I just bought the DVD of Passion and am just loving it to death (heh, heh). I am an absolute devotee of the works of Stephen Sondheim, and I have most of the original cast albums from his plays as well as the revues and concert performances, although I haven’t yet picked up the newest Barbara Cook performing Sondheim DVD.
And jus tot make people jealous, his newst collaboration with Jame sLapine, Bounce, is coming to DC in pre-Broadway performances at the Kennedy Center, and when tickets go on sale on 8/11, I will be there!
So, what are your favorite Sondheim musicals or individual songs? I’m currently torn between Sweeney Todd and Passion, both wonderfully amazing works. I think right now my Top 5 Sondheim tunes are
[ul]
[li]No One Is Alone[/li][li]Finishing The Hat[/li][li]No One Has Ever Loved Me Like You[/li][li]The Worst Pies In London[/li][li]Not A Day Goes By[/li][/ul]
Funny to see this thread today, I just borrowed the soundtrack to “Into the Woods” from my library and I’m sitting here listening to it. I must find our video tape of it to watch!
“What More Do I Need?” from Saturday Night, Liz Callaway version from the “The Sondheim Collection” cd
Next four, not in order and subject to change, depending on my mood (I’m also ignoring Gypsy, and Do I Hear A Waltz and West Side Story since he either didn’t write the music or lyrics on them
:
“Chrysanthemum Tea” from Pacific Overtures, American Cast (British cast is blah)
“Pretty Little Picture”, A Funny Thing Happened To Me…etc, original Broadway version by Zero Mostel of course (Nathan Lane brought nothing new to the role, IMO.)
“Another Hundred People”, Company, original Broadway version. It has a dark, melancholy tone that all the other casts miss.
“A Little Priest”, Sweeny Todd, Original Broadway version again!
And a neat little song I just discovered from The Mad Show: “The Boy From …” Music by Mary (Once Upon A Matress) Rodgers, lyrics by Sondheim, sung by Linda “more talented than her sitcom would lead one to belive” Lavin. A sample verse:
TALL AND SLENDER, MOVES LIKE A DANCER,
BUT I NEVER SEEM TO GET ANY ANSWER
FROM THE BOY FROM TACAREMBO LA TUMBE DEL FUEGO SANTA MALIPAS ZATATECAS LA JUNTA DEL SOL Y CRUZ. (“crooth”)
I GOT THE BLUETH.
WHY ARE HIS TROUSERS VERMILLION?
HIS TROUSERS ARE VERMILLION.
WHY DOES HE CLAIM HE’S CASTILIAN?
HE THAYTH THAT HE’TH CATHTILIAN.
WHY DO HIS FRIENDS CALL HIM LILLIAN?
AND I HEAR AT THE END OF THE WEEK
HE’S LEAVING TO START A BOUTIQUE.
Good God, what fun! Everyone has picked great songs and I agree with them all – though I still have a hard time sitting through Passion.
I’m going to add an obscurish one that is, IMO, in the top 5 or 10: The Glamorous Life (but the movie version!). Though the message in the song is similar, it is an entirely different song from the stage version, not just a little tweeked rewrite.
This is a surprising choice coming from me because I adore TGL from the stage version. But when I heard the movie version I really flipped. The song comes from the fact that Hal Prince never liked the original 100%. He wanted it to “Swirl, swirl, swirl!”; so that’s what SS gave him for the film.
The rendition I’m familiar with is by Betsy Joslyn on the “Book-of-the-Month Records, Sondheim” 2-CD set. Probably not to easy to find, but worth the trouble.
Another great obscure SS song is There’s Always a Woman, which was cut from Anyone Can Whistle. You can hear it on the CD “Unsung Sondheim.”
I actually had the great pleasure of seeing Sweeney Todd on Broadway. (I was visiting my brother, he knew I liked musicals, who would have guessed it would be one like this?!)
Len Cariou was so utterly spooky by being so non-singerlike, if you can understand that. He was ordinary, if a bit broken and haunted, and that made his turn to the dark side so much more terrifying. When the chorus sings something like, maybe today you gave a nod to Sweeney Todd, you do feel like it could be anyone around you.
I know it’s common, but Into The Woods is very close to my heart. sigh
I remember seeing Passion when it opened in Canada for the first time, and watching those curtains open on a fine, naked ass was one sweet moment, let me tell you.
In non-showtune versions, I quite like Holly Cole’s version of “Losing My Mind”. And then there was that…interesting version of “I Never Do Anything Twice” at the Sondheim tribute a few years ago…
Petula Clark released a CD in 1998 which features several Sondheim songs, including the two you’ve mentioned. I think her rendition of “I Never Do Anything Twice” is the best version I’ve heard so far. She has the timing and nuances of it nailed. The whole CD is a little weird in places but, overall, a nice surprise.
