Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91- Page 6
Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
#125Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
Posted: 11/28/21 at 4:02am
Rest in Peace, Steven. You were in incomparable creator of so many musical masterpieces, many I would call the top greatest musicals of all time in my opinion, but really, any bit of your art was amazing. I'm glad you lived long enough to gift us with so, so much of that art, and to marry the man you loved, and that you left us peacefully. Your work will live on forever.
Updated On: 11/28/21 at 04:02 AM
#126Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
Posted: 11/28/21 at 6:16am
Not to nitpick, but Soupy Sales outlived Richard Rodgers by three decades.
I didn't check. The name popped into my head, and it's a funny name which might have brought back some dormant memories to a few and I didn't think anyone would nitpick. 
No one questions Hammerstein’s historical significance, nor does the popularity of these six musicals show any sign of diminishing. But there is a gap between that popularity and the esteem in which he is held by many critics. Kenneth Tynan summed up the conventional wisdom about the alleged sentimentality and naiveté of Hammerstein’s work when he dismissed The Sound of Music as “a show for children of all ages, from six to about eleven and a half.” Stephen Sondheim, Hammerstein’s protégé, put it more forgivingly when he described him as “easy to make fun of because he is so earnest.”
https://www.commentary.org/articles/terry-teachout/solve-problem-like-oscar-hammerstein/
The following may generalize a bit, so please pik if you must but don't nitpik.
Magnolia and Ravenol, Curly and Laurey, Julie and Billy, Nellie and Emile, Cable and Liat, Tuptim and Lun Tha, Maria and the Captain.
What do these have in common? The couples all fell into deeply conventional love with each other and at curtain that love was intact even if death would keep them apart.
Hammerstein also shamelessly depicts the short and simple annals of the poor. Clam bakes, lunch basket socials, hokey amateur entertainment for homesick servicemen, family singing contests, state fairs.
I'm no Sondheim scholar but I believe he deals almost exclusively with the difficulties and the termination of relationships. "People Will Say We're in Love" vs. "Not a Day Goes By."
When scholars infer that a work of art is shallow because it has been too popular with too many for too long, I usually refer them to Shakespeare. And there is ample conflict in Hammerstein's shows. He just doesn't deal with couples falling out of love.
In recent times there has not been that much criticism of Rodgers and Hammerstein as in the past. I think Hammerstein is a giant of American culture, having been the driving force behind two musicals spaced about fifteen years apart that transformed the genre from entertainment to art.
Still I wonder what Sondheim truly thought of the shows of his mentor. I can't imagine Sondheim writing anything like them.
#127Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
Posted: 11/28/21 at 7:41am
My heart is broken. My love for musical theatre was carried on this man’s back for over a decade. His understanding of human nature reads like Hugo and Dumas to me and what a joy it is to hear it sung out. He will live on forever in the voices of nameless people all over the world who take the time to sit and listen.
#128Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
Posted: 11/28/21 at 9:29am
Playbill will be livestreaming the Times Square event on Instagram.
#129Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
Posted: 11/28/21 at 9:33am
@OlBlueEyes No nits on your explanation. I think there is a conversation that might be had about the why, but not about the observation. Re Soupy, it made your point effectively. The nit would have been cured by leaving out the "had." 
[I encountered Soupy in a doctors' office once. Even behind a much older façade, the expression was unmistakable.]
#132Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
Posted: 11/28/21 at 11:22am
binau said: "I can't help but feel Sondheim would not agree with Lin-Manuel's description of his work because he was always one to point out that it was his collaborators who wrote these characters: Arthur Laurents wrote Tony & Maria, Hugh Wheeler wrote Sweeney Todd, George Furth wrote Bobby, James Lapine wrote George, Dot & Fosca. Sondheim is clear that his collaborators gave the canvas that allowed him to write the most incredible music for these characters. He was always so humble and keen to acknowledge the work of his collaborators, which is part of why he seemed like such a nice person!
"
In fact, evident right in that Patti interview:
Patti LuPone: "Do you have a fav character that you've written"
Sondheim: "I don't write the characters, the book writers write the characters, I explore the characters."
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
sabrelady
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/16/03
#133Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
Posted: 11/28/21 at 11:58am
If anyone from the board is there and able please post any video or photos.
