"So is it safe to conclude I'm the only one who doesn't like Into the Woods?"
The show got me into Sondheim, but I admit it's one of the shows I return back to the least, partially probably from watching/listening to it so much when I was 11. It did make the least fave list of a number of posters a while back on the Sondheim forum.
Anyway
3 Faves (this changes but off the top of my head):
Company Passion either Sunday or Sweeney
3 Least Faves
Either the new Frogs or Bounce.
Fave songs... Ummmm... I guess...
Glamorous Life (movie version) Children and Art Losing My Mind.
I do really enjoy the choral work in Frogs--I think it's pretty spectacular myself, but the new cast album (as opposed to the prior studio album of the 70s version) doesn't do much for me...
Three Favorite Shows: Sweeney Todd Company A Little Night Music
Least Favorite Show: The Frogs
Three Favorite Songs: Is There No Other Way Another Hundred People Johanna
All three answers were like Sophie's Choice! I actually feel guilty not naming Follies as a favorite, but I think A Little Night Music is the better show. I wish more folks loved Pacific Overtures as much as I do.
Pacific Overtures would be in my top three Sondheim *scores*, but not quite shows. I do think even with Sondheim fans it's underated. Seeing that cleaned up copy of the film of the original cast did make me finally really appreciate the book much more though (previously I had just read it as published, while listening to the score, and the two didn't connect as much for me)--such a gorgeous Prince production (due in no small part to Aronson's awesome design).
I wonder how many people really know The Frogs--that may be part of it. It seems even Saturday Night (which I find to be absolutely charming) is better known. I actually really love the material for the 70s Frogs,but it hardly seems like a full on major musical--I usually put it together with Evening Primrose, but the Stroman expanded version is a mess--I think I change my least fave to the new Frogs and not Road Show which I at least find a lot of interest in..
FOLLIES: This show marries a brilliant score to an unconventional but compelling book. Every rewrite has compromised the brilliance of the show in its original form: from the new songs written for the London production through the softened up book to the interval that should never ever be in the show.
COMPANY: COMPANY is a piece that I enjoy thoroughly because it deals with such fundamental aspects of the human experience. The score of this show is fantastic and, like all Sondheim score, there are many treasures to unpack as you explore the score in more and more depth.
A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC: This show is so tautly constucted. I found the score difficult to love at first listen (although I liked it a great deal and admired it), but the moment I saw how it worked in tandem with the book there was no turning back. It's brilliant.
If we're considering his "lyrics only" shows, I'd have to throw GYPSY into my three favourites, but I'm not sure which of COMPANY or A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC I'd bump for it. It is my favourite musical of all.
Least Favourite Show:
THE FROGS: I've never warmed to THE FROGS, despite having engaged with it several times. Although it's techically marvellous, I find it incredibly indulgent, and I feel that what it's trying to say gets lost in the bluster of it all.
Three Favourite Songs:
"All Things Bright and Beautiful": There may be no room in FOLLIES for this song, but I love it. Such an incredible journey for the characters invoved. I adored performing this song when I was in MARRY ME A LITTLE. There is an infinite depth of emotion to play here. Wonderful.
"The Road You Didn't Take": I love this song because I find it so perceptive and moving. A great character piece, for sure, but it is a song that really challenges you to question your own choices, whether they've been made or whether you are still making them.
"It Takes Two": I think that having a moment like this in a relationship matches up to the moment when you know you're in love. When I directed INTO THE WOODS recently, I realised that this song is my favourite in the score. I couldn't get enough of it. It's just such a perfect realisation of something universal, made specific to the context and the characters of INTO THE WOODS.
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joined:10/31/11
Posted: 6/4/12 at 06:11pm