Show by show by Sondheim: with all the Sondheim revivals this summer, here's a primer for those unfamiliar with the works of this out theatrical genius. (theater).While it has been eight years since Stephen Sondheim Noun 1. Stephen Sondheim - United States composer of musicals (born in 1930) Sondheim delivered a new musical--the 72-year-old legend legend Traditional story or group of stories told about a particular person or place. Formerly the term referred to a tale about a saint. Legends resemble folktales in content; they may include supernatural beings, elements of mythology, or explanations of natural phenomena, has been working on one, due next year--there are plenty of opportunities to see his works onstage on·stage adj. Situated or taking place in the area of a stage that is visible to the audience. adv. In or into the area of a stage that is visible to the audience. Adj. 1. this summer. Into the Woods is back on Broadway Broadway, famous thoroughfare in New York City. It extends from Bowling Green near the foot of Manhattan island N to 262d St. in the Bronx. Throughout its length Broadway is chiefly a commercial street. ; songstress song·stress n. 1. A woman who performs songs, especially ballads or popular songs. 2. A woman who writes songs. See Usage Note at -ess. Barbara Cook Barbara Cook (born October 25 1927) is a Tony Award-winning American singer and actress who first came to prominence in the 1950s after creating roles in the Broadway musicals Candide and The Music Man, among others. has been delighting de·light n. 1. Great pleasure; joy. 2. Something that gives great pleasure or enjoyment. v. de·light·ed, de·light·ing, de·lights v.intr. 1. audiences with her concert show "Mostly Sondheim Sond·heim , Stephen Born 1930. American composer and lyricist whose musicals include Gypsy (1959) and Sweeney Todd (1979). He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1985 for Sunday in the Park with George. Noun 1. "; Lincoln Center Lincoln Center New York’s modern theater complex. [Am. Hist.: NCE, 1586] See : Theater is hosting a Tokyo Tokyo (tō`kēō), city (1990 pop. 8,163,573), capital of Japan and of Tokyo prefecture, E central Honshu, at the head of Tokyo Bay. theater company's production of Pacific Overtures Pacific Overtures is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, a libretto by John Weidman, and additional material by Hugh Wheeler, set in 1853 Japan. The title of the work is ironic, nodding toward "overture" as a musical form, and archly noting that the July July: see month. 9-13; and this summer the Kennedy Center in Washington Washington, town, England Washington, town (1991 pop. 48,856), Sunderland metropolitan district, NE England. Washington was designated one of the new towns in 1964 to alleviate overpopulation in the Tyneside-Wearside area. , D.C., is running a 15-week season of six Sondheim musicals. In honor As a verb, to accept a bill of exchange, or to pay a note, check, or accepted bill, at maturity. To pay or to accept and pay, or, where a credit so engages, to purchase or discount a draft complying with the terms of the draft. of all this activity, we present a quick primer prim·er n. A segment of DNA or RNA that is complementary to a given DNA sequence and that is needed to initiate replication by DNA polymerase. on this celebrated multiple Tony-winning artist, known for his smart lyrics lyrics npl [of song] → paroles fpl lyrics lyric npl [of song] → Text m , uncompromising music, and overall ingenuity. The following represents the briefest of overviews of his major works, setting aside his lyrics-only jobs (West Side Story, Gypsy Gypsy member of nomadic people who usually travel in small caravans. [Eur. Hist.: NCE, 1168] See : Wandering Gypsy - Specification and verification of concurrent systems software. Message passing using named mailboxes. ), one unmitigated un·mit·i·gat·ed adj. 1. Not diminished or moderated in intensity or severity; unrelieved: unmitigated suffering. 2. if interesting flop FLOP - 1. An early system on the IBM 701. [Listed in CACM 2(5):16 (May 1959)]. (Anyone Can Whistle A simple whistle is a woodwind instrument which produces sound from a stream of forced air. Many types exist, from small police and sports whistles (also called pea whistles), to much larger train whistles, which are steam whistles specifically designed for use on ), oddities The Oddities were a professional wrestling stable in the WWF. History The Jackyl formed the group in 1998 and called them "The Parade of Human Oddities." The group consisted of "freakish" wrestlers, including the masked Golga (formerly Earthquake, whose mask had (The Frogs, Evening Primrose evening primrose, common name for the Onagraceae, a family of plants of worldwide distribution, most species of which grow as herbs in the temperate New World, and specifically for members of the genus Oenothera. ), and early work (Saturday Saturday: see week; Sabbath. Night).
