Sondheim's Favorite Musicals

sunshinekate · Sondheim's Favorite Musicals

I was doing some random internet-searching/wikipedia-ing and found this article http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/articles/2008/10/10/features/arts/aarts1010.txt .

Quote:
What musicals does Sondheim admire the most? “Porgy and Bess” tops a list which includes “Carousel,” “She Loves Me,” and “The Wiz,” which he saw six times.

Interesting. What does everybody think about this?

I'm happy he loves Carousel, because it's one of my top 5 favorite shows too. The Wiz though? Random...

Salome

For as brillaint a man as Sondheim is..indeed the greatest living musical theatre writer.. I dont see how he can like She loves Me and The Wiz and disparage My Fair Lady..the greatest musical of all time.

Apples2for10

I think it's very fitting that he loves CAROUSEL; it's R&H's dramatic masterpiece that tells a tragic story just as beautfully as his dramatic masterpiece, SWEENEY TODD.

I also believe that Sondheim could have done the score to SHE LOVES ME and done as equally of a good job as B&H.

Disney-Bway27

I don't get it either, Dawn, don't worry. In my book, The Wiz is nowhere near My Fair Lady. Even She Loves Me and Carousel, which I both adore, don't come near My Fair Lady. Ahh well.
My "favorites" are pretty bad too...*points to sig*. Admiring in terms of quality, though, would have to be My Fair Lady, Camelot, Sweeney Todd, Follies, Titanic, South Pacific, and West Side Story, among others.

Sweeney Hyde

I know the problem a lot of people have with My Fair Lady is that it essentially IS Pygmalion with some songs through in. There are very few liberties taken. Sure the ending is different and Freddy as a bit more business onstage (been a while since I read Pygmalion if I'm forgetting something else). Whereas let's look at Carousel. It's based off of Liliom but the two shows are extremely different... what with the Billy character presumedly being sent to Hell and purgatory also being a place of fire... LOTS of other details changed. Maybe Sondheim admires what R&H did with the source material but not with MFL.

Salome

but it would have been a disater to alter Shaw's intent. unlike Molnar who wasnt as esteemed a writer. Lerner kept Shaw's thrust and style and he did change quite a bit as well. he plumped up Doolittle's role..added a bit to fredy..created the roles of Harry and Jamie, brought Kaparthy to teh stage (before MFL Karparthy's only appearace was in the film version of Pygmalion).

the songs in MFL flow out the charactrs seemlessly...its almost as if Lerner channelled Shaw.

LaGataNegra

Sondheim loves "The Wiz" because it affects him on a visceral level, something that is unmeasureable. It's pointless to quantify the qualities of musicals. Top ten lists are merely popularity contests. What makes a show 'great' to you might make it 'dreck' to me. While I agree with Salome (imagine that) that "My Fair Lady" just might be the perfect musical, no one is required to have the same opinion.

sunshinekate	Sondheim's Favorite Musicals I was doing some random internet-searching/wikipedia-ing and found this article http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/articles/2008/10/10/features/arts/aarts1010.txt . Quote: What musicals does Sondheim admire the most? “Porgy and Bess” tops a list which includes “Carousel,” “She Loves Me,” and “The Wiz,” which he saw six times. Interesting. What does everybody think about this? I'm happy he loves Carousel, because it's one of my top 5 favorite shows too. The Wiz though? Random...
Salome	For as brillaint a man as Sondheim is..indeed the greatest living musical theatre writer.. I dont see how he can like She loves Me and The Wiz and disparage My Fair Lady..the greatest musical of all time.
Apples2for10	I think it's very fitting that he loves CAROUSEL; it's R&H's dramatic masterpiece that tells a tragic story just as beautfully as his dramatic masterpiece, SWEENEY TODD. I also believe that Sondheim could have done the score to SHE LOVES ME and done as equally of a good job as B&H.
Disney-Bway27	I don't get it either, Dawn, don't worry. In my book, The Wiz is nowhere near My Fair Lady. Even She Loves Me and Carousel, which I both adore, don't come near My Fair Lady. Ahh well. My "favorites" are pretty bad too...points to sig. Admiring in terms of quality, though, would have to be My Fair Lady, Camelot, Sweeney Todd, Follies, Titanic, South Pacific, and West Side Story, among others.
Sweeney Hyde	I know the problem a lot of people have with My Fair Lady is that it essentially IS Pygmalion with some songs through in. There are very few liberties taken. Sure the ending is different and Freddy as a bit more business onstage (been a while since I read Pygmalion if I'm forgetting something else). Whereas let's look at Carousel. It's based off of Liliom but the two shows are extremely different... what with the Billy character presumedly being sent to Hell and purgatory also being a place of fire... LOTS of other details changed. Maybe Sondheim admires what R&H did with the source material but not with MFL.
Salome	but it would have been a disater to alter Shaw's intent. unlike Molnar who wasnt as esteemed a writer. Lerner kept Shaw's thrust and style and he did change quite a bit as well. he plumped up Doolittle's role..added a bit to fredy..created the roles of Harry and Jamie, brought Kaparthy to teh stage (before MFL Karparthy's only appearace was in the film version of Pygmalion). the songs in MFL flow out the charactrs seemlessly...its almost as if Lerner channelled Shaw.
LaGataNegra	Sondheim loves "The Wiz" because it affects him on a visceral level, something that is unmeasureable. It's pointless to quantify the qualities of musicals. Top ten lists are merely popularity contests. What makes a show 'great' to you might make it 'dreck' to me. While I agree with Salome (imagine that) that "My Fair Lady" just might be the perfect musical, no one is required to have the same opinion.

The Resource For Musicals

Sondheim's Favorite Musicals