Sondheim or Webber?- Page 5
Sondheim or Webber?
#100re: Sondheim or Webber?
Posted: 12/28/04 at 4:18pmrobbiej - It depends on the show. Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park, Company, Passion? Sure. Bounce? Well....
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
Updated On: 12/28/04 at 04:18 PM
robbiej
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#101re: Sondheim or Webber?
Posted: 12/28/04 at 4:22pm
Doesn't have to be 'all of the above'.
Just a couple.
Two or three.
"I'm so looking forward to a time when all the Reagan Democrats are dead."
#102re: Sondheim or Webber?
Posted: 12/28/04 at 4:25pmJust don't say the "F" word.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
#103re: Sondheim or Webber?
Posted: 12/28/04 at 4:26pmFrank Wildhorn?
BSoBW2: I punched Sondheim in the face after I saw Wicked and said, "Why couldn't you write like that!?"
#105re: Sondheim or Webber?
Posted: 12/29/04 at 12:33amFive Guys Named Moe?
BSoBW2: I punched Sondheim in the face after I saw Wicked and said, "Why couldn't you write like that!?"
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#106re: Sondheim or Webber?
Posted: 12/29/04 at 6:12am
Justice--playing Devil's u know what howabout Cricket, Beautiful Game and (shiver) Starlight Express? Tell me on a Sunday?
the "original or adaptation" card is pretty lame IMHO--look at all the works Rodgers and Hammerstein did that were original (Allegro and... Me and Juliet)
What happened to your hot pic ?
E
#107re: Sondheim or Webber?
Posted: 12/29/04 at 10:11am
"Now, after that list, name ONE show that ALW has written as an original (and Requiem doesn't count, because it's not a show - it's a Requiem for a man who isn't even dead yet.)"
You want one, I will name four for you.
1) Tell Me on a Sunday
2) Beautiful Game
3) Cricket
4) Starlight Express (even though it has it's roots in something that already exsists, the piece as a whole is original. Same as Into the Woods)
Also, Requiem was written for his father who by the way DIED before he wrote it. And back in this thread you said that he did not do his orchestrations. WHERE THE CRAP DO YOU GET YOUR INCORRECT INFORMATION? He has done all of his musical's orchestrations either by himself or with the help of his long time musical collaborator. You are really starting to piss me off because now you are just saying all this crap that is untrue. You are now showing your stupidity.
"They're eating her and then they're going to eat me. OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!" -Troll 2
Updated On: 12/29/04 at 10:11 AM
#108re: Sondheim or Webber?
Posted: 12/29/04 at 10:19am
You know what, I will name REQUIEM as my fifth selection because he took the standard REQUIEM and changed it. Usually it is about Heaven and Hell but ALW's REQUIEM is about a little boy that has to choose whether to kill his sister or die himself and he seeks help from God. Adding a little boy into a REQUIEM is something that is new and ALW said that what inspired him to write it was that he read an article in a newspaper about a boy somewhere in Africa I believe that was captured along with his sister and he had to make the choice that was in the REQUIEM. So yes, here we go. The list that proves your theory wrong.
1) Tell Me on a Sundy
2) Cricket
3) Beautiful Game
4) Starlight Express
5) REQUIEM
"They're eating her and then they're going to eat me. OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!" -Troll 2
Updated On: 12/29/04 at 10:19 AM
#109re: Sondheim or Webber?
Posted: 12/29/04 at 11:06am
"I think the experience of working with them is not all that different, but I certainly know that there is not on the face of the earth a greater composer or lyricist than Steve Sondheim. There isn't."
That is what Harold Prince had to say.
Here is an interview with him on working with both Sondheim and Webber. I think it's very objective. He talks about the strengths of the both of them.
You can find the full interview here:
Interview
"Smart! And into all those exotic mystiques -- The Kama Sutra and Chinese techniques. I hear she knows more than seventy-five. Call me tomorrow if you're still alive!"
#110re: Sondheim or Webber?
Posted: 12/29/04 at 11:46amSondheim
When someone blunders, we say that he makes a misstep. Is it then not clear that all the ills of mankind, all the tragic misfortunes that fill our history books, all the political blunders, all the failures of the great leaders have arisen merely from a lack of skill in dancing. - Moliere
#111re: Sondheim or Webber?
Posted: 12/29/04 at 6:10pm
I like what he said about Webber and Sondheim. Hal Prince seems like a real together guy. But, I like when he said this about Webber.
"Lloyd Webber is not a lyricist, and as far as I'm concerned, the British have not been able to come up with first-rate lyricists. I would appear to be damning some of my collaborators on the shows I did. I think Tim Rice is very good, and what he did for Evita was really strong because that was agitprop theater and he really knew what he was doing. But by and large, the British musical hasn't equaled the composing of Lloyd Webber with lyrics of the same high order--in my opinion.
Lloyd Webber is a romantic. He's very much a theater man. Both he and Steve share one very strong characteristic. They both understand that
empty space. And they understand what makes material exciting in the theater, what sets the theater apart from film and television. But he's not
a lyricist and depends more proportionately than Steve on music and on melody and on that romantic nature which he prefers. I think Evita's probably the best work that Webber and Rice have ever done. It was sure a tough but extraordinarily invigorating experience to put that show on the stage. This is the way Andrew works: "These are themes. I have this theme. It sounds like the show to me. It sounds like the subject matter." And then, largely, generally, the lyrics follow."
"They're eating her and then they're going to eat me. OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!" -Troll 2
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#112re: Sondheim or Webber?
Posted: 12/30/04 at 1:03am
I love that Hal Prince article. Funny that he's had two failed shows with them both now (Whistle Down the Wind--which I actually really enjoyed in its final version, and and Bounce). With the exception of Parade (which was originally offered to Sondheim) it's interesting that Prince has done his original shows with Sondheim, ALW and Kander and Ebb (who I'm glad he mentioned in that article as their shows together ar eoften forgotten--Cabaret and Zorba though left to the Sondheim shows VERY directly--and Kiss was just wonderful, period).
Tangent--but I gotta admit I wish we at least got a recording of the campy mess that was apparantly Prince's hugely expensive offBroadway 1995 LaChiusa musical Petrified Prince. Sounds fabulously odd/great/messy.
(and I think larry Grossman, who did two scores for rPrince which were better than their stories deserved--for Grind and Doll's Life is sadly udnerated--though I knwo nothing about the "eurodisco score" for hisother big 80s flop Roza)
E
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