Sondheim on Sondheim - aka Who's turn is it to drag Barbara around stage? - Page 3

[winston89]

Posted: 3/22/10 at 5:46pm

Hell, I remember seeing Bob Dylan in concert a couple of years ago. He constantly drifted into these really lengthy and strange harmonica solos. Furthermore, he treated his songs as they were spoken word, speaking them as he played the guitar. Did I have a great time at the show and think it was amazing? No, I didn't. But, at least I got to say I saw Bob Dylan.

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 3/22/10 at 7:53pm

I don't really trust the opinion of someone who doesn't know that Angela Lansbury is in a wheelchair for the majority of A Little Night Music.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 3/22/10 at 7:58pm

I'm sure the OP was using hyperbole. Just like the person who put the ASSHOLE word in the subject line.

[bfwndtd]

Posted: 4/4/10 at 5:34pm

i saw this today, 4/4. I agree that most of the cut songs should be cut again. Really disappointed that Rose's Turn wasn't included. Ditto Have a Little Priest. Sad when i saw the teleprompter or Barbara, but for 83, she's still got a set of pipes! I didn't see her look toward the teleprompter once during the show. guess it's just a safety net. Vanessa Williams blew me away.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/4/10 at 5:47pm

THE SUBJECT LINE OF THIS THREAD IS UNACCEPTABLE

[E.Davis]

Posted: 4/4/10 at 6:08pm

Where was this tele-prompter, because when I saw it on friday I did not see one.

[Greatwhiteway3]

Posted: 4/4/10 at 6:29pm

"This is my first time ever seeing Barbara Cook live and I must admit I was under whelmed with her. Which is weird to me because I have always heard such praise for her. Last night Everyone had to literally hold her to lead her around the stage. Is she that old? "

BEWARE you can't have an opinion on this board especially if it's critical of some past their prime Queen's icon! You will be attacked.

PS Liza with a Z is WAY overrated and I agree with your other points.

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 4/4/10 at 7:31pm

I saw the show this afternoon and didn't notice any of the nonsense re: Barbara tossed around in this thread. She hit her marks without assistance and there were no lyric flubs.

Her voice is not what it was, age does that to even the best of us, but she still sounds lovely and had much to contribute to the performance.

Highlights of the show for me:

-The new arrangments, especially the "mash-ups."
-All of the video sequences
-The Company: Multitudes of Amys, Happily Ever After, Being Alive sequence.
-Norm Lewis singing "Being Alive"
-Vanessa singing "Ah, But Underneath"
-The montage of "Send in the Clowns" courtesy YouTube
-Sunday
-Franklin Shepard, Inc
-Opening Doors
-The Assassins sequence

Low points:

-Pretty much any time Tom Wopat was on stage. He brought the show to a screeching halt. He didn't have the charisma, presence or voice to carry any of the songs he was given.

[best12bars]

Posted: 4/4/10 at 7:37pm

Most diva theatre sopranos start losing their high range at 50. A long list, in fact. Some even earlier.

Barbara lasted another 25 years before she started having difficulty. I saw her at the Hollywood Bowl five years ago, and she sounded terrific then. Sorry to hear she's slowing down at 83.

Good luck to all of you when and if you hit that age.

[bfwndtd]

Posted: 4/4/10 at 7:51pm

E. Davis, it was on the stage left side, but if you were more than 7 or 8 rows back you wouldn't have been able to see it. it was next to the live video of the pianist/conductor. Until i read the original post, I assumed Barbara was being "escorted", not "led". I saw her 6 years ago and she killed. tonight she maimed, which is still better than most can do. Tom wasn't my favorite but I don't think he brought the show to a screeching halt. all of the sondheim videos were great,especially the anecdote he told about Ethel Merman and Loretta Young.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/4/10 at 8:11pm

That Loretta Young anecdote is always hysterical, but to hear Sondheim tell it is to experience exactly how he marveled in Merman's presence. He recognized how ridiculous she was...and also how special.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 4/4/10 at 8:18pm

We saw it today & throughly enjoyed it.

I was really surprised "I'm Still Here" was not in it. Comedy Tonight was listed but must have been cut because it was only mentioned by Sondheim in a clip.

This is really a very good show . I must give kudos to the visuals & filmed portions which were great. I loved Sondheim saying he was thinking of giving his nail clippings to the Smithsonian.

I liked the cut songs which highlighted some of those numbers many never get to hear.Cook doing I'm Still Here would have been great & Comedy Tonight with the full cast would have been a great way to start it off.

Mrs R was never that big of a Sondheim fan but now has now come around. She was surprised how much she liked it as she did not expect much going in. Hopefully, this will have a life after it ends its Roundabout stint.

[ljay889]

Posted: 4/4/10 at 8:19pm

Interesting that they cut Comedy Tonight.

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 4/4/10 at 8:22pm

Comedy Tonight was still in it. It was a very small snippet, but it was there.

