Archive for Musicals.Net Musicals.Net |
| Jennyanydots |
Let's start this forum off right.Favorite Sondheim show. Only one. Go. |
||||
| Tenor4Life |
Assassins. Easy. | ||||
| what_the_heck013 |
Into the Woods. | ||||
| lavieboheme730 |
Sweeney | ||||
| Amber |
Sunday In The Park With George | ||||
| B3TA07 |
Sweeney Todd. | ||||
| LoneWanderer |
See, the fact that people can all have a different favorite show like that is a testiment as to how...awesome Sondheim is. So many things good enough to be a favorite. I think I'll have to go with Into the woods.
~The Lone Wanderer |
||||
| VictorVonDoom |
Though I have about 5 favorite Sondheim shows.....Sweeney Todd. | ||||
| Pasty |
Merrily We Roll Along | ||||
| piscesmoni |
Sweeney all the way. Can't beat ol' cannibalism. 
|
||||
| Perogo Ness |
Sweeney Todd. In my opinion the best show ever. | ||||
| Descartes |
Right now it's Sweeney. Emphasis on the RIGHT NOW.
Des. |
||||
| B3TA07 |
"I'll drink to that." |
||||
| broadwaychild |
Into the Woods and West Side Story | ||||
| Perogo Ness |
You know what? A Little Night Music is brilliant. It's just not as endearing as Sweeney or Into the Woods. | ||||
| Fogeyman |
I've only seen Sweeny and ITW, but of the two I think Sweeny. | ||||
| djcobra |
Assassins. Definitely Assassins. | ||||
| RainbowJude |
Favourite Sondheim ShowCompany.Later days David |
||||
| snowie86 |
ITW, Sweeney, and Company | ||||
| PatrickDennis |
Merrily We Roll Along | ||||
| fleur_de_lys |
at the moment, it's A Little Night Music; | ||||
| Tenor4Life |
Thank you. I thought I was going to be alone with the Assassins pick. |
||||
| HeroTheBishop |
I'm going to break the rules and say Sweeney, closely followed by Assassins, followed by A Little Night Music. All are pure genius. | ||||
| Salome |
Sweeney Todd
(Company is a close 2nd) |
||||
| javertsw |
Hard, but I'll say 'A Little Night Music' for the moment. | ||||
| JemiBoe1981 |
Sweeney, with A Little Night Music and Into The Woods in a close close close second. | ||||
| Dvarg |
Sweeney Todd | ||||
| belleboi80 |
oo to pick just one. I like different shows for best lyrics, music etc but overall if i had to say just one, I think into the woods. (but i love the lyrics to Passion the best) | ||||
| Aimee |
Sweeney. 
|
||||
| fender_outta_hock |
Sweeny, though I can't think of a Sondheim show that isn't a favorite of mine. | ||||
| frizzball724 |
Sweeney with Company and Into the Woods in second. | ||||
| LoneWanderer |
No gypsy lovers here?
~The Lone Wanderer |
||||
| fender_outta_hock |
Gypsy's good, and i like Jule Styne's music, but it's not on par with the scores that Sondheim did M+L for. | ||||
| Kad |
Sweeney Todd. | ||||
| DramaFreak84 |
Into the Woods | ||||
| PAMIE |
Passion is my favorite from Sondheim, 2nd favorite is West side Story | ||||
| dramaqueen220222 |
Right now it's Into The Woods.
Of all time, it's Sweeney Todd. |
||||
| Guest |
oh, man.
i'm going to go with one that he composed as well as wrote the lyrics for, but gypsy in particular is one of my fave musicals of all time. it's between...follies, into the woods, and company i guess then. ahh. ok, i pick company. |
||||
| RainbowJude |
A GYPSY lover
I didn't consider West Side Story or Gypsy for this thread because Sondheim didn't write both music and lyrics for those projects. If I had, Gypsy - which has one of the greatest books ever written, not to mention an excellent score - would have been at the top of the list! Later days David |
||||
| Mel AKA Maureen |
So, my gut reaction was Sweeney, but I've thought about it and everyone loves Sweeney, and I love so many of them, so, to be different, I'm saying....dun dun dun....
A Funny Thing Happened On My Way To The Forum |
||||
| belleboi80 |
I love forum i really do, but i dont think that really can be considered his best. Look at the brilliance of sunday in the park, passion, sweeny. The lyrics alone are jsut phenomenal. i love forum its just a different level of show. | ||||
| Quique |
Undecided. | ||||
| Fontinau |
West Side Story.
If we can't pick ones where he collaborated... that's harder. Objectively, it's probably "Sweeney"... But since noone else is going mention them, I'll say it's a tie between Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (fun!) and Passion (straightforward, unselfconscious, shamelessly romantic... I swear, if it weren't for the complexity of the score, I'd never even believe he wrote it). EDIT: Oh right. "Only one". Okay, make it "Forum" if it can't be "West Side". There.
