Underrated Sondheim Songs
Underrated Sondheim Songs
#1Underrated Sondheim Songs
Posted: 11/11/08 at 10:44pm
Which Sondheim songs do you think are real gems, but are not as popular as his other songs?
Some that come to my mind are...
Invocation and Instructions to the Audience
Simple
Get Out of My Life
What are some others?
My blog- http://okayentertainment.blogspot.com/
#2re: Underrated Sondheim Songs
Posted: 11/11/08 at 10:47pmWelcome to Kanagawa, Please, Hello (both from Pacific Overtures), and some of the Transition songs from Passion. the one right after Loving You, which reprises "how long were we apart?" in particular is STUNNING.
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain.
-Kad
#2re: Underrated Sondheim Songs
Posted: 11/11/08 at 11:20pmAnything from Pacific Overtures and a couple from Bounce.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
#3re: Underrated Sondheim Songs
Posted: 11/11/08 at 11:26pmPeople usually cite "Not a Day Goes By," "Good Thing Going," and "Franklin Shepard, Inc." as the best songs from Merrily, but I think the best one is "Opening Doors." A marvelous seven-minute piece that chronicles the characters' early years, with endlessly witty and telling lyrics ("I saw 'My Fair Lady'...I sorta enjoyed it").
My avatar = A screencap from Avatar, arguably the greatest animated show of all
#4re: Underrated Sondheim Songs
Posted: 11/11/08 at 11:48pmtalent from bounce, not sure if it's still in road show.
...everyone was doing the mambo and drinking golden cadillacs...
Chrysanthemum62001
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/14/04
#5re: Underrated Sondheim Songs
Posted: 11/12/08 at 12:27amCan That Boy Foxtrot. Also, I think Our Time is just so magnificent.
"What a mystery this world. One day you love them and the next day you want to kill them a thousand times over." The Masked Bandit in THE FALL
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#6re: Underrated Sondheim Songs
Posted: 11/12/08 at 12:34am
See what it gets you
from anyone can whistle
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#7re: Underrated Sondheim Songs
Posted: 11/12/08 at 12:47amSo Many People from Saturday NIght. I sing it in my cabaret show sometimes.
#8re: Underrated Sondheim Songs
Posted: 11/12/08 at 12:49am
I think the three ballads in Assassins are wonderful. I could be biased since I've played the Balladeer, but each is witty, ironic, and emotional in their own way. Many, many layers in each.
Pretty much all of Pacific Overtures. Marvelous, well constructed, and a beautiful homage to traditional Japanese theatre.
Two others I enjoy are "If You Can Find Me, I'm Here" from Evening Primrose and "What Can You Lose?" from Dick Tracy.
~Steven
#9re: Underrated Sondheim Songs
Posted: 11/12/08 at 12:53am
"Love is in the Air"
"The good news is I have an excellent Tony speech. The bad news is I've had it for forty-five years."-Elaine Stritch
#10re: Underrated Sondheim Songs
Posted: 11/12/08 at 1:36amChrysanthemum Tea and Please Hello! from Pacific Overtures. I cannot STAND the revival recording of these songs, but the original cast album is perfection.
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
#11re: Underrated Sondheim Songs
Posted: 11/12/08 at 4:28am"Unworthy of Your Love". I've only ever heard it sung outside of Assassins in Putting it Together. It's so beautiful it really should be in more cabarets and concerts and stuff.
geekgirl06
Featured Actor Joined: 11/9/06
#12re: Underrated Sondheim Songs
Posted: 11/12/08 at 4:43amWell "Everyday a Little Death" is my favorite Sondheim song ever, so in my opinion it is very underrated. As well as "Kiss Me" from Sweeney Todd. I'd like to second "If You Can Find Me, I'm Here" from Evening Primrose and add "When". And of course the brilliance of the Assassins ballads... though my fav would have to be Czolgosz, and I LOVE "The Gun Song", so much so I used to get in trouble for singing it in 3rd grade... "Is This What You Call Love?" is really short, but brilliant. But in my opinion, anything Sondheim is underrated with the exception of the overdone "Send in the Clowns".
Dancing through life...
For the next ten minutes
dgjbear
Leading Actor Joined: 3/1/05
#14re: Underrated Sondheim Songs
Posted: 11/12/08 at 6:46am
'There won't be trumpets' from anyone can whistle.
