The Miller's Son on Tonight Show - Question — Page 2

Me too! You funny lady!

I dont think they had numbers from 1975 either! No Wiz, Angie as Rose or Cullum's Meditation!

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Was anyone at the Standing Ovations when Ms. Bartlett sang Miller's Son sounding almost exactly the same as she did in 73? Magnificent.

YES! I hyperventilated for hours after.

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"Can you imagine a song like The Miller's Son being done on the Tonight Show (or any of the late night shows) nowadays?"

Fallon had LuPone on his show, maybe a couple of years ago, and he was practically fawning over her. I think she sang Everything's Coming Up Roses. Total fanboy. So, perhaps there's a glimmer of hope now that the Tonight Show is back in NYC.

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Love the Glynis clip! So glad these were recently posted (if the poster is out there somewhere reading this--Thank You.) It's kinda hysterical to me that Glynnis would wear *that* dress when she had a stunning costume for the scene... But as mentioned, they were fashionable outfits at the time.

It makes a lot of sense if this was during a New York week, and kudos to whoever mentioned the brassier orchestrations (even Clown--listen to the ending note...)

As for the Tonight Show--they would have some performances from touring shows in recent years--but stuff like Wicked after it was well known. Of course Letterman does too, every so often usually around the Tonys, as has Fallon before, so hopefully he will do more.

"Wait...two years without featuring performances from major Sondheim shows????

Who produced those Tonys? After Eight?"

HA! And the same goes for 1971 and Company! Which is a shame because 1970 had great, extended performances from Applause, Coco (very extended) etc. I think at least one of those missing years (maybe 1971) they did brief performances from past shows for some reason instead. But as a Sondheim fan it's pretty annoying that the Tonys missed all three of those major shows. (Was it the Follies year they did have SOME show performances, including some that weren't nominated?)

"But as a Sondheim fan it's pretty annoying that the Tonys missed all three of those major shows. "

Uh, what idolaters like you don't seem to understand is, a) not many people think like you -- maybe about twenty people in the unverse, actually --- and b) the producers of the Tony Awards actually wanted people to WATCH the show, not turn off their television sets in droves. You see, in those days, the powerful Sondheim cheerleading machine hadn't yet gotten into full gear Thank the lord!

^ HA! That's like a promo shot from a very high concept production of THE CRUCIBLE!

'I saw Goody Eight dance with the devil!'

After8, not addressing your usual opinion but since you get so puffy about people mis-reading your own posts:

"Uh, what idolaters like you don't seem to understand is, a) not many people think like you -- maybe about twenty people in the unverse, actually --- "

Where did I say or even imply that? I said I found it too bad that they missed those years. I wouldn't assume to speak for the whole universe, though it's good they apparently have you to stand up for them.

It makes sense that they would have taped those numbers in NY and not Los Angeles. It's one thing to fly Bartlett out to the coast for a quick appearance with an understudy taking over for a performance, but I can't imagine they would have done that with both her and Glynis Johns. (Besides, Johns was starred, above the title, so people could have asked for their money back if she didn't go on.)

I really liked seeing the anger and humiliation in Glynis Johns' interpretation of "Clowns." And I remember Sondheim talking about that in an interview. Desiree has just been jilted. Her elaborate plan didn't work. Fredrik has no intention of leaving his wife for her. To suddenly get all introspective and melancholy at that precise point would be too self aware, although I think that interpretation of the song works well out of context. Johns was singing it in context after just receiving the "bad news." In fact, the song is split around the dialogue of him telling her he won't do it and then walking out toward the end, leaving her "in the dust" for the final moments ... and that's when she does let her guard down and tears well in her eyes.

To see Johns perform it that way on the Tonight Show is wonderful.

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I've been fascinated with Aronson's designs for ALNM for ages (as I am with most of his designs.) I remember hearing that out of town the trees and the use of a similar to plexi-glass material for them caused a lot of noise--does anyone remember this? (And Nobodyhome, thank you for bringing up what was featured that year--it's fascinating to see, and I am completely bewildered as to why it was chosen to be spotlighted.)

A few more that 20 people were interested in Follies- it was on the cover of Time, after all.

I remember hearing that out of town the trees and the use of a similar to plexi-glass material for them caused a lot of noise--does anyone remember this?


UGH! I hate that stupid story. It happened in Boston and they fixed it. It was a tech problem that was fixed after the first preview. Now people repeat on discussions like this as if it were the most important thing about those sets.

I hate that this story lives on the Internet as if it were true. I hate that people think that Boris Aronson and Hal Prince were rank amateurs who would ever allow something as stupid as a set making distracting noise during a show as delicate as A Little Night Music.

As I have posted many times before, I saw the show FIVE times on Broadway and I never heard the panels move.

The only thing I ever heard was the collective gasp from the audience at the sheer beauty of the physical production.

The panels did NOT make noise.

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Updated On: 3/16/14 at 10:25 PM

Man, it's so sad that there is no video of that set available. I've seen the stills and it looks so magical. If I had to choose one Sondheim original production to go back in time to see, this would have to be it. I'm eternally jealous of those of you who were around and able to experience it and I think it dreadfully sad that a generation of theatregoers will have that dreadful Trevor Nunn production as their primary reference. I am so grateful that I got to see the magnificent LA Opera revival in 2004 with Judith Ivey, Laura Benanti, Victor Garber, Michelle Pawk, Zoe Caldwell and Marc Kudisch.


"Then late in Act II the show took flight in the quietest way possible: an oboe played those simple triads and Glynis Johns in her ravishing red dress sitting on that canopied bed began the first notes of SEND IN THE CLOWNS. Such a perfect beautiful moment, so honest and clear that the tears were streaming down my face by the end of the scene.We had never heard that soon-to-be-famous melody before but the shock of such innate beauty was immediate. The rest of the show was bliss."

SomeoneInATree2 - YES!! I saw the LA Opera production in my early 20s -- my first experience with Night Music, other than the OBCR. And, while I always thought "Clowns" was a lovely, pleasant song, I never understood why it became this breakout hit for Sondheim. Then, I saw it in the context of the show. Ivey and Garber played the moment so brilliantly -- Ivey's amused, then painfully rueful rendition and Garber's visible sorrow and regret were just gorgeous in that scene, as the oboe started and those delicate strings seemed to almost float up from the orchestra pit. A song that I--and I imagine much of the audience--had heard a hundred times before was suddenly infused with a deeply emotional, but delicately played sense of regret and pain. I'm not easily moved to tears, but I had them streaming down my face that evening and there were lots of sniffles in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion after the scene ended. I'll never know the glory of the original production, but I'm glad I got to experience what was likely the second best production.