What people [3 and hate about Sondheim

[Zeitoujo]

Posted: 5/21/08 at 8:53am

What are some reasons for your love and hate of Stephen?

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 5/21/08 at 9:15am

As a lyricist Stephen Sondheim is a genius and always has been, starting with his work for WEST SIDE STORY and GYPSY. As a composer, I have loved his early work, starting with A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM, and continuing up through COMPANY to A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC. After that, I find his music difficult to listen to. I am probably commiting sacrilege by saying this, especially on this Board with its legions of Sondheim fanatics. It isn't because of its more modern music approach, because I am a lover of classical music and enjoy some 20th century compositions. I would be interested in trying SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, but on my recent trip to NYC I opted for the current GYPSY. Is SUNDAY open ended because if it is I could see it in December which will be the next time I will be in NYC.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 5/21/08 at 9:17am

SUNDAY is scheduled to close in June.

[heathurrr]

Posted: 5/21/08 at 1:39pm

Oh my, here I go. One can always catch me, at any given moment, preaching & rambling on about my love for Sondheim. It's almost hard to put in words though, because it's something so deep and personal.
Sondheim’s music kills me. I cannot listen to SITPWG without getting choked up at least once. I can’t recall ever hearing a more powerful force of music and lyrics.
His songs are so human. Who hasn’t wanted to connect like George and Bobby, been hurt like Dot, felt Joanne’s bitterness? He even manages to connect us to assassins and a demon barber because his songs make them human; he speaks in basic human emotion that is so relatable. His lyrics have rhyme, wit and truth. I have to laugh now, because this is making me think of a time when I saw a high school production of Into the Woods and most of the audience made to leave at the end of the first act because they believed the happy ending of act one was indeed the ending. Everything goes to s**t in the second act, as Sondheim (along with James Lapine, of course) illustrates that life often goes past happiness into hard times, yet the characters move on and manage to sing ‘No one is Alone’ and the finale to end beautifully.
At the end of the Company airing on PBS, there was a short interview with Sondheim and he spoke about how the ambiguities of life are the stuff of drama, and how he deals more honestly about life’s ambiguities in his work than is expected in a work of musical theatre. While that is one of the reasons why I adore Sondheim’s work, it is exactly one of the main criticisms of his work: that he is too cynical, too real for musical theatre. That is a criticism I do not understand.
Couple beautiful truth with amazing scores and you’ve got something so powerful that I find irresistible.

Updated On: 5/21/08 at 01:39 PM

[EponineAmneris]

Posted: 5/21/08 at 3:03pm

People LOVE Sondheim because he is original, smart, thoughtful and "in your face." His work is honest, human and poignant because of that.

It's not always easy to understand, but you learn things you may not know you learned... Like the fact that the slotted spoon CAN catch the potato... even if it can't hold much soup.

SWEENEY (EPIPHANY)

THEY ALL DESERVE TO DIE
TELL YOU WHY, MRS LOVETT, TELL YOU WHY
BECAUSE IN ALL OF THE WHOLE, HUMAN RACE, MRS LOVETT
THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF MEN AND ONLY TWO
THERE'S THE ONE STAYING PUT IN HIS PROPER PLACE
AND THE ONE WITH HIS FOOT IN THE OTHER ONE'S FACE

Then later on...

SWEENEY AND MRS LOVETT (A LITTLE PRIEST)

HOW GRATIFYING FOR ONCE TO KNOW
THAT THOSE ABOVE WILL WILL SERVE THOSE DOWN BELOW

SWEENEY TODD is not about a demon barber who kills for no reason, but a piece of satire aimed at the cast system... Not only of old Londontown, but of today. It is a reflection of hierarchy as a whole.

INTO THE WOODS is my favorite. I love it so very deeply. He might as well have called it INTO LIFE. It's about community, love, parenting, friendship, blessings, curses, building, destruction/destroying, happiness, sadness, fear, safety... YOU control your life, YOU make it happen... or not happen. Basically it's a reflection on life, the good and the bad in people/groups of people. Actions beget reactions. No one is alone.

People hate Sondheim because he is original, smart, thoughtful and "in your face." His work is honest, human and poignant because of that.

Updated On: 9/9/08 at 03:03 PM

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 5/21/08 at 3:06pm

I love his crossword puzzles.

[Taryn]

Posted: 5/21/08 at 3:06pm

I love Sondheim's work because it's brilliant. I hate it because it's a bitch to sing.

[Theatrical Landladies]

Posted: 5/21/08 at 3:24pm

Stephen Sondheim is not only amazingly talented but he is a kind, generous and considerate person. His music touches the soul and provides the soundtrack for a lifetime!

Posted: 5/21/08 at 3:28pm

i love mr sondheim's work because he gives me so much to think about.

