a good many show stoppers - how come "SonS" only gives us "Being Alive"?

* Mr. Wopat is not the right choice for many songs he's called to sing..."Epiphany" is the first song to come to mind but sadly not the last. I shuddered a bit every time he came on stage, especially when he shared the stage with Ms. Cook.

* As a whole, the cast is not acting like a unit quite yet. I felt awkward moments throughout that are more common to regional/local theater.

On the positive side, I was generally pleased with the music selection (note to an earlier poster: Pacific Overtures was represented in the entre'act). Ms. Cook, though now a mezzo and not quite the soprano she once was, delivered thoughtful interpretations of Mr. Sondheim's most touching ballads. Ms. Williams had her moments, but she doesn't have the material down just yet (though I would have adored a full "Children Will Listen" - sans Wopat). Of the "support cast," Mr. Morton is a delight.

Most importantly, watching a very personal side of Mr. Sondheim was really touching - these clips were perhaps my personal highlight of the evening.

Updated On: 3/21/10 at 10:48 AM

[Testing1232]

Posted: 3/21/10 at 1:43pm

<< Straight men don't text bitchy comments about Sondheim shows after first previews.

Straight men text angry expletives about basketball players who f*ck up.

Straight men don't text Sondheim.

Do you realize what an idiot you sound like? >>

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

[Scripps2]

Posted: 3/21/10 at 2:16pm

"I hope it crosses over the way Side by Side by Sondheim once did, surprising a lot of people, and spreading the Sondheim love."

I do hope so.

[chewy5000]

Posted: 3/22/10 at 3:24am

I hope they plan on filming this.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 3/22/10 at 6:08am

Sorry....live theater should be live. It seldom transfers well to film. The soul is lost.

Hey! I know GADS of straight men that love Sondheim....
I mean: I know Lots of straight men that love Sond...
Oops: I know SOME straight men that love...
Well...I know A straight man that...

Oh, never mind.

(She said with a smile.)

[TalkinLoud]

Posted: 3/22/10 at 8:42am

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.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/22/10 at 8:54am

Actually, with all the video in the show and all the great singing, this would transfer to film or video better than many other shows.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 3/22/10 at 11:46am

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.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 3/22/10 at 11:59am

I would love for them just to release a DVD of all of the interviews, including the ones that didn't make it into the show. As good as the voices were, this was definitely the most interesting part of the evening.

Or, someone should just make a feature length documentary about him. That would be fine, too.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/23/10 at 1:30am

At last. Something we AGREE on, adamgreer.

[wonderland01]

Posted: 3/24/10 at 2:56am

I saw this past Saturday's matinee on HipTix. Our $20 seats were far back but just fine for this type of performance. I thought it was a little long, and too heavy on the slow numbers - I zoned out in the middle of the first act. Some of it was very, very good, but my mom and I agreed that we wished they had chosen some of the bigger numbers from his shows (ex. she didn't even remember the track from Gypsy). I loved the behind-the-scenes commentary from Sondheim, especially details about the first versions of different songs (such as "Being Alive"). I agree without whoever said it above that the only terrible visual effect was the weird Greek columns from "A Funny Thing Happened..."

Some of the music was sung, and some was acted out. I especially enjoyed the stuff from "Merrily We Roll Along" - wish I could go see the show now. My one huge peeve was that they mixed up one of my favorite songs - "Not Getting Married" - by taking out the super-fast part. Why??

Updated On: 3/24/10 at 02:56 AM

[RyToast1]

Posted: 3/24/10 at 10:54am

"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!

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 3/24/10 at 11:12am

"My one huge peeve was that they mixed up one of my favorite songs - "Not Getting Married" - by taking out the super-fast part. Why??"

The song used in the show is "The Wedding Is Off," an earlier cut song that eventually became "Not Getting Married Today."

The songs are very similar, but they aren't the same.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/24/10 at 11:18am

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

[phantom39]

Posted: 3/24/10 at 11:24am

They SHOULD film this... I'm sure it will also sell very well considering it is Cook and Williams singing Sondheim.

[wonderland01]

Posted: 3/24/10 at 3:56pm

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.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 3/25/10 at 3:07am

I just saw this tonight. The performers were really good. Vanessa, Leslie and Erin looked really pretty, and of course Barbara was charming.
Erin's voice was fabulous, she can sing opera and pop. She reminded me of Sarah Brightman and Kelli O'Hara(2 other sopranos that sing classical music and pop both with ease)
Vanessa sounded better than ever. Glad to have her back on Broadway, unfortunatly the show isn't what she deserves to be in.
The male cast didn't really do much for me. Actually the show didn't do much for me. I almost fell asleep on several ocassions, and so did the people next to me, not to mention that a 50% of the mezzanine was gone by the 2nd act. And an extra 5% left during the 2nd act.

By the way, it impressed me that Sondheim himself said that he writes very simple lyrics because the audience doesn't have time to analyze the songs, when they have to look at the costumes, the lighting, etc.
And some people on here that claim they are Sonheim fanatics keep saying that you really have to read into his songs to "get" him.
Another boring night at Studio 54(after Wishful Drinking, Threepenny Opera, Pacific Overtures)

[jakebloke]

Posted: 3/25/10 at 8:00am

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.

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/25/10 at 9:20am

I'm not surprised. People have been walking out of Sondheim shows for over 40 years. It's nothing new. Oh well, their loss.