Uh Oh... Arthur Laurents' OUT Magazine Interview- Page 2

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/14/10 at 9:39am

PalJoey is probably the only person on this board who has a real reason to hate the man.

Ah, but you're wrong. I love him. Wishing him to die like a vampire is how one expresses love for Arthur Laurents.

Jesse Green profile on Arthur for New York Magazine remains the definitive portrait:


When You’re a Shark You’re a Shark All the Way: Legend Arthur Laurents Comes Back to Broadway With 'West Side Story' Revival

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/14/10 at 9:46am

Sondheim's comments from that article:

Sondheim held on until a few years ago, when yet another Laurents jab appeared in an article. Sondheim declined to “stir up any goblins” by discussing specifics but said, “It’s not that I don’t talk to him—we have a working relationship. But the friendship is kaput, and we once were really close. I was the last long-term friend of his to say ‘enough already.’ The best part of our relationship was wonderful. He was a joy to write with. It was only when rehearsals started that the trouble began, especially if another director was involved. And he was always a great foul-weather friend: comforting, smart, a good guidance counselor. When I had my first serious love affair and it broke up, I was destroyed, and Arthur was one of the two people who steered me through the shoals. It’s when you’re miserable that he’s at his best. If you’re happy or, especially, successful—watch out. Arthur is the master of the imagined slight. I had the temerity to question some of the things he did to Gypsy when it transferred from City Center to Broadway—oy, was that a mistake. The screaming hasn’t stopped since.”

[jacobtsf]

Posted: 3/14/10 at 9:52pm

I just have to say that I love that Sondheim uses the word "Oy".

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/14/10 at 10:24pm

I also like that he creates the expression "foul-weather friend" out of the existing expression "fair-weather friend," which is someone who is there for you when the going is good but not when you need him.

Arthur is the opposite: what Sondheim calls a "foul-weather friend": He is there ONLY when he can be superior to your misery or anxiety or failure. He is never able to be happy for a friend's happiness or success.

Only Sondheim could say so much in a quick turn-of-phrase.

And, yes, "Oy."

[sabrelady]

Posted: 3/14/10 at 11:24pm

Genetics will win out.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 3/15/10 at 10:45am

What exactly has Harvey been saying about Arthur?

[Marquise]

Posted: 3/15/10 at 12:54pm

LMAO....Arthur Laurents cracks me up. So politically incorrect, but he does have the right to his opinion and his point of view, no?

Haven't read either of his books but I will be as soon as I get my hands on them. Someone I know must own them. For some reason he fascinates me.

[fflagg]

Posted: 3/15/10 at 5:27pm

Three cheers to Ethel Merman!

She owns Rose and I would love to have been a fly on the wall for the number of times she told Arthur to go f**k himself when he would lose his temper.

I would rather see Patti Deutsch play Mamma Rose than LuPone. No one in London knows who she is except for 35 gay men.