& i feel there is more depth & meaning revealed as i grow older & experience more.

i think he articulates the human condition in ways that no one else has.

[DG]

Posted: 5/21/08 at 3:28pm

I appreciate his extreme talent, but listening to his music gives me a headache, and that's something I try to avoid.

[LittlexFallxOfxRain]

Posted: 5/21/08 at 7:27pm

I love him because of Sweeny Todd and Assasins.
I hate him because of Into the Woods.

DON'T argue with me, I have a valid excuse for hating ITW. The first version I did was the junior version. I was Cinderella. I hated every minute of it. Now I have a tainted opinion of the show forever.

[buffyactsing]

Posted: 5/21/08 at 7:44pm

I don't think many hate Sondheim, but some just don't "get" him.

[fosca3]

Posted: 5/22/08 at 1:17pm

What I love best is his lyrics

They get into your head and just won't get out

I saw SUNDAY IN THE PARK on Sunday, and I can't get half the songs out of my head

It's always that way when I see or hear Sondheim

His words are just too clever, and it really makes you think. I find myself turning the ideas over and over in my head, along with the words

Updated On: 5/22/08 at 01:17 PM

[sally1112]

Posted: 5/22/08 at 5:00pm

As an English teacher, and lover of words, I have to say his lyrics. It has already been stated but I have to say again, his word play and usage is inspiring.

[jackson992]

Posted: 5/22/08 at 6:59pm

I think the thing with Sondheim is his songs are just not ones you keep singing to yourself like unlike ALW. They oftentimes don't seem to have a clear cut melody. I will say I do enjoy Into the Woods, but I cannot stand Sweeney Todd. Note that I am talking musically and not lyrically. Music has to come first in musicals, lyrics 2nd. I also love Passions, I think because he kept it so simple in that show.

[philly03]

Posted: 5/22/08 at 7:41pm

Other than Sweeney, Sunday & his work with Gypsy, I'm not really a fan. I've said it before, he really just goes through mood swings where when things are going good for him he loves musical theatre, and when they're not he bashes it. I think that Tim Rice's lyrics (for the most part) are just as clever, and at some instances roll better, but the book never seems to flow for Rice unlike Sondheim, and Andrew Lloyd Webber's tunes may sound similar, but I like that team better than just Sondheim...maybe because he makes too much work for himself, although he atleast doesn't take as long as Guettle. I will agree though that maybe why I don't fully appreciate the man is because his stuff is very deep, and sometimes I just want a story to be told and sung to me. But the real reason is just that he is not completely proud of his "profession" and would rather be making video/board games. Frank Wildhorn! Whoot!

[myshikobit]

Posted: 5/22/08 at 8:12pm

People love him because he's brilliant. I once took a survey among my MT friends where I gave each of them a set of soundtracks and listen to them until you absolutely hate it. They were; Phantom, Oklahoma, Rent, Wicked and Little Night Music. Who won? Duh, A Little Night Music. It's different. It's clever. It can alter your perceptive on life with it's deep internal philosophy. It's complex. It's never the same. It can scare you out of your mind. It can make you laugh until you turn blue. It's always brilliant. I personally think that the way people can dislike Sondheim is if they're emotionally and mentally braindead.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 5/22/08 at 8:24pm

Sondheim makes it look so easy. I'd say, like a lot of you, the lyrics are really the best. So full of amazing rhyming and wordplay that you just can't believe never occured to someone else before.

[jackson992]

Posted: 5/22/08 at 8:30pm

I would of said A Little Night Music on that list. What a horrible score.

P.s. Is there a way to quote someone on here?

[LadyRosecoe]

Posted: 5/23/08 at 2:11am

A horrible score? What vantage point are you coming from on that, I'm just curious what you consider horrible and if you mean it in technical terms or what. I find it hard to consider either from an audience perspective or a compositional one that it could be horrible.

[ljay889]

Posted: 5/23/08 at 2:17am

HAHA.

Someone just said A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC is a horrible score?


HAHA.
HAHA.

[jackson992]

Posted: 5/23/08 at 2:33am

To me it is just the same thing over and over, very monotonous.

[Kitzarina]

Posted: 5/23/08 at 7:32am

And Andrew Lloyd Webber and his constantly reused themes aren't? Everything in POTO sounds exactly the same...and not in a good way.

[Drunk Chita Rivera]

Posted: 5/23/08 at 8:34am

I love him because I love some of his music (Gypsy) I hate him because most of his stuff is overrated (Sweeny Todd)

[metropolis10111]

Posted: 5/23/08 at 8:58am

I like him because of some of his shows are quite good such as Assassins, ST and SITPWG...others not so much.
I hate him because of fans that make it like he is god on earth and that all musical theatre started and will end with him. I think if his cult was a little more open to some people actually not liking stuff he's done then I would be more open to liking more us his stuff.