A FUNNY THING COMPANY (1970)
HAPPENED ON THE WAY
TO THE FORUM (1962)
Sondheim's Broadway debut The show that gave modern
as lyricist and composer, urgency to the Broadway
a breathless Roman Empire musical--a grown-up,
farce about a slave's caustic, questioning look
quest for freedom. Made at friendship and love in
into a so-so film in 1966 the big city. No plot;
and revived on Broadway in just a single man and his
1996 with Nathan Lane. circle of married chums--
practically a play with
songs, but, oh, what
songs.
THE SCORE Cheery, uncomplicated, Less orchestral, more
and designed to be a jazzy and rhythmic and
musical breather to the urban. The original cast
hilarious libretto--the recording, which
only time Sondheim's features Dean Jones and
contributions would not the incomparable Elaine
overshadow the book. Stritch, is a perfect
starting point for
Sondheim newbies.
SONG YOU KNOW The opening anthem, "Being Alive," written
"Comedy Tonight" at the last minute to
be a more "upbeat"
closer, although its
acknowledgement of
tension and suffering
still makes it an unusual
musical catharsis. Also,
the boozy "The Ladies
Who Lunch" has entered
the cultural lexicon.
SONG YOU The endearingly leering The soaring "Another
SHOULD KNOW helping-yourself-to-the- Hundred People," a song
help ditty "Everybody that feels organically
Ought to Have a Maid" grown from the New York
and the dazzling "Pretty sidewalks.
Little Picture"
ISN'T IT QUEER? "Comedy Tonight" was The recording of the
written in out-of-town original cast album
tryouts to address was filmed by D.A.
director George Pennebaker for a
Abbott's need for a wonderful documentary,
"hummable" opening song. available on video.
Its knockout debut at the
first New York preview
spelled instant success
for the show.
FOLLIES (1971) A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC
(1973)
This acclaimed show about A musical of Ingmar
aged chorus girls and-- Bergman's Smiles of
again--faltering marriages a Summer Night, this
cemented Sondheim as a sex comedy set in
composer unafraid to 19th-century Sweden
deepen our understanding deals wittily and
of musical theater's compassionately with the
possibilities. The CD of way lovers behave when
the 1985 concert version they believe their
with Barbara Cook and destiny is tied up in
Mandy Patinkin is a what goes on behind
must-own. closed doors. Avert your
eyes from the 1978 film
with Elizabeth Taylor.
THE SCORE More than 20 songs that Most of the show
flip-flop between is in three-quarter
blistering drama and time to underscore
cynical nostalgia--both the story's
his most treasure waltz-like focus
trove-like work and on partners, and
a critique of the the lyrics are
musical's history of perhaps his most
forced sunniness. effortlessly erudite.
SONG YOU KNOW "Broadway Baby" and the "Send in the Clowns,"
fierce cabaret standard Sondheim's only
"I'm Still Here" overperformed song,
can have renewed impact
when heard in context
as a brittle, honest
lament.
SONG YOU The viciously witty and Nearly everything else,
SHOULD KNOW defiant "Could I leave from the clever "Now/
You?" Later/Soon" to the
mournful "Every Day a
Little Death" to the more
playfully indiscreet "The
Miller's Son."
ISN'T IT QUEER? "Send in the Clowns" was
written during rehearsals
expressly for actress
Glynis Johns's croakily
limited vocal range,
and its slow tempo
allowed her to act the
song more than sing it.
PACIFIC OVERTURES SWEENEY TODD (1979)
(1976)
This decidedly odd venture This gruesome tale of a
that explores a century of vengeance-mad London
Japan's cultural barber and his
interfacing with the cannibalistically
Western world was further inclined pie-shop
proof of Sondheim's paramour was one of
ability to musicalize Sondheim's biggest
anything. Initially a successes.
flop, it has since grown
in reputation.
THE SCORE Japanese rhythms and His most scarily
tones were blended with symphonic and richest
haiku-like lyrics; the achievement--also his
songs grow more longest--it was
Westernized as the story inspired by horror movie
moves from the 19th to music, specifically the
the 20th century. work of Bernard Herrmann
(Psycho).
SONG YOU KNOW The lilting "Not While
I'm Around" and "Pretty
Women," although each
has murderous
implications for the
characters who sing them.
SONG YOU Sondheim considers The jaunty humans-as-
SHOULD KNOW "Someone in a Tree," meat-pies number "A
a Rashomon-style account Little Priest" is pure
by a warrior and a punny joy (no one does
child of witnessing the wordplay like Sondheim),
signing of the trade while the rapid-fire "The
treaty with the Worst Pies in London" was
Americans, his an early show-stopper for
personal best. original cast member
Angela Lansbury.
