The Heckler: Why I'm allergic to Stephen Sondheim- Page 5

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 3/22/15 at 5:48pm

This is how Sondheim composes (according to Dave19)

[Dave19]

Posted: 3/22/15 at 5:53pm

Jay, I can't deny that that's how most of his melodies sound to me.

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 3/22/15 at 5:54pm

Dave
those are bland, flowery lyrics.

Not poetic lyrics. There's a difference.

[Showface]

Posted: 3/22/15 at 5:56pm

"Jay, I can't deny that that's how most of his melodies sound to me."

If that is true, then that issue is beyond Sondheim's or anybody's reach...

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 3/22/15 at 6:00pm

Sweeney Todd has some of the most beautiful melodies I have ever heard. I listen to "Our Time" from Merrily when I want to hear a beautiful marriage of melody and lyrics. I think later Sondheim may be less accessible for those who just want Celine Dion/Diane Warren type of ballads, but to say the lyrics are "random" or don't take you on a "journey" shows one isn't listening carefully enough. I mean I don't know how you can say that when you hear "Move On" from Sunday in the Park with George or the whole prologue of Into the Woods and "Moments in the Wood" or "It Takes Two" or "No One is Alone" etc. The lyrics themselves are full of symbolism and deeper meaning, and they're not simplistic resolutions. With Sondheim's resolutions, they are not always obvious declarations, but they take into account human complexities and contradictions.

https://youtu.be/AfN9AIqeYxU Our Time from Merrily We Roll Along








Updated On: 3/22/15 at 06:00 PM

[Dave19]

Posted: 3/22/15 at 6:02pm

Po-et-ic:

1. Having a beautiful or graceful quality
2. Characterized by romantic imagery
3. Having an imaginative or sensitively emotional style of expression

Seems like those lyrics to me. But whatever you like to call it.

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 3/22/15 at 6:17pm

Dave
shhhhh
just stop.

[indytallguy]

Posted: 3/22/15 at 6:20pm

TO wash the bad taste of some of this thread out of my mouth I returned to this wonderful 2013 NYMag essay from Frank Rich.
Frank Rich on Why Sondheim Endures

[Musical Master]

Posted: 3/22/15 at 6:28pm

I wonder why Sondheim haters can't accept a plain fact that some people can like Sondheim AND other composers all the while not choosing a team?

[Lovinbroadway2]

Posted: 3/22/15 at 7:12pm

Haha. Did someone actually say that people hate musicals because of Sondheim? Funny joke! I mean, you're kidding, right?

[Phillypinto]

Posted: 3/22/15 at 7:13pm

sweetlips, why is your picture so creepy?? And whether people think Sondheim's melodies are simple or not, and easy to sing, thats pretty much an opinion.

[The Glenbuck Laird]

Posted: 3/22/15 at 7:13pm

Yeah Send in the Clowns is world class

[Phillypinto]

Posted: 3/22/15 at 7:15pm

hahahahah thats sarcastic right? If it is, i agree with you! I don't really think anyone knows that song except theatre people

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 3/22/15 at 7:17pm

Phillypinto
ARE YOU F###### CRAZY!!???

Send in the Clowns is one of the most famous show tunes out there. It was made famous by Judy Collins. How do you not know this?

Updated On: 3/22/15 at 07:17 PM

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/22/15 at 7:20pm

Clowns was a Grammy winning POP hit in the 70s. Philly, you are greatly mistaken. Ask your parents and grandparents, they will know the song.

[Phillypinto]

Posted: 3/22/15 at 7:20pm

icecreambenjamin, do you know anyone else besides theatre people??? Ask them if they know that song, and let me know their answer!

Honestly, this is coming from someone in the new generation. As far as I'm concerned, this song is not that famous. Even many young theatre people don't know this song

Updated On: 3/22/15 at 07:20 PM

[Showface]

Posted: 3/22/15 at 7:20pm

Let's not forget Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Patti Labelle, and Judi Dench

Updated On: 3/22/15 at 07:20 PM

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 3/22/15 at 7:23pm

"Two years later in 1975, Judy Collins recorded "Send In the Clowns" and included it in her album, Judith.[8] The song was released as a single, which soon became a major pop hit. It remained on the Billboard Hot 100 for 11 weeks in 1975, reaching Number 36.[9]Then, in 1977, the song again reached the Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for 16 weeks and reached Number 19.[10] At theGrammy Awards of 1976, the Judy Collins performance of the song was named "Song of the Year"."

Phillypinto
please spare us of your ignorance.

[Showface]

Posted: 3/22/15 at 7:24pm

"And whether people think Sondheim's melodies are simple or not, and easy to sing, thats pretty much an opinion."

Wrong answer.

And yes, even young theatre people are aware of Send in the Clowns.

[Phillypinto]

Posted: 3/22/15 at 7:25pm

"And yes, even young theatre people are aware of Send in the Clowns"

Wrong answer.

[Showface]

Posted: 3/22/15 at 7:26pm

I'm a "young theatre person", and I know "Send in the Clowns"

Updated On: 8/10/15 at 07:26 PM

[Lovinbroadway2]

Posted: 3/22/15 at 7:27pm

Phillypinto,
It is an old song. People that know the song and aren't "theater people" are old people. Today, everyone listens to Taylor Swift and stuff, so only "theater people" and old people know the song.

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 3/22/15 at 7:27pm

I'm a "young theatre people" and so is my entire high school. We are all aware of that song.

[PianoMann]

Posted: 3/22/15 at 7:27pm

Yes, Philly, even people in your generation know "Send in the Clowns," and, even if they can't name the tune or sing the lyrics, they've at least heard of the musicians who have covered it and made it a pop standard. I mean, you can't possibly believe that 19 year olds don't know Frank Sinatra or Barbra Streisand...

[Showface]

Posted: 3/22/15 at 7:28pm

^ ^
Thank you!

Honestly, one person cannot speak for an entire generation. If you don't know or understand something, does not mean other's do not.

Updated On: 3/22/15 at 07:28 PM