I'm not on the Instagram,
#134Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
Posted: 11/28/21 at 12:44pm
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8Bd5kIQ2Hk4
2010
Feb. 28 - Looped, Feb. 28 - Next to Normal, March 4 - Hair, March 11 - A Little Night Music, March 24 - Time Stands Still, April 6 - La Cage Aux Folles, April 10 - Anyone Can Whistle (City Center), April 10 - Looped, May 9 - Enron, May 15 - A Little Night Music, May 15 - A Behanding In Spokane, May 30 - A Behanding In Spokane, May 30 - A Little Night Music, June 20 - A Little Night Music, June 23 - Red, June 23 - Sondheim on Sondheim, July 13 - A Little Night Music, July 18 - The Grand Manner (Lincoln Center)
#135Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
Posted: 11/28/21 at 12:44pm
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8Bd5kIQ2Hk4
2010
Feb. 28 - Looped, Feb. 28 - Next to Normal, March 4 - Hair, March 11 - A Little Night Music, March 24 - Time Stands Still, April 6 - La Cage Aux Folles, April 10 - Anyone Can Whistle (City Center), April 10 - Looped, May 9 - Enron, May 15 - A Little Night Music, May 15 - A Behanding In Spokane, May 30 - A Behanding In Spokane, May 30 - A Little Night Music, June 20 - A Little Night Music, June 23 - Red, June 23 - Sondheim on Sondheim, July 13 - A Little Night Music, July 18 - The Grand Manner (Lincoln Center)
#136Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
Posted: 11/28/21 at 1:07pm
Stephen Sondheim surprised a composer with dementia. (Stephen appears at about 5:44 ) https://youtu.be/JS0q6AW35OM
"Noel [Coward] and I were in Paris once. Adjoining rooms, of course. One night, I felt mischievous, so I knocked on Noel's door, and he asked, 'Who is it?' I lowered my voice and said 'Hotel detective. Have you got a gentleman in your room?' He answered, 'Just a minute, I'll ask him.'" (Beatrice Lillie)
Trish2
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/20/06
#137Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
Posted: 11/28/21 at 1:28pm
Rudy2 said: "https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8Bd5kIQ2Hk4"
Thank you for posting that link! Just lovely. And how sweet to see composer Tom Kitt singing along!
#138Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
Posted: 11/28/21 at 1:30pm
The Patti interview was really special, as was the full CBS Sunday Morning tribute.
#139Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
Posted: 11/28/21 at 2:11pm
ljay889 said: "The Patti interview was really special, as was the full CBS Sunday Morning tribute."
It was interesting to see Patti interview him. I’ve read a few interviews with her over the years where she said she felt he didn’t like her, didn’t return her calls and preferred Bernadette Peters. Maybe she was just in a bad place during those interviews.
"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal
"I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello
sabrelady
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/16/03
#140Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
Posted: 11/28/21 at 2:12pm
That was so lovely. A true grace note . Sondheim would have approved the sendoff.
bear88
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/26/16
#141Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
Posted: 11/28/21 at 2:26pm
Here's "Sunday" at Times Square (from someone's YouTube post):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Bd5kIQ2Hk4
sabrelady
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/16/03
#142Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
Posted: 11/28/21 at 2:26pm
Found this video of Lin's opening remarks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2Rwkh1jNBM
#143Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
Posted: 11/28/21 at 2:40pm
Bettyboy72 said: "ljay889 said: "The Patti interview was really special, as was the full CBS Sunday Morning tribute."
It was interesting to see Patti interview him. I’ve read a few interviews with her over the years where she said she felt he didn’t like her, didn’t return her calls and preferred Bernadette Peters. Maybe she was just in a bad place during those interviews.
"
Yep. Patti and Elaine Stritch both famously felt insecure in their relationships with him. I think towards the end, Patti realized he did like and respect her. By all accounts, he was thrilled with her current Joanne, laughing away at the recent first preview and joining the standing ovation for "The Ladies Who Lunch."
It may be fan fantasy, but I think Patti and Elaine felt somewhat overshadowed by his obvious affection for Angela Lansbury and Bernadette.
#144Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
Posted: 11/28/21 at 3:22pm
A couple of more videos from Times Square:
https://www.tiktok.com/@theatreislife/video/7035671657121320198
https://www.tiktok.com/@theatreislife/video/7035690978644200709
#145Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
Posted: 11/28/21 at 3:38pm
Rudy2 said: "https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8Bd5kIQ2Hk4"
“White. A blank page or canvas… his favorite. So many… possibilities.” As artists, we will forever keep finishing the hat as we continue to improve our craft in many different ways.
What a beautiful sendoff. I’m sure Stephen loved it from up there.
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#146Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
Posted: 11/28/21 at 3:39pm
It was a beautiful gathering in Central Park, and the community chorus sounded absolutely gorgeous. Here’s a video on IG:
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CW1HXb9ls1S/?utm_medium=copy_link
#148Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
Posted: 11/28/21 at 4:31pm
That was gorgeous. What a great tribute.
A Chorus Line revival played its final Broadway performance on August 17, 2008. The tour played its final performance on August 21, 2011. A new non-equity tour started in October 2012 played its final performance on March 23, 2013. Another non-equity tour launched on January 20, 2018. The tour ended its US run in Kansas City and then toured throughout Japan August & September 2018.
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