Sweet Smell Of Success

[darquegk]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 3:46pm

I just recently got to see the archive video of this Marvin Hamlisch musical. As a Pittsburgher, Hamlisch is a local icon, and I'm a big fan of his SMILE musical that never seems to get any of the credit it deserved.

What did you all think of Sweet Smell? I liked it a lot, but I'm always partial to film noir and neo-jazz, being a longtime Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts fan. I haven't seen the movie it was based on yet, but I feel pretty satisfied with the musical as a standalone work.

What were your opinions, and, conversely, how was it reviewed?

My only disappointment was not with the show, but with the extant copy of the New York score and integrated libretto. As a composer and musician with an ear for jazz, I wanted to look more closely at the score and analyze the music. However, for most of Act 1, all the even-numbered pages are missing. Does anyone know if a better copy is out there? If not online, even at Lincoln Center?

[MusicSnob1]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 3:52pm

If I recall correctly, I think it got bashed. And I know a lot of people were NOT fans upon initial mounting. Lithgow received some positive reviews, though...I think. I also could be wrong on that.

I personally LOVE the score, hate the book, thought the production was a snooze-fest, but overall impressed by the cast. Lots of mixed feelings for me. I can see why it was such a flop. I hope the score is preserved for years to come though!

xoxo

Posted: 1/18/10 at 3:56pm

I saw the Chicago preview. YAWN. And Lithgow was DARN LUCKY to win that Tony- must have been a VERY weak year.

[markypoo]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 5:33pm

I only saw the show once, and that was at the very 1st Chicago preview.
I'm certain it was heavily worked on afterward; particulary in regard to Lithgow's characterization.
He seemed more of a sap initially, and less of a villain.

[Pgenre]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 5:57pm

This was a magnificent, very unique show. The cast recording is missing a lot of material and it is re-arranged quite a bit so it may be misleading for those who did not see the show. The score is, indeed, one of the very best of the 00s. "I Cannot Hear The City" (and the chilling reprise) along with "At the Fountain" and "Dirt", plus the very exciting and electric opening number are all wonderful. I'm also a big fan of "Welcome To The Night" and "Break It Up", but I think the Greek chorus conceit works relatively well and I'm pretty alone in that opinion.

The critics in both Chicago and NY did not know what to make of it, though I believe Clive Barnes called it one of the best musicals of the last few decades for whatever it's worth.

Lithgow was very good, D'Arcy James was excellent and Kelli O'Hara was unforgettable. I know she had a big ending song as well as another duet (the gorgeous "That's How I Say Goodbye" which she later performed at Seth's Chatterbox) in the very flawed Chicago version that was cut for NY so that contributed a lot to her being overshadowed by the men in what should have been a better received and awarded breakthrough performance for her.

The show was a hot mess in Chicago, an interminable, intermission-less 2+ hours. They really fixed it up quite a bit before it got to Broadway, and I'd expect no less from an amazing director like Nicholas Hytner.

All in all, I think it was too rich a meal for many audience members, almost too married to period detail and the style of the score/book and direction/choreography too inventively idiosyncratic as to confuse more people than it enticed.

The show really was anomalous, though, and I think people going in perceived that it would be something quite different than what was onstage, particularly since Lithgow was just finishing his big sitcom success. The unlikeability of ALL of the characters, even the doormat Rita who revealed her true self in that fantastically unexpected twist in the second act, did not help matters, nor did the hero's slimy nature. Lithgow was both the star of the show and the undeniable king villain in a cast of villain characters and I think he created a positively riveting performance, the best of his career until his work on DEXTER this season. Looking back, I think he should have perhaps tied with D'Arcy James (who was submitted as Featured, which he shouldn't have been), but that's another story.

Also, the cast recording omits the "f*cks" and the very creepy pseudo-psalm song from the church scene, taking a bit of the bite out of the show.

Again, the unlikeability of the characters compounded by the mean-spirited story and the avant-garde direction and balletic musical staging sealed its fate as a fast flop in the desperate-for-cheery/fun-optimism immediately post-9/11 NYC. "Don't Look Know" did NOT help matters, as far as throwing the audience a bone in the form of a "fun" number was concerned, particularly since it included Lithgow tap-dancing over a dead body as it rolled downstage.

At the performance I attended I sat directly behind Ruthie Henshall and we both agreed that it was a fantastic score but a very dark show. I told her then, and I am still holding out hope, that she will record "I Cannot Hear The City" and/or it's reprise someday.

What a fantastic score! I still remember whole chunks of the choreography/staging that played out under that leering, looming skyline...

P

[morosco]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 5:58pm

There were moments in the score that were thrilling but most moments were pretty pedestrian. The greek chorus concept was silly. Kelli O'Hara was mesmerizing. At the performance I attended Brian d'Arcy James didn't hit his money note in "At the Fountain" (a number which represents one of the better moments in the score). And that magic trick number "Don't Look Now". Oy. That's all I remember.

[darquegk]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 7:07pm

I say this with true admiration, though it's become a standard insult to shows today- this show felt like a fitting sequel to Chicago. In style, though not in choreography itself, it was VERY Fosse.

