Sondheim's Best Musical??

Yesterday I listened to the original broadway recording of 'Assassins'! I was blow away! Not only is it a great score but its easy to listen to and enjoy (unlike some of his other scores, in my opinion)! I then went on to read a plot synopsis and it just sound fascinating! I would love to see a production of this and having never seen any of Sondheim's work, from purely listening to the score and reading the synopsis this is my favorite!

Now I'm interested to see what others think is his greatest musical?

Why Follies?

(Despite having most of the cast albums - I don't know a lot of his 'less known' work as I rarely have the capacity to listen to the whole soundtrack/read the synopsis lol)

Sweeney Todd

Followed by A Little Night Music

Follies bores the brains out of me. Mostly because it's maudlin and ultimately narcissistic and trivial. But that's the subject matter. The songs individually are brilliant. It's the sum of the parts in that show that leave me wincing.

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I never saw the original, and I base my assessment on many other productions. I love each individual number. I think they're brilliant. But they all add up to a giant steaming morose pile of nothing.

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Updated On: 4/1/11 at 07:42 PM

I never fully appreciated Follies till I read the *original* book which has this amazing dreamlike quality that I think is really moving (I assume anyway). It annoys me that the current licensed version, while not as big a change as the London one, really ruins a lot of this, I think a lot of people don't even know how much of the book IS different in the current version (which was done at Papermill, the Roundabout, etc). For Kennedy Center they say they're doing the original book (although Bolero D'Amour has been, grrr, cut), let's hope they actually mean it.

My personal faves aren't necesarily his best, but are the two I go back to the most. Company and Passion (a show that even many of his fans seem to dislike). I think they brilliant show the best of the two sides of the man.

With Company though I also much prefer the original book--it doesn't work for me to update some references but keep some still firmly in the 70s ("or my service'll explain" etc), I love the oh so 1970s production, I think it still is relevent and doesn't need to be moved up to the present day.

Passion I just find gorgeous and moving beyond nearly any other musical.

But really I'm such a stupid fan it would be much harder picking a least fave...

Absolutely "Sweeney Todd."


The score is perfection, and it will never cease to amaze me how the same material can be, based on direction, made to be alternatively horrifying (Doyle's revival) or darkly hilarious (original staging). I think Doyle's revival is one of the most perfect and complex Broadway musicals I've ever seen. The threads from those months it was playing showing how the show evolved on a nightly basis and breaking down the various movements and actions of the cast/'patients' within the concept were among my favorite times on this board. I've never been so entranced with a show, or able to so vividly recall the emotions I had while watching it years later. Just the beginning of Manoel Feliciano being handed his violin and the rest playing those opening notes.... shivers still.



If I had to pick a 2nd though, it'd be 'Assassins,' just being the history nerd that I am.

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Updated On: 4/1/11 at 08:58 PM

Sweeney Todd is his masterpiece, as far as I'm concerned. My second favorite is Into the Woods - I know not as popular as some of the others, but I think it's brilliant.

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April Fools!

The best Sondheim musical was one in which he wrote the lyrics only. This glorious score is one of the top five in Broadway history. No Sondheim music and lyrics show ever came within a thousand miles of it.

What a pity that West Side Story was the end of the Bernstein/Sondheim collaboration. Leonard will be remembered for this and his other Broadway shows when his Mass and other classical works have been pretty much forgotten.

Just my opinion.

I heard Mr. Sondheim say Assassins is the only one he wouldn't change a thing. I also love Night Music and Sweeney.

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"
You read the original book? Where did you get your hands on it? I'd LOVE to read it!"

I've heard it goes for a pretty penny on Ebay. The university I work at has an amazing theatre collection int heir library, including musicals (which is odd as they don't have a musical theatre department)--they had a copy of the Random Hourse edition as well as the new pulication so I literally compared page by page (even the stage directions are far more reality based and less interesting in the current script).

If you can't find it for an afordable price, you could always try an interlibrary loan...

Updated On: 4/2/11 at 12:46 AM

I'm interested in the "attempted" collaboration, Eric. I don't suppose that there is any way I could get access to those demos?

Of course I can understand why Sondheim would take the most pride in the shows to which he wrote both music and lyrics, but being the lyricist to West Side Story is more than just a little above being a short order cook.

Updated On: 4/2/11 at 12:54 AM

I think Doyle's revival is one of the most perfect and complex Broadway musicals I've ever seen.

I totally agree with you, Katurian2...I've seen quite a few Broadway shows and that one still ranks among the best theatrical experiences I've ever had, period. Everything about it was just...perfect. I saw it 4 times and I kept discovering new things, and it was never the same show twice.

I haven't seen all of Sondheim's shows, but of those that I know, I would definitely say Sweeney Todd is the best, followed closely by A Little Night Music and Sunday in the Park.