The dozen Stephen Sondheim musicals I've seen - and how my opinion has shifted — Page 2

SteveSanders said: "I saw the original Broadway production of Fosca when audience members were laughing throughout. It was the Classic Stage production when the magic of the show really clicked for me. I think the intimacy of the story and songs work best in a more intimate theatre space."

It was obvious that Passion belonged off-Broadway even during its initial run on Broadway.  It's a small show that probably could have been told with a cast of five or six.  People seemed to wander on stage at the Plymouth specifically to provide extra voices.  The leading ladies were wonderful.

I agree with joevitus about latter day Sondheim, beginning with Assassins.  Maybe even Into The Woods, but much of ITW is as good as what came before and none of it is as disappointing as what followed.

I corrected my earlier post where under the influence of severe jet lag I referred to Passion as Fosca.

For the record, I think Assassins and Passion are absolutely top-notch Sondheim scores. I can understand why they wouldn't appeal to some people (especially Passion), but they betray no diminution whatsoever of his remarkable abilities.

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones who can safely say I've seen at least one production of every single Sondheim show except HERE WE ARE. In 1973 (at 17) I absolutely fell in love with A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC on Bway, and from then on I never missed a chance to see the original production or revival of each of his shows as they came along. (I was bummed to miss Hal Prince's 1975 CANDIDE, but have seen the show plenty of times since.) My feeling remains that Sondheim reached his apogee with SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE in '84 and frankly wrote less and less interesting work after that (weighed down by less and less effective libretti by his collaborators), although in every late score there is still plenty of gorgeous work to celebrate.

I think his weakest score is understandably SATURDAY NIGHT, which I saw at the Second Stage production in th 2010's. His greatest works for me remain SUNDAY..., PACIFIC OVERTURES, and my first love ALNM, which after 50 years of theater going still remains my favorite musical ever written.

Updated On: 6/18/25 at 06:13 PM