And for the record, maybe the use of f*ck left theshow during its revisions and Chicago tryout. Neither the video I saw nor my copy of the script and score include the word, as far as I can see.

[Pgenre]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 8:03pm

Well, off the top of my head, in the opening number Sidney says "Damn!" instead of "Sh*t!" so perhaps I'm confusing Lithgow's f*cks" with DRS, though SSOS was incredibly vicious and mean-spirited with or without the use of "f*ck". A few cast recordings around this time were heavily censored for some strange reason, MJL's TWP by far the worst offender.

P

[darquegk]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 8:34pm

If Fosse were still alive, this is one of the few shows that I know off the bat he would have been the one to direct, I'm sure.

[Pgenre]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 8:41pm

I agree, darquegk. That being said, I thought it had the best choreography of the decade besides, perhaps, Graciele Daniele's work on BERNARDA ALBA. Total fusion of ballet and jazz styles, and amazing musical staging for those long dialogue/verse/dialogue/chorus/dance/chorus scenes. This show could have looked like a complete mess on stage (and did in Chicago) but it is to Hytner and the choreographer's credit that it didn't.

P

[morosco]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 8:41pm

Posted: 1/18/10 at 10:50pm

Well maybe I'm just in an argumentative mood, but the score was horrendous, there WAS an intermission and the choreography was a bunch of people walking around.

[Theatreboy49]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 11:56pm

I am a very big fan of the show. I really enjoy the score and Sydney Falco is a dream role of mine. Its probably the most unlikly to happen of any of those roles since well it never ever gets produced. I think the dark tone of the show is what makes it so enjoyable. And while O'hara's role is overshadowed by the men every moment on the recording she is just wonderful. Also not that the show was praised at all by any means but I really feel Rita's song is fantastic. Stacey Logan really gives a great performance there. Its really a piece that I feel will sadly be forgotten and should not be. There are some great moments in their especially musically. At The Fountain, Don't Know Where You Leave Off, I Cannot Hear the City are just great. I really love this show.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 1/19/10 at 3:05am

Don't know anything about this show, but I LOVE that set.

[mallardo]

Posted: 1/19/10 at 5:00am

There is no OBCR I play more that Sweet Smell of Success. To me Hamlisch's score is sensational, as are William Brohn's orchestrations. Craig Carnelia's lyrics are the weak link, servicable at best. The song I play over and over again is track 7 - Don't Know Where You Leave Off. Chills.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 1/19/10 at 9:45am

I remember giggling a lot when the chorus started shouting "Whatcha gonna do SIDNEY?!?!?!" over and over again.

Posted: 1/19/10 at 11:02am

Roscoe there was PLENTY of unintended laughter at the preview I saw.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 1/19/10 at 11:54am

I saw the tryout in Chicago as well and found it forgettable. The dark story and unlikeable characters reminded me too much of Thou Shalt Not, which I had seen just a few months earlier. I did like a few of the numbers in the score such as At the Fountain, Dirt, Don't Know Where You Leave Off and Rita's Number (which I do remember receiving the biggest ovation of the evening). But the most positive impression I received were from the performances of Kelli O'Hara, who I immediately recognized as a rising star, and Jack Noseworthy and Stacey Logan, both in rather thankless roles. I was really rooting for Brian D'Arcy James, but I found his performance to be very flat and John Lithgow bored me to tears. I'll never forget his singing For Susan and it had this rather creepy incestuous tone behind it that left me baffled as to whether I he was singing about his sister or someone else I hadn't picked up on. I attended the show with my parents and they still talk about it being one of the worst shows they've ever seen.

[darquegk]

Posted: 1/19/10 at 12:00pm

The show was vastly retooled and improved from its Chicago tryout, according to the information I could find. This included new choreography in a half-ballet, half-Fosse style to replace the "stylized walking" that made up most of the original, a new characterization for Hocksetter, and other assorted changes.

However, his relationship with his sister remains just as creepy as ever.

[once a month]

Posted: 1/19/10 at 12:04pm

It made my bottom "10", out of 300+...although I did like "Dirt" which puts it a notch above Thou Shalt Not. Usually love Lithgow, but thought the show creepy and incestuous.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 1/19/10 at 12:15pm

Incestuous????

Posted: 1/19/10 at 12:47pm

Matt, "For Susan" was the only song I really liked- and yes, there was an incestuous vibe. It actually made sense and it was the first time I really understood Sidney's motivation.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 1/19/10 at 1:03pm

Ok, I'm glad it wasn't just me that picked up on the incest thing. I just had trouble deciding if it was intentional or not. I don't remember it cropping up again in the show either on the surface or in subtext. I just remember thinking, "Wait...Isn't Susan his sister? Maybe I got her name wrong, but we haven't met a lot of characters. If not, that's really creepy. Especially since Susan looks like his daughter." And then I basically forgot about it trying to follow the rest of the story.

Posted: 1/19/10 at 1:06pm

I went with a friend and we both picked up on it. Maybe Lithgow is a good actor after all as we couldn't point to any one thing that gave us the idea but we both got the same vibe.

[morosco]

Posted: 1/19/10 at 1:07pm

Incest is certainly implied in the film.