Simple from Anyone Can Whistle

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 10/28/05 at 1:10pm

Is this not one of the most brilliant musical sequences ever? Pure genius.

[lildogs]

Posted: 10/28/05 at 1:17pm

And it really hasn't aged a bit...

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 10/28/05 at 1:22pm

It's still as vibrant as ever. Still groundbreaking, even today.

[smartpenguin78]

Posted: 10/28/05 at 1:42pm

Exquisite.
Made me decide to throw the disc in and listen to the whole thing.

[lildogs]

Posted: 10/28/05 at 1:45pm

I've been listening to it for some reason lately--I guess cause I left Urinetown at my bf's.

I just think it's MORE than ready for a revival. I think Cora and Fay are two of Sondheim's better roles, and it has some of his best songs. Just hearing the string section on the title song is worth the price of the CD.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 10/28/05 at 1:48pm

Doesn't Sondheim hate the show though?

Do you guys have the remaster? I just have the original cd issue, but was wondering if the remster sounds miles better? I don't mind the quality of the first issue.

[lildogs]

Posted: 10/28/05 at 1:57pm

Does he?

I really don't know which one I have--the original I'd imagine, I bought it some time ago. I also used to have an LP as well--but I have no idea where it is.

[smartpenguin78]

Posted: 10/28/05 at 1:59pm

Mine is the remaster, I'm not sure how it compares though since I do not have the original. I love the sound of it though.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 10/28/05 at 2:00pm

Maybe I'll get it. I lost the cover art for my original anyways. I've had it since I was a teen, so maybe it's time to replace it, hehe.

[SorryGrateful]

Posted: 10/28/05 at 2:03pm

Love it love it love it. I'm not a big fan of the show as a whole (although I love the performances mostly), but Simple is AMAZING! I never get sick of listening to it.

A woman's place is in the home
A woman's place is on the shelf
And this is where she hangs his hat
And this is where he hangs herself

Those lyrics are so inaccurate, but that's my favorite part.

[Jazzysuite82]

Posted: 10/28/05 at 2:42pm

Brilliant piece. The show however, does NOT need a revival. Yeah Sondheim says he's had so many nightmares with it. I've done it and it's just very difficult to make clear. The audience is confused and really if you're playing a cookie, it's really hard to act also. Firstly why are they called cookies? More importantly how do you play them? Everyone thinks the cookies are crazy, but they're not. They're social deviants. Of course you don't find out exactly what they are until the names are read at the end. Now as an actor you can't really play them crazy, because they aren't. But you can't play them as normal sane people because then no one would know why they're locked up. They act like you and me. Simple makes EVERYONE seem crazy. The cookie jar is a sanitarium for the socially pressured. The town officials refer to it as a looney bin. Do you see how confusing this show is? Then there's the whole three act issue, which was revised in the concert. I generally think the show needs a whole new book. I think the creators realize that. That's why it is generally only done as a concert. The score I think is brilliant but the show is a a big confusing thing. Sondheim has also said that he doesn't think it's relevant anymore. It's dated. I think certain aspects of it are dated, but I think it's important to draw on the paralells of now, with what society considers the civil rights dark ages. THen you realize that the dark ages haven't gotten that much brighter in the last 40 years. Important show, too bad it's got so many issues.

[lildogs]

Posted: 10/28/05 at 2:57pm

Well, I disagree jazzy, but that's me...It sounds like you had a pretty interesting experience to say the least--where did you do it?

[Jazzysuite82]

Posted: 10/28/05 at 3:31pm

I did a horrible production of it in Philly and Sondheim has said himself that the show doesn't really work. WHat exactly do you disagree with?

[lildogs]

Posted: 10/28/05 at 3:46pm

Sondheim could say that the score should be burned and never heard again, but I'd disagree with that too. I don't find it dated or irrelevant at all. It might be confusing to an audience, but that's not MY concern. I think it's rather depressing, but I think it could be done--I would certainly be in the audience if it ever plays near me.

And it's okay to disagree, you know...it doesn't imply that you or Sondheim is wrong, I just don't see it that way, that's all.

[Jazzysuite82]

Posted: 10/28/05 at 3:49pm

I know that. I just wanted to know what you disagreed with. I said several things. It just so happens that I disagree with Sondheim too. I mean the woman's place is in the home isn't AS relevant as it was in '64, but I draw parallels. THat's why I disagree with him. As for the audience being confused, I think that's a huge issue especially if you're a non-profit regional theatre or even a BRoadway producer trying to recoup your investment. At any rate I too would go and see it anywhere.

[lildogs]

Posted: 10/28/05 at 3:55pm

I just didn't want you to think I thought you were WRONG, cause I don't. But isn't part of the point of the show that you can't really tell the difference between Cookies and non-Cookies? And politicians exploiting a miracle/religion? Hardly irrelevant or dated.

Maybe Sondheim just has really bad memories of the show.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 10/28/05 at 5:57pm

I think Whistle has a pretty splendid Act One. It's fast, funny, outlandish. Acts Two and Three can't quite match the high spirits of Act One. Still, I love the energy and electricity of Sondheim's score. It sounds so alive - even when Harry Guardino sings.

And yes, the remaster is worth it, and I think you can generally find it around at a reasonable price.

[GovernorSlaton]

Posted: 10/28/05 at 6:27pm

Simple as N-A-A-C-P...

Brilliant.

[son_of_a_gunn_25]

Posted: 10/28/05 at 6:54pm

I had this as my signature for awhile...

"Now then George, when you were a child... a boy... You were a boy?"

"I was a manly little fellow, sir!"

[Pippin]

Posted: 10/28/05 at 7:07pm

Jazzy- I sell tickets for the Prince in Philly. Saw the show the night the fourth understudy was out, and the director of education had to do the part with script in hand. that show was cursed from the beginning, but I still love it. simple is genuis, and the score is really top notch. I have lots of friends in that production and they told me stories, you poor thing. anyway, CHarlie Gilbert, the director of Whistle is friends with sondheim, and When invited, sondheim turned him down by saying that he had such a bad experience with that show, he doesn't really want to bring back memories of it anymore. so sad.

[paradox_error]

Posted: 10/29/05 at 10:21am

The opposite of left is right,
The opposite of right is wrong;
So anyone who's left,
is wrong.

Good?