Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91- Page 8
Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
#175Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
Posted: 12/1/21 at 6:44pm
I'm sure some memorial concert is in the works (though the Broadway League had no hand in the memorial concert for Jerry Herman last year). Then again, the Broadway League has become very, uh, particular and prone to dragging their feet about dimming the lights in recent years, for no clear reason (with Herman, it took them nearly two weeks).
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
JasonC3
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/22/21
#176Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
Posted: 12/1/21 at 7:31pm
Miles2Go2 said: "Today in honor of Mr. Sondheim’s passing, I booked a quick trip (January 4-6) to see Company and Assassins (plus Caroline, or Change). Thank goodness for my remaining Delta Skymiles and relatively cheap NYC January hotel rates. I had not planned to return to NYC again until I had recovered more financially from the pandemic, but I feel compelled to see the last two revivals he had input into before he passed. I don’t have tickets for any of the shows yet, but I’m hopeful that TKTS will help with Company and CoC and that I’ll be able to grab a ticket for Assassins somehow, someway. I just couldn’t stay away."
I'm coming in around the same time and the brand new Hyatt Place in Chelsea has AAA rates foir $114. Breakfast included.
#177Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
Posted: 12/1/21 at 7:35pm
As far as I know, the League has nothing to do with memorial services. It's up to loved ones to plan it, and I'd imagine the deceased makes some sort of requests known before they go. I'd imagine it'd be up to Messrs. Romley and Clar (SS's longtime assistant) if they want to hold a memorial service open to the public at a Broadway house.
If the League doesn't announce a dimming (or if it's one of those instances where only Sondheim-specific houses are dimmed), we all should throw meat pies at Charlotte and tell her to hightail it back to the Marriott. When Oscar died and the lights were dimmed (albeit, a long time ago) traffic in Times Square apparently stopped completely. I always thought that was an eerie, beautiful story.
#178Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
Posted: 12/1/21 at 8:10pm
JasonC3 said: "Miles2Go2 said: "Today in honor of Mr. Sondheim’s passing, I booked a quick trip (January 4-6) to see Company and Assassins (plus Caroline, or Change). Thank goodness for my remaining Delta Skymiles and relatively cheap NYC January hotel rates. I had not planned to return to NYC again until I had recovered more financially from the pandemic, but I feel compelled to see the last two revivals he had input into before he passed. I don’t have tickets for any of the shows yet, but I’m hopeful that TKTS will help with Company and CoC and that I’ll be able to grab a ticket for Assassins somehow, someway. I just couldn’t stay away."
I'm coming in around the same time and the brand new Hyatt Place in Chelsea has AAA rates foir $114. Breakfast included."
Yeah. January is a great time to come into the city. I grabbed $99/night (includes breakfast) at a midtown Hilton Garden Inn.
Tag
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/19/05
#179Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
Posted: 12/2/21 at 11:16am
The Google Doodle today is honoring Seurat, and at first I thought it was a Sonheim tribute!
#180Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
Posted: 12/2/21 at 4:27pm
This just in: on December 8, at exactly 6:30 PM, all Broadway theaters will dim their lights for one minute in honor of Stephen Sondheim.
Oh look, a bibu!
Wayman_Wong
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/22/04
#181Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
Posted: 12/2/21 at 4:56pm
Side by Side With Sondheim: My Favorite Stories About Steve
https://www.talkinbroadway.com/page/rialto/past/2021/ss.html
Thomas Jefferson
Chorus Member Joined: 11/22/19
#182Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
Posted: 12/2/21 at 5:03pm
Jordan Levinson said: "This just in: on December 8, at exactly 6:30 PM, all Broadway theaters will dim their lights for one minute in honor of Stephen Sondheim."
Seems a little weird to do this for one minute 12 days late for Stephen Sondheim of all people.
JasonC3
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/22/21
#183Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
Posted: 12/2/21 at 7:15pm
Is there some official standard by which this can be determined to be 12 days late? I was under the impression that these decisions, at least as of late, have been handled on a case-by-case basis. Perhaps I am misinformed.
ghostlight2
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/5/04
#185Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
Posted: 12/2/21 at 10:18pm
What HogansgHero and Jason said. Nothing weird about this/
#186Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
Posted: 12/3/21 at 8:47pm
Love this letter from Sondheim to Trey Parker:
#187Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
Posted: 12/24/21 at 6:58pm
Given COVID I hope someone would fund a virtual or studio concert of SQUARE ONE with Bernadette and Nathan Lane. That would help attract the widest possible audience for Sondheim’s last work, be less likely to be interrupted by Covid and still involve those stars while they are healthy and available. If COVID drags on for years I’m afraid time is just getting away from us.
"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
#188Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
Posted: 12/29/21 at 1:16am
I love that letter to Trey Parker, too, TaffyDavenport! I know Stephen also said he loved South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut and said it was one of the best musicals he had seen in a long time!
Last night I watched the entire filmed original production of Sunday in the Park with George. I was taken in awe by Mandy and Bernadette's incredible performances. I almost cried during Bernadette's song where she tells George she's leaving and almost cried again during "Sunday" and it's reprise and the song just before the reprise. I suspect a lot of that had to do with not just how great the show itself was and how great the performances and production of it were, but by Sondheim's recent passing and what they sang in Times Square for him.
So, there is something I have wondered about Stephen. I hope this is an ok thread to ask. I swear I heard when Stephen started making musicals, he didn't get any awards, and he said if he kept not getting any he was going to quit theater and write mystery/who dunnit novels. But then, he said in his first Tony speech after getting his first Tony, something I can only paraphrase as, "I don't put much stock in awards, but it's nice to get one." And then when he won a second one that same nigh, he said, "And it's even nicer to get two." Is there any truth to any of this? Why does it seem so contradictory?
#189Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
Posted: 12/29/21 at 9:29am
^I think you're reading too much into this whole thing. I doubt he felt very strongly about it on either side. He was probably more neutral than anything.
When Sondheim said that he didn't put much stock in awards, I assume what he meant is "I don't work FOR the awards, and I don't think my work NEEDS awards to be validated." He's not saying that he despises awards, or that he would reject receiving one. Few artists are actively unhappy to receive an award.
Plus, he was making a public acceptance speech. The polite thing to do is to express gratitude, not spit in their faces. The only reason he'd do that is if he was REALLY trying to make a protest on principle, but again, I doubt he felt that strongly about it.
#190Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
Posted: 12/29/21 at 11:23am
I seem to recall Sondheim was extremely discouraged after the massive failure of Merrily We Roll Along and decided to shift gears…and then Sunday was born and he rose from the ashes.
#191Stephen Sondheim Dead at 91
Posted: 12/30/21 at 12:38am
Thank you JBroadway and TotallyEffed. That makes sense.
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