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The rest of the tale REVIEWS BY ANDREW MILNER
A look at making Sweeney film, and the back-story
ans of Tim Burton's epic version of The book concludes with a condensed
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I THE POWER OF SONDHEIM: FROM PAGE 11 proclaims Company: A Musical Coined*.
glance at what quickly became a "desert!
that particular episode has been rerun over the disc" for me, I thought it might have boi
last 35 years in hundreds of markets around the ironic moniker. Hadn't Sondheim abaafl
world to tens of millions of viewers, it just might "pure" musical comedy as he pushed tbc
be Sondheim's most widely heard lyric. forward with this landmark concept shoi
Andrew Milner, Bryn Mawr, Pa. wrong I was. Sondheim and Furth's Cat
takes all the elements of musical corned
Is there any show in American musical book! the score! the choreography! thefj
theatre more graceful than A Little Night Music? tion numbers! and puts them in serviJ
Any examination of what went wrong with the an acute, incisive look at relationships ua
American Dream more incisive than Assassins? is still raw and truthful today. The charaa
(Well, may- arc so identifiable, so familiar that it's a
be Road sible to leave the theatre without looking!
Show.) ourselves and those good and crazy peof
Any medi- friends. And Sondheim's score? Itfinds
tation on everyday life and yet sounds like no othej
evil more "Thrilling" and "pulsating" come to mind.
chilling- It's edgy and rhythmic, like the city that
yet-exhila- its DNA. Moreover, Company lends itself
rating than staggering variety of interpretations by (
Sweeney tors and performers. Every new product
Todd? adventure. The orchestration, the settin
What tone might change, will change, but I :
makes provoked, intrigued, laughing, crying.
Sond- it's simply the best that musical theatre)
heim's musical comedy can offer. Company is
scores the It remains the most affecting show for i
most pen- Sondheim's entire canon. Joe Marches
etrating in Clark, N.J.
the canon
is their in- The original production of Follies wa>
tegrity, in Instead of being told in a typical clear na
the sense style, the show had a dreamlike atmospheJ
of whole- going from scenes with the lead characters!
ness, of vignette with a minor one, from present to
being com- and then having the past and present inter^
plete and ing. Things that could seem unreal or pret^B
undivided. tious worked and seemed natural. And wheJ
Those crit- on a dark, almost bare stage, in the middle^
ics who in- the quarreling characters, Loveland suddeJ
sist that ''Sondheim can't write melody" clearly appeared out of nowhere, filling the the;;:-.
haven't been listening to the soaring "Kiss Me" light and music the effect was incredible. I
or the long, sustained orchestral line underlying Financial reasons would probably keep anyd
the frantic New York patter in "Another Hundred on that level from being done today unf<:i
People." Instead, they've been hearing the words natcly, because part of the point of Follies isd
and little wonder. Sondheim's lyries are the contrast between the lavishness of the "Foil*
quirkiest, the edgiest, the most literate; they are and the reality of the lead characters' lives. 1
bearers of emotional truth. "Which comes first original performers supplied unforgettable
generally the words or the music?" that clue- mcnts: Gene Nelson's dance to "The Right G
less interviewer asks Charley Kringas in the way, at the end, when Buddy is telling