Posted: 6/9/15 at 7:36am
I know it's not the be all and end all, but has Sondheim expressed a view on the show?
Whilst pondering his opinion of this beautifully written show, it struck me: why has he steered clear of openly gay characters throughout his works? I know there are theories about Bobby, but there isn't one character to match those in Fun Home.
Posted: 6/9/15 at 8:31am
"why has he steered clear of openly gay characters throughout his works?"
He did, beautifully, in Road Show. Here is "The Best Thing That Ever Happened," gorgeously sung at Joe's Pub by Claybourne Elder.
Posted: 6/9/15 at 8:45am
He is of a different generation, it shouldn't be surprising that he was not comfortable writing of it.
Posted: 6/9/15 at 11:50am
"He is of a different generation, it shouldn't be surprising that he was not comfortable writing of it."
Exactly. And it certainly would not have been a commercial move in that era either - usually a bottom line.
Posted: 6/9/15 at 12:30pm
There was a bizarre article in the New Yorker about how the journalist writing it sat behind Sondheim when he saw FUN HOME downtown. It really was meaningless tripe, because aside from hearing SS grunt a few times in what was assumed to be pleasure, the journalist really didn't know what Sondheim thought.
And he did a beautiful job with Addison and his boyfriend in ROAD SHOW, as PalJoey points out. Aside from that ballad already mentioned, "You" is rhapsodic as well.
I'm sure Sondheim at least appreciated the show. He championed Tesori's VIOLET some years back when it was at Playwrights Horizons.
Posted: 6/9/15 at 12:33pm
Posted: 6/9/15 at 12:37pm
"Isn't it really only fairly recently (last ten years?) Sondheim has publicly acknowledged his sexuality? "
The last twenty, right? Was he openly gay around the time of PASSION when he met Peter Jones, or did it only come to light in the Secrest biography?
