Recently in Sondheim Category

There used to be a television game show called To Tell the Truth. Four panelists tried to decide which of three people claiming to be Joe Schmoe was the real Joe Schmoe. The panel asked questions to which the two fakers could answer in any way they liked, but the real Joe Schmoe was required to tell the truth. Hence the title.

I was reminded of this show when it occurred to me that there might be a way to tell a Sondheim fan from a non-fan by asking one simple question:

Who is Ken Jennings?

Any Sondheim fan would instantly respond that Ken Jennings is the actor who originated the role of Toby in the original Broadway production of Sweeney Todd. A non-fan would likely come up with a different answer, one that might vary depending on her familiarity with U.S. television game shows.

Anyway, in August, 1979, I recorded an interview with Ken Jennings in his dressing room in the Uris Theatre. An edited transcript of the whole Ken Jennings interview and the story of how it came about can be found elsewhere on this web site.

I have now edited the original 40 minute audio interview, combined it with video from the televised touring company version of Sweeney Todd, and created two YouTube videos. Mostly, I edited out my questions and comments, except where needed to establish context.

In the interview, Ken talked about performing in the show, what it was like to work with people like Angela Lansbury and Len Cariou, and how he interpreted the character of Toby. He also talks about how the razor works and the wig that never made it into the show.

Here is part one:

And part two:

Another repost from my old blog...

In Craig Zadan's book Sondheim & Co., Stephen Sondheim is quoted on the subject of the music in Sunday in the Park with George:

The way the score was constructed was based on the relationship of the two central characters. Theirs is a continuous and continuing love song that isn't completed until the end of the show. In the song "Sunday in the Park with George", Dot, in one section, begins a lyrical theme, which is her affection and her love for George. This is picked up later in "Color and Light", and it develops and starts to reach a climax, and just at that point, they break off and they speak.

Then in "We Do Not Belong Together" it's picked up and further developed as if it's almost where they left off, and ends with an unrhymed line where she sings, "I have to move on." And when their love is finally consummated, which is the end of the second act, it all comes together and becomes a completed song in "Move On". "Move On" is a combination of all the themes involving their relationship, including every harmony and every accompaniment; it's where everything culminates. Only it's over a period of four major scenes covering a hundred years. It's one way of threading the theme through time.

I thought it would be fun to edit those parts together. I ran into some problems because of the Youtube limit of ten minutes, so some material that I would have liked to include is cut, but here is the Love Music of George and Dot.

If it's 2008 that means it's time for another Gypsy revival. And why not? It's only been five years since the last revival.

Naturally Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents were present.

As was Angela Lansbury, who played Momma Rose in the 1974 revival, and thus became the Best Momma Rose of Them All!

More coverage of the opening night can be found at TheaterMania.

Reposting this from the old blog...

When James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim first discussed a collaboration on a musical, they wanted to do some sort of theme and variation. The show that resulted, Sunday in the Park with George, uses that concept both textually and musically.

But I doubt that most viewers get many of the connections, so I thought it would be fun to put together a video that highlights some, but by no means all, of the variations on a theme. In particular, I left out most of the love music, since I finished a separate video of that yesterday. (See previous blog post.)

Also, it's worth pointing out that I didn't find all these connections by myself. I relied on Mark Eden Horowitz's excellent Sondheim on Music and Stephen Banfield's somewhat more specialized Sondheim's Broadway Musicals for ideas, although I did come up with a few of my own.

Note that I saved the best for last. As Sondheim describes it in the Horowitz book, even Mandy Patinkin, who had been singing the two songs for a year and a half, didn't realize that X and Y were the same melody. I'll leave the discovery of those two songs as a, one hopes pleasant, exercise for the viewer.

One more word about Horowitz's Sondheim on Music; it's a fascinating and quite accessible interview with Sondheim. Although it's filled with musical examples, one doesn't need to be a music expert to enjoy it. For example, Sondheim's description (too long to quote here) about Seurat's work habits and the true nature of the Grande Jatte painting should be must reading.