Stephen Sondheim likes NEXT TO NORMAL
Stephen Sondheim likes NEXT TO NORMAL
#1Stephen Sondheim likes NEXT TO NORMAL
Posted: 7/11/10 at 8:20am
And Spring Awakening.
Well, at least, in this interview he said the two shows that have made the biggest splash recently on Broadway are SA and N2N, in the same conversation responding to the interview's question about "good" musicals on Broadway. It isn't much, but since he doesn't talk much about living writers/shows it's interesting to hear SOMETHING, even if vague.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQS2b8vHekw&feature=related
When my goodbye post was removed: “but I had a great dramatic finish!!!!”
Updated On: 7/11/10 at 08:20 AM
#2Stephen Sondheim likes NEXT TO NORMAL
Posted: 7/11/10 at 8:34ami honestly think he can do no wrong
#2Stephen Sondheim likes NEXT TO NORMAL
Posted: 7/11/10 at 11:14amHe also said that he dislikes juke box musicals in the same interview.
#3Stephen Sondheim likes NEXT TO NORMAL
Posted: 7/11/10 at 11:32amOMG! Thank you so much for posting this clip. I am now watching all installments, and I am in heaven!
#4Stephen Sondheim likes NEXT TO NORMAL
Posted: 7/11/10 at 11:32amThis title is completely misleading. He doesn't give any opinion on the work itself; it's merely a commentary on the public reception.
Like a firework unexploded
Wanting life but never knowing how
Wanting life but never knowing how
#5Stephen Sondheim likes NEXT TO NORMAL
Posted: 7/11/10 at 3:02pmYeah, agreed. I think Mr. Sondheim might enjoy Next to Normal's imaginative storytelling devices though. It seems like something he'd enjoy. The lyrics though, who knows? I wrote down a great quote he said about disliking false rhymes and Next to Normal has several, and Spring Awakening has nearly all falsies.
AwesomeDanny
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/30/09
#6Stephen Sondheim likes NEXT TO NORMAL
Posted: 7/11/10 at 3:49pmHe didn't say he likes them, he just said that they each made bigger impressions than recent jukebox musicals. Maybe he likes them more than Million Dollar Quartet and Rock of Ages, but there aren't that many musical theater fans who would disagree. Of course, he wouldn't be saying that about the two shows if he hated them, but he talked about them to prove a point of his.
#7Stephen Sondheim likes NEXT TO NORMAL
Posted: 7/11/10 at 3:53pm
My guess is that Mr. Sondheim probably likes N2N. IMO, N2N is groundbreaking in its content, and I would wager a bet the Mr. Sondheim would admire it for that at the very least. It's an amazing show that takes risks. Something Mr. Sondheim knows something about.
Updated On: 7/11/10 at 03:53 PM
#8Stephen Sondheim likes NEXT TO NORMAL
Posted: 7/11/10 at 4:00pm
"N2N is groundbreaking in its content" - sondheimfan2
NEXT TO NORMAL isn't the least bit groundbreaking in content. Perhaps in execution, but not content.
In another interview with Sondheim that I heard or read somewhere he said that SPRING AWAKENING and NEXT TO NORMAL where the only new shows that used songs in new,original ways; which, of course, has been his "thing" for decades.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people. - Eleanor Roosevelt
Updated On: 7/11/10 at 04:00 PM
#9Stephen Sondheim likes NEXT TO NORMAL
Posted: 7/11/10 at 4:10pm
Almira - I beg to differ. A musical about a woman dealing with bipolar disorder and the dysfunctional effects it has on her family. I'd say that's groundbreaking. (the Pulitzer Prize Board seems to agree as well).
In addition to bipolar disorder, N2N also deals with such topics as "grieving a loss, suicide, drug abuse, ethics in modern psychiatry, and suburban life" (Wikipedia).
I don't want to detract from the purpose of this thread.
#10Stephen Sondheim likes NEXT TO NORMAL
Posted: 7/11/10 at 4:11pmI'm pretty sure in a Theatre Talk interview, Sondheim expressed his admiration for the show (along with Spring Awakening).
#11Stephen Sondheim likes NEXT TO NORMAL
Posted: 7/11/10 at 4:20pm
sondheimfan2, mental illness is hardly a new subject to theater. Family dynamics as a results of mental illness goes back to day one of theatre.
grieving loss - check, seen that before
suicide - check, seen that before
drug abuse - check, seen that before
Nothing new in "content." If the Pulitzer was awarded strictly on "content" or subject matter.. all an author would have do is come up with something that was never shown on stage before...which after thousands of years is kind of hard to do.
Your argument is like saying FOLLIES was groundbreaking because it dealt with reunions, when we all know FOLLIES is ground breaking because of "how" (execution) it dealt with reunions (content).