Brought down by Styne's score. |
||||
| purplepolkadot |
Into the Woods. | ||||
| One Song Glory |
Eep! that's so hard... I love his work... so... hm. But I'm so biased towards WSS... that I'm going to say Into The Woods for a change. I saw it over the summer and it was really interesting, witty and just all together great (my friend was in it too, he was Prince Charming's assistant). | ||||
| RainbowJude |
???
What's wrong with Styne's score? I think it's pretty good, certainly the best in his canon. There's not a single number you could drop without losing something from the show in terms of narrative development, character or character development. Later days David |
||||
| Fontinau |
Re: ???
Eh. I haven't listened to Gypsy in forever, so I'm not in a position to give an in-depth critique of it. But I do remember that both when I saw it and when I listened to it on a library CD, I was annoyed (hell, offended) by how generically and cliche-edly Broadway all the melodies and arrangements sounded. Which may sound weird coming from a musicals fan. But I have the same standard for Broadway music as for all other music - if the composer is doing something original and unique (and catchy and memorable and moving), I like it. If not, I'm not interested. And so, I'm not interested in Styne. |
||||
| RainbowJude |
GYPSY'S score
But Styne - some say, under the influence of Sondheim - was doing something innovative by having the arrangements styled as vaudeville and burlesque material. Yes, the score reflects an earlier brass-heavy style of orchestration but this allows the music, which is stated and developed in a much more complex way than true burlesque material to comment on the the relationship between the characters and their performances in the public eye as well as in their everyday lives. This is a technique that Sondheim would develop in his own scores - particularly in Anyone Can Whistle, Company and Follies. There's absolutely nothing generic about the score in its make-up or arrangements. Everything is specifically tailored to character and situation, to a far greater extent than in any other Styne score. And the other thing that is brilliant about it is that the underscoring marries the musical themes to dramatic scenes perfectly. The score is not merely stated - it develops and it develops the dramatic thrust of the play and, furthermore, it knows when to be silent and let the dialogue speak for itself. It's a wonderfully refined and complex piece of work. Later days David |
||||
| Fontinau |
Okay. I can get a copy of the cast album from my school's library. Why don't we resume this after I have a chance to listen to it again? | ||||
| RainbowJude |
Cool...
Sure thing. But try and get the Bernadette Peters recording - even though her Rose may not be the best interpretation of the role, most of the score makes it onto the disc. There are so many cuts on the other discs. Or take a look at the Bette Midler film, which is literally a filmed staging of the entire script and score and allows you to see how the score works in the context of the show. Later days David |
||||
| The REAL Ciaron |
Re: Cool...
NO NO NO!! Gypsy's best recording is Lansbury's HANDS DOWN!! |
||||
| JPme |
1. West Side Story is the best musical ever written, and my favourite.
2. If we're going for all Sondheim, my favourite is Company. 3. I think we all know that Gypsy is over-rated. 
JP |
||||
| actor |
Into the Woods. | ||||
| RainbowJude |
A tsp of context
Yes, it is. But the point of this particular exercise is to hear as much of the score in action as possible and there is so much missing from the Lansbury recording. I don't think that many people need to be convinced that Lansbury is the greatest Rose. But apparently some people do need to be convinced that Gypsy has a great score. Later days David |
||||
| RainyCrystal |
Sweeney Todd, though sometimes I wonder if I actually like Passion better...
~Sissi |
||||
| bvandiep |
reI'm so happy with the number of folks that said A Little Night Music.While, I'm reasonably sure that Sweeney is his most brilliant, I think that Assassins is my favorite. Lyrics, music, subject material, chacters, SCRIPT. Dear lord. But, A Little Night Music, Company, and Sunday in the Park all hold special places in my heart. I know I'm probably going to get reamed for this, but as far as shows that are overrated is concerned. Does anyone share my feelings that Into the Woods is grossly overrated? Sorry ITW folks! |
||||
| Kad |
Re: re
ITW isn't his best, but it's easily one of his most enjoyable. His worst is, in my opinion, The Frogs. Though I do like Hymn to Dionysus. Mostly because of "the gentle tendrils that intertwine/to produce the grapes/that produce the wine". |
||||
| MrsJamieWellerstein |
I liked the Frogs okay. I know it's not one of his better shows, but I liked it enough. I think Bounce is his worst.
As for ITW being overrated, nah, not really. There's not a weak role in that show. Each one can make a huge impact on an audience in its own way. The lyrics are strong and move the plot along nicely. The score is good as well. Sometimes minimalistic, but that's because the focus is usually on the lyrics. |
||||
| Salome |
I love The Frogs. I love its message and the way its executed. I tihnk the score is delightful esp. Hades, Travel,Fear no More and Invocation. | ||||
| Theatrelife101 |
Sweeney Todd
closely followed by: Into The Woods
|
||||
| so_little_i_know |
Sweeney, followed by Assassins and Pacific Overtures. | ||||
| OutTonight |
Sweeney Todd | ||||
| bbath |
FOLLIES!!! all the way!! | ||||
| Webster |
Sunday in the Park with George | ||||
| TheatreLuvr4Life |
Into the Woods
|