Maybe Roxy dozed off for a moment.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 4/4/10 at 8:28pm

Was it as long as the Donut Song or whatever it was? Comedy must have been a small snippet not befitting how it should have been used.

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 4/4/10 at 8:30pm

It was very short. Maybe 8 bars.

[wdwfreak]

Posted: 4/4/10 at 8:38pm

^ How long was it tonight? Did they cut off anything that would make it shorter?

[E.Davis]

Posted: 4/4/10 at 8:52pm

I Loved the doughnut song..Ha. Also I have to say that I was sad Leslie did not have more to do...She was Fantastic, but i felt she needed more. Euan Morton is AMAZING...

Highlights:
"Franklin Shepard Inc."
"Loosing My Mind", "Not a Day goes" By Mash-up
The Matthew, Euan, Leslie Trio "Opening Doors"
Erin sining "Waltz" then sticking it to Sondheim
The Whole Assassins Sequence
Passion Sequence
Norm Lewis Singing "Being Alive"
Loretta Young Segment with the Merm
"Send in the Clowns" Youtube Style
"Finishing the Hat" (Only time I liked Wopat)
As You Can See I liked it alot....

And of course all the the Video Segments!!!

The real only thing I had a problem with was
That terrible arrangement of "You could Drive a Person Crazy"
GET RID OF IT...

I think it has a good Chance at the Tony's in a rather Lackluster Year

Updated On: 4/4/10 at 08:52 PM

[Q]

Posted: 4/4/10 at 9:22pm

"Good luck to all of you when and if you hit that age."

'IF' being the obvious point - and even with luck on your side, her kind of longetivity is extraordinary!

[adamgreer]

Posted: 4/4/10 at 9:26pm

They should at least include a little of Comedy Tonight, otherwise the sequence has no payoff. The whole purpose of that sequence is for Sondheim to explain how it took him 3 tries to get the opening number right, and for us as an audience to hear what wasn't working. I wish they would get rid of the Powerpoint Roman columns and bobbleheads that play on the screen during that sequence, however.

[binau]

Posted: 4/4/10 at 9:42pm

Saw the show on the 3rd Matt.
Too much to type on iPhone but it was pretty funny and 'charming'

I thought williams was going to be the highlight but I loveed Cook. She is so 'cute' ^_^. I LOVED the passion sequence. I really felt that the audience *got* the concept after Sondheim's explanations. I was sitting row a112 and felt she was basically singing CLOWNS to me.

The response of the audience was also so positive, and I heard so many praises by the audience after the show.

Wopat's epiphany really needs to go, though :p.
There is a lot of variations of the songs - lyrically, contextually, musically etc. I find it hard to believe Sondheim fans would find it boring.

"hello little boy" - iirc Williams entrance? I lol'd.

[bfwndtd]

Posted: 4/4/10 at 11:37pm

I thought Comedy tonight was just fine. especially liked the end when Barbara wore the golden falsies.

[E.Davis]

Posted: 4/4/10 at 11:42pm

That Killed Me!!!

[Auggie27]

Posted: 4/5/10 at 1:33pm

Miss Cook is dragged around the stage by one thing: her talent.

Saw it yesterday as well, and found it in every way in extraordinary shape. To start with the much-discussed liabilities, I'm in the minority -- Wopat's "epiphany" is the only number of his that doesn't land for me. Otherwise, I found him a solid vocal presence, whose John Raitt/Gordon Macrae weight as a singing leading man struck me as a viable plus.
But the show is exquisite. To me, it's an homage that dares -- and delights in the process -- to use the subject as a part of its focused tribute. An authorized biography that's decidedly the stronger because of Sondheim's charming, insightful and ultimately moving participation. If the costumes seem interchangeably bland, they (appropriately) don't call attention to themselves unduly, and allow the performers and the material to take focus. I called them "anti-review-wear." No sequins or tuxedos. Fine by me. The rest of the physical production is technically and technologically a marvel. When the set becomes part of the storytelling, the show opens and continues to expand (check out how beautifully it approximates the feel of the Aronson FOLLIES design, with simple elements.)

And by the second act, when Sondheim gets deeper into his familial issues (NO SPOILER)... I was overwhelemed by the emotional weight of the material he shared -- even knowing it from the Seacrest book -- and the resulting theatrical alchemy of song, performer, composer and bio/autobiographical context.
This would be a special event if only for the presence of the beautifully employed new Sondheim interview footage and the top-of-her-form work by a true legend, Ms. Cook. But it has so much more, and much of the content around those admittedly iconic elements is lovely and masterfully shaped by Lapine.
I have not been so emtionally connected to or affected by a show in decades. What an Easter gift.

Updated On: 4/5/10 at 01:33 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/5/10 at 2:28pm

Thanks, Auggie, for "getting" the show that "gets" Sondheim.

Who will be there tomorrow night (Tuesday) to see the big changes?