The Heckler: Why I'm allergic to Stephen Sondheim — Page 6

Yes i am a young theatre person, and of course i know that song. But being around other young theatre myself, I think a lot of you would be surprised

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Bottom line:

There is no doubting Sondheim's significance.
There is no doubting the complexity of his songs.

Thank you, Showface.

The ignorance is overwhelming.



It's causing me physical damage.

But yes, It is a very popular song, and is a standard.

But it ain't Sondheim's best.

Updated On: 3/22/15 at 07:36 PM

Saying a song is world-class or that it was a pop hit and widely-known doesn't mean that everyone or even every generation knows it. Of course young people, who have had less of a chance to hear it, wouldn't know Send in the Clowns. That doesn't negate that fact that it was a huge hit and widely used in media and popularly covered.

If we use young people (not young theatre people but young people in general) as a gauge then very few songs would make the cut both in theatre and in the pop/rock/rap genres as well.

You want to know the first time I heard "Send in the Clowns"? On an episode of The Simpsons on syndication as an elementary-school aged kid. Yu Na Kim, one of the if not THE biggest celebrity in South Korea right now skated to it for her short program at the 2014 Olympics. Even though her choreographer thought up the idea, she knew the song beforehand and wanted to skate to it. If that's not world-wide exposure, I don't know what is.

Updated On: 3/22/15 at 07:43 PM

**sigh**

That's all...

I bet there are tons of young kids (younger than Philly) that know the song - there are simple versions in numerous beginner piano lesson books! I learned how to play it when I was 8 or 9, before I knew anything about Sondheim or A Little Night Music. No, it doesn't play on popular radio anymore, but if we start disregarding the older classics because they're not longer immediately relevant, so help us!

Yesssss the song ONCE was very popular! I never said otherwise. However there are old musical theatre songs that have held up much longer. Take "And I'm telling you I'm not going" or "Memory" that are still popular today. Who doesn't know memory?? Idk i really never thought Send in the clowns was popular today

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Updated On: 3/22/15 at 08:07 PM

WRONG! This is the new generation coming your way!! Thats the conflict with me on this board! The things i say are coming from a young theatre person's mind. Most people on this board are way older

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Updated On: 3/22/15 at 08:13 PM

That's a horribly incorrect assumption, Philly! Just take a look at the number of people posting in Student Rush threads, etc. Yes, you don't have to be young to be a student, but there are a great number of posters here who are young and who have maturity in their tastes, opinions, and in the way they speak to one another. I'm only 2-3 years older than you...

LOL how do i act?? lmfao yeah because I am such a rebel! And my opinions are my opinions!!

"maturity in their tastes, opinions"
what???

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Updated On: 3/22/15 at 08:18 PM

I think your points on what songs are more popular is debatable and totally dependent on culture and one's exposure. I'd wager a lot of the people I grew up with, we grew up in mostly lower socio-economic neighborhoods with a big emphasis on early-to-mid 90s rap, never heard of "Memory" but I remember laughing at and singing "Send in the Clowns" thanks to The Simpsons. You can't hold up your own personal experience to be the absolute truth. If you're in college, I hope you take some social science classes that require in-depth research that requires you to learn data-gathering and what methodology is the best in terms of accuracy. I have no doubt that I am older than you, but don't think you're that far off from me.