Sondheim Gala at City Center! WOW!- Page 2

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/26/10 at 11:54pm

Ha! We were in M 109-11-13-15...all together!

[adamgreer]

Posted: 4/26/10 at 11:55pm

Just had to comment on seating: Adamgreer, I apologize if I blocked your view at all. I was in M102 and tried my hardest not to bob and weave, but man is it about time they're renovating to improve the sightlines at City Center.

No issues at all, don't worry. The sightlines up there are horrendous and it's about time they got to work on that.

[TheEnchantedHunter]

Posted: 4/27/10 at 12:11am

As long as that infidel Shoreh Aghdashloo did not perform, I am content.




Dalia Hassan
United Nations, NYC

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/27/10 at 12:14am

Shoreh sang a medly of Jerry Herman songs. It was really an odd choice of casting and song choice.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 4/27/10 at 12:14am

I can die now that I've heard Someone in a Tree performed live. Oh, and now I've heard Donna Murphy sing not one but TWO songs from Passion.

I didn't think this one had the same caliber of ~celebrity~ as the Lincoln Center one, but I really liked that this one covered what I felt was a wider range of Sondheim shows.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 4/27/10 at 12:22am

Shoreh sang a medly of Jerry Herman songs. It was really an odd choice of casting and song choice.

I found her rendition of It's Today inspiring.

[TheEnchantedHunter]

Posted: 4/27/10 at 12:22am

Shoreh, in her diseased mind, thinks SHE will star on Broadway in the first major revival of ILLYA, DARLING! But the role is mine, jendeh, do you hear? Mine!!!!



Dalia Hassan
United Nations, NYC

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/27/10 at 12:23am

I wish the PBS broadcast and DVD release included numbers from both tributes, but...

I wish a LOT of things...

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 4/27/10 at 12:32am

I wish the cow would give us some milk.

[binau]

Posted: 4/27/10 at 1:41am

The song list and cast of this concert makes it seem like it would have been an extremely nostalgic night!!

""Liaisons" has to be one of Sondheim's worst songs. Blech!"

Liaisons is hilarious and has (imo) really clever lyrics. What don't you like about it? (I know it's not 'pleasant')

[theeatah]

Posted: 4/27/10 at 8:02am

Is there going to be a London tribute. Maria Friedman, but no Julia McKenzie? That doesn't seem right.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 4/27/10 at 8:15am

Is there going to be a London tribute. Maria Friedman, but no Julia McKenzie? That doesn't seem right.

Presumably, Friedman was a late fill-in for Bernadette Peters, given that she wasn't listed in the Playbill or in any of the press releases.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 4/27/10 at 8:18am

I'm not crazy about Maria Friedman generally, but she sounded great last night. I wasn't sure I was feeling her delivery of Broadway Baby, but she really brought it home in the last verse. It was excellent.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/27/10 at 9:10am

The gimmick of singing "Broadway Baby" in a tiny little squeaky voice was interesting for the first verse. She brought out interesting meanings in the lyrics.

But it was a bit too much of a muchness to do it again in the second verse. Since she was able to belt it at the end, she should have made a character choice that the tiny little squeaky girl developed confidence through the first verse and then belted out more or most of the second verse.

The song was written as a pastiche of the kind of tough-kid songs sung by "Little Gals with Big Voices" like Baby June and Baby Rose Marie and the young Judy Garland. To do the entire things as Shirley Temple is one joke done too long.

That said, Maria Friedman is a great talent, and I'm glad she was there.

However...I would rather have seen Danielle Ferland do the song, as long as she was there.

Updated On: 4/27/10 at 09:10 AM

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 4/27/10 at 9:43am

I think last night's concert was definitely a quieter, more nostalgic event, given that everyone sang songs from roles they'd performed, if not created.

Hearing Len Cariou sing Sweeney was, for me, one of the most moving and exciting experiences in recent memory. His effortless sense of menace, without Hearn's bombast or Depp's buckets of blood, was chilling.

And seeing those cast members of "Into the Woods" reunited brought tears before the music even began. Kim Crosby is beautiful, and her singing pretty much the way you remember it.

Jim Walton still bringing a wide-eyed sense of discovery to "Our Time" instantly made you remember what it was like to be untouched by life's soon-to-arrive disappointments.

I could go on, but I'm already boring myself. But it was a lovely night (oh, wait--that's Rodgers and Hammerstein!)

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/27/10 at 9:49am

Jim Walton still bringing a wide-eyed sense of discovery to "Our Time" instantly made you remember what it was like to be untouched by life's soon-to-arrive disappointments.

And the disappointments arrived soon--after 16 performances for Merrily. The partnership of Sondheim and Prince dissolved, and the devastating 1980s began.

But Lord knows at least we were there, and we're here.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 4/27/10 at 10:09am

I couldn't sleep last night because it took me a long time to wind down after the concert. I feel like I've been run over by the proverbial truck.

Updated On: 4/27/10 at 10:09 AM

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 4/27/10 at 10:48am

One odd thing: were all the personal messages from Brits, or am I misremembering?

Don't get me wrong: I love every one of those who did send messages (Judi Dench, Julia Mackenzie, Sheila Hancock, Julie Andrews . . . ). But why nothing from Patti and Bernadette, for example, who supposedly had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts?