'Kiss me' from sweeney todd
dg22894
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/22/08
#15re: Underrated Sondheim Songs
Posted: 11/12/08 at 7:18amMemory is Andrew Loyd Weber and it is not underrated by any means.
TheBoyDownstairs
Featured Actor Joined: 10/10/07
#16re: Underrated Sondheim Songs
Posted: 11/12/08 at 9:23am
"Me and My Town" from Anyone Can Whistle
"Chrysanthemum Tea" from Pacific Overtures
"We Do Not Belong Together" from Sunday In The Park With George
#17re: Underrated Sondheim Songs
Posted: 11/12/08 at 9:29am
I think Pacific Overtures in general is underrated. I was hesitant to include Someone in a Tree, which is my personal favorite, because I...well, I think in the realm of Pacific Overtures songs, it gets its due. maybe I should add it though.
EDIT: I was just informed that I had written that Pacific Overtures was overrated. it is very much not.
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain.
-Kad
Updated On: 11/12/08 at 09:29 AM
#18re: Underrated Sondheim Songs
Posted: 11/12/08 at 9:46am
I actually think a couple of songs from Company often go underrated behind the behemoths of Being Alive, Marry Me a Little, Ladies Who Lunch and Getting Married Today: namely "Sorry-Grateful" and "Someone is Waiting."
I would say all four songs from Evening Primrose aren't nearly as well known as they should be, but I'd like to make especial mention of "I Remember" -- the lyrics are sheer poetry.
I also love "What Can You Lose" from Dick Tracy - beautiful melody.
Don't think it's been mentioned, but I LOVE on the London recording of Passion, Michael Ball's version of "No One Has Ever Loved Me" -- absolutely heartbreaking.
Hi, Shirley Temple Pudding.
#19re: Underrated Sondheim Songs
Posted: 11/12/08 at 9:51am"There is No Other Way"
"Carson has combined his passion for helping children with his love for one of Cincinnati's favorite past times - cornhole - to create a unique and exciting event perfect for a corporate outing, entertaining clients or family fun."
"In Oz, the verb is douchifizzation." PRS
"In Oz, the verb is douchifizzation." PRS
#20re: Underrated Sondheim Songs
Posted: 11/12/08 at 10:53am
My all-time favorite underrated Sondheim song is "Two Fairy Tales," which was cut from A Little NBight Music and first performed at the 1972 "Sondheim: A Musical Tribute" by Victoria Mallory and Mark Lambert. It was also included in Marry Me a Little.
I can listen to it over and over again, each time hearing things in it I didn't hear in the counterpoint before.
#21re: Underrated Sondheim Songs
Posted: 11/12/08 at 11:05am
I love "What More Do I Need?" from Saturday Night
and though he didn't do the music, I love "Best of Possible Worlds" from Candide. Sondheim's lyrics are so clever and darn adorable.
"Sing the words, Patti!!!!" Stephen Sondheim to Patti LuPone.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#22re: Underrated Sondheim Songs
Posted: 11/12/08 at 11:13amI agree about "There Is No Other Way". Beautiful, haunting song. And like many others have said here, Pacific Overtures in general is underrated.
#23re: Underrated Sondheim Songs
Posted: 11/12/08 at 11:26amNot sure if it's particularly underrated, but "Another Hundred People" never ever ever fails to make me smile, especially if it pops up on my shuffle when I'm on the subway, like it did yesterday!
#24re: Underrated Sondheim Songs
Posted: 11/12/08 at 12:10pm
Love, I Hear (Forum)
Later (Night Music)
Bang! - (Night Music)
In Praise of Women (Night Music)
No One Has Ever Loved Me (Passion)
Happiness (Passion)
Loving You (Passion)
Someone in a Tree (Pacific Overtures)
Now You Know (Merrily)
On the Steps of the Palace (Into the Woods)
You're Gonna Love Tomorrow/Love Will See Us Through (Follies)
The Little Things You Do Together (Company)
Marry Me a Little (Company)
Talent (Bounce)
Ballad of Czolgosz (Assassins)
See What It Gets You (Anyone Can Whistle)
What More Do I Need (Saturday Night)
Kiss Me/Ladies in Their Sensitivities (Sweeney)
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
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