Also following your argument ONE NIGHT STAND, a musical about comic who announces he will kill himself by the of the end of the evening was deserving of a Pulitzer because nothing like that had ever been seen on stage before. It had a score by Jule Styne and book by Herb Gardner and closed after one performance.
There is a distinction.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people. - Eleanor Roosevelt
Updated On: 7/11/10 at 04:20 PM
#13Stephen Sondheim likes NEXT TO NORMAL
Posted: 7/11/10 at 4:35pmI sat across the aisle from him when the show was at Second Stage and he seemed to be enjoying himself.
#14Stephen Sondheim likes NEXT TO NORMAL
Posted: 7/11/10 at 5:28pm
Did he make grunt-y sounds of approval? That's what he did at Creditors at BAM.
ps. Hi Allie!
"We don't value the lily less for not being made of flint and built to last. Life's bounty is in it's flow, later is too late. Where is the song when it's been sung, the dance when it's been danced? It's only we humans who want to own the future too."
- Tom Stoppard, Shipwreck
#15Stephen Sondheim likes NEXT TO NORMAL
Posted: 7/11/10 at 5:47pmin the first part of this 7 part video thing, it shows Stephen going through the Opening of Sweeney Todd in detail, does anyone know where i can find, either...the video of the South Bank show that that was in? or a conductors score perhaps of Sweeney Todd? or are they illegal? (i genuinly do not know so by all means laugh at my stupidity if they are! haha)
AwesomeDanny
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/30/09
#16Stephen Sondheim likes NEXT TO NORMAL
Posted: 7/11/10 at 5:49pm
I don't know where to find him discussing the opening, but here is the full video of him discussing "Epiphany":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ozg_OrLmLU4
#17Stephen Sondheim likes NEXT TO NORMAL
Posted: 7/11/10 at 5:52pm
That footage is from the South Bank show on the London production of SWEENEY TODD.
It not for sale (officially). I know there are shabby copies floating around.
I saw the full thing at the museum of TV and Broadcasting. I think it is posted on youtube too.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people. - Eleanor Roosevelt
#18Stephen Sondheim likes NEXT TO NORMAL
Posted: 7/11/10 at 6:01pm
AwsomeDanny: thank you! watching now! =)
Almira: ahh, i see, thanks! can only hope i stumble on it by accident then! haha
#19Stephen Sondheim likes NEXT TO NORMAL
Posted: 7/11/10 at 6:04pm
"This title is completely misleading. He doesn't give any opinion on the work itself; it's merely a commentary on the public reception."
The title is intentionally misleading, with a disclaimer in the actual post.
Though to add, he also mentions the musicals in the same conversation as a response to "good" musicals on Broadway. So I think it is more than just the 'public perception'.
When my goodbye post was removed: “but I had a great dramatic finish!!!!”
#20Stephen Sondheim likes NEXT TO NORMAL
Posted: 7/11/10 at 6:14pm
Almira - I see your point, and I agree with you that content in itself is not necessarily groundbreaking. As a Sondheim fan for 30+ years, I have never found other musicals as exhilarating --- except for the day I saw N2N (for the first time).
#21Stephen Sondheim likes NEXT TO NORMAL
Posted: 7/11/10 at 6:20pmadamgreer, Perhaps you're right, but I don't recall him ever being on Theater Talk since he (openly) dislikes Michael Riedel very strongly after he pounced on Bounce in 2003.
#22Stephen Sondheim likes NEXT TO NORMAL
Posted: 7/11/10 at 8:29pm
It was reported on ATC that he stood and cheered at the end of Adding Machine. In an interview with Frank Rich, he said this, "There was a show called The Adding Machine that was done Off-Broadway. That — whether one likes it or not — that's serious stuff. It was an attempt to use the complexities of music in different ways — and lyrics and the stage, too. And I think anybody who would think for two seconds of putting that on in a commercial theater should have his head examined."
Anyway, it sounds like he may liked Adding Machine. He certainly seems, at minimum, to have admired its ambitions and its approach.
But as we know, he rarely comments positively or negatively on the work of living writers. And the list of musicals that he really likes is a small one.
#23Stephen Sondheim likes NEXT TO NORMAL
Posted: 7/11/10 at 8:32pmI believe Arthur Laurents was on Theater Talk discussing how he enjoyed Spring Awakening.
#24Stephen Sondheim likes NEXT TO NORMAL
Posted: 7/11/10 at 8:33pmIIRC, Arthur Laurents praises Spring Awakening in his new book Mainly on Directing too.
When my goodbye post was removed: “but I had a great dramatic finish!!!!”
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