ISN'T IT QUEER? Adhering to Japanese Sweeney Todd is one of
theater traditions, only a few shows that
the female parts are Sondheim himself
played by men until the originated; he has
finale, an ensemble number usually been asked by
called "Next," in which others to collaborate
the Westernization of the on their ideas.
country is firmly
established.
MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG SUNDAY IN THE PARK
(1981) WITH GEORGE (1984)
Based on the Kaufman-Hart A semi-imagined life of
play, the story follows a 19th-century French
showbiz trio of friends painter Georges Seurat,
but moves backward in turned by Sondheim into a
time to show how success tableau of artists' inner
and bitterness came from workings and the
anonymity and hopefulness. difficulty they have
Savaged in its original with human
run, it has since been relationships. Sondheims
revised by Sondheim and won the Pulitzer for this
now ranks as one of his challenging musical.
most beloved shows.
THE SCORE Brassy and vigorous, with In a manner not unlike
mountains of words, it's Seurat's pointillist
one of his most technique, easy songs are
old-fashioned in terms eschewed for a kind of
of its musical comedy mosaic of notes and
stylings. The exuberant lyrics. The transcendent
original cast recording score gathers force like
is a requirement for any perhaps no other
collection. Sondheim show.
SONG YOU KNOW The affecting "Not a Day "Putting It Together,"
Goes By" and "Good about how artists make
Thing Going" art--it's been lyrically
reworked ever since to
reflect filmmakers (for
an Oscar telecast),
theater performers (for
the 1992 Sondheim
review of the same
name), and pop music
(for Barbra Streisand's
The Broadway Album).
SONG YOU "Old Friends" and the One of the great
SHOULD KNOW poignant "Our Time" numbers about creating,
"Finishing The Hat"
ISN'T IT QUEER? All songs "written" by the
composer character are
subtle rejiggerings of the
same melody, Sondheim's
sly way of hinting at the
character's narrow
creativity.
INTO THE WOODS ASSASSINS (1991)
(1987)
This fairy-tale collage Still unproduced on
brings classic characters Broadway (it opened
together with newly off-Broadway), this
invented ones for a controversial show
half-silly, half-serious examines presidential
look at growing up, assassins--successful and
parenting, and unsuccessful--throughout
responsibility. history, like a narrative
rogue's gallery. Bracing,
political, and fiercely
smart, it defies
categorization.
THE SCORE A mixture of spiritedness Sondheim mined many
and emotional apprehension classic American musical
mark this effort, and as styles to give
in Sunday in the Park, the superficial sheen to
songs feel more textured, the views of society's
almost like operetta. detached under-belly. The
result is an epic of
dashed dreams.
SONG YOU KNOW "Children Will Listen,"
which Streisand made into
a hit.
SONG YOU Jack (of beanstalk fame) "The Ballad of Booth,"
SHOULD KNOW gets a sweetly trembling which is both horrible
number, "Giants in the and sad, and "Everybody's
Sky," and Rapunzel's and Got the Right," a
Cinderella's princes sing satirically jaunty tune
the hilarious romantic that captures the show's
lament "Agony." central theme--the
confusion of "the
pursuit of happiness"
with happiness itself.
ISN'T IT QUEER? Attempts to mount
Broadway productions in
1991 and 2001 were
stymied by outbreaks of
war and the fear that
newly patriotic
audiences might not be
up for such hard-hitting
material.
PASSION (1994)
Having never written a love
story, Sondheim finally
came up with this disturbing,
ambitious adaptation of a
19th-century Italian story
about Fosca, a homely,
sickly woman with
unyielding love for a
handsome soldier.
THE SCORE The most divisive among
Sondheim-philes, it is
technically "songless" and
meant to be of a piece,
like an extended rhapsody,
with each character having
his or her own musical
motifs. It's humorless,
but it rewards over repeated
listenings.
SONG YOU KNOW
SONG YOU Known as "Loving You,"
SHOULD KNOW this key moment for the
weary Fosca is a painfully
real declaration of
devotion, while the
soldier's testament later
on, "No One Has Ever Loved
Me," marks one of the
few times a Broadway musical
has acknowledged how
selfless and selfish
loving someone can be.
ISN'T IT QUEER? In early previews, sequences
highlighting Fosca's obsessive
qualities drew unwanted
laughter, so Sondheim and
book writer James Lapine
systematically cut or changed
them.
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