It seems as though John Doyle just rang up his friends back home.

[MsWittiR]

Posted: 4/27/10 at 11:59am

Anyone lucky enough to go to the dinner afterwards got an even bigger treat: Raul Esparza singing "Franklin Shepard, Inc." and "Children Will Listen"...

That man can have my babies.

[LongtimeBwaygoer]

Posted: 4/27/10 at 12:09pm

I missed the Lincoln Center gala (drat), but enjoyed the one at City Center. Regrets, I have a few, but I prefer to think fondly of what was sung--some standards (yes, Being Alive above all) and some lesser-known (to some of us) numbers--than of what was left out or who didn't show up, for whatever reason.
That said, before memories start to fade, was anyone conscientious (or OC) enough to jot down all the titles and singers, or can re-create the list? (Easy--just run through a list of his shows, backward, plus the encores at the end.) I tried to do so but somehow dropped the Playbill while leaving--or am I losing my mind? (now, that would have been a great ensemble number at the end!)--though I did scavenge another one, but without a list of songs in it. (Some people are so inconsiderate.)

I'd be grateful, and I'm sure so would lots of other people, whether they attended or especially if they didn't.

[Kev]

Posted: 4/27/10 at 1:39pm

From a helpful poster on ATC:
==================================

New York City Center Gala Celebration Honoring
Stephen Sondheim

Monday, April 26, 2010

Featuring The Encores! Orchestra
Musical Director, Rob Berman

Directed by John Doyle

John Doyle and Mia Farrow, hosts

FOLLIES - Overture
ROAD SHOW “Get Out / Go” -- Michael Cerveris and Alexander Gemingnani
PASSION: “I Wish I Could Forget You” – Donna Murphy
ASSASSINS: “Gun Song” – Debra Monk
INTO THE WOODS: “Moments in the Wood” – Joanna Gleason
SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE: “Children and Art” – Maria Friedman
MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG: Overture
SWEENEY TODD: “Pretty Women” – Michael Cerveris, Mark Jacoby and Len Cariou
PACIFIC OVERTURES: “Someone in a Tree” – B. D. Wong, Claybourne Elder, Alexander Gemignani and Mark Jacoby
A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC: “You Must Meet My Wife” – Alexander Hanson, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Len Cariou
COMPANY: “Being Alive” – Raúl Esparza (Doyle: “COMPANY opened 40 years ago tonight.”)
ANYONE CAN WHISTLE: “Anyone Can Whistle” – Sutton Foster
A FUNNY THING…, THE FROGS, and other shows: “Invocation and Instruction to the Audience,” “Love is in the Air,” and bits of “Comedy Tonight,” “The Ladies Who Lunch,” “I’m Still Here” – Nathan Lane (coming on fumbling, carrying a tuba and a cello and as he finishes his song he tips John Doyle quite a few green backs.)
-- Shelia Hancock greetings read –
-- Julia McKenzie greetings read --
BOUNCE, ROAD SHOW: “The Best Thing That Ever Has Happened” -- Claybourne Elder, Alexander Gemignani and Michele Pawk
-- Milton Babbitt greetings read –
-- Judi Dench greetings read –
PASSION: “Loving You” – Donna Murphy
INTO THE WOODS: “ No One Is Alone” – Kim Crosby, Chip Zien, Danielle Ferland and Ben Wright
FOLLIES: “Broadway Baby” – Maria Friedman
-- Glynis Johns greetings read, about SJS: “He’s such a lovely young man.” –
A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC: “Send in the Clowns” -- Catherine Zeta-Jones
-- recorded voice of Julie Andrews w/ greetings and she sings a bit of “Not a Day Goes By.” -
-- Doyle reads some statistics on SJS awards: 61 Tony Awards, 5 Best Musicals, 8 Best Actress awards and many others mentioned --
A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC: “Liaisons” – Angela Lansbury
MERRILY WE RROLL ALONG: “Our Time” – Jim Walton, Raúl Esparza and Maria Friedman
-- Mia Farrow brings on Stephen Sondheim to a sustained ovation. --

[uncageg]

Posted: 4/27/10 at 1:51pm

I am dying here in Denver. I would have paid just for "No One is Alone" and "Our Time".

Updated On: 4/27/10 at 01:51 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/27/10 at 2:01pm

I forgot about the Milton Babbitt greeting. That was very moving because he must be close to 100.

We all know how much Sondheim owes to Oscar Hammerstein, but Babbitt was the music teacher, I believe, who instilled in Sondheim the seriousness of purpose that has made him such an important figure.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 4/27/10 at 2:13pm

That was a helpful post from the ATC person, but I kept reading "SJS" as Sarah Jessica Sondheim.

Apparently Babbitt will be 94 in May.

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 4/27/10 at 2:31pm

I am in agreement with most of the posters in saying that the City Center Gala was second to the NY Phil concert, notably due to the lack of star power, direction, and (less face it) the lesser orchestra.

However, highlights were abundant, including one of my absolute favorite Sondheim's "Someone in a Tree." (This is despite Wong's...cold? flu?) Any opportunity to hear Murphy do Fosca is also always welcome. My personal highlight of the night (and the NY Phil concert) was meeting the man himself. His personality and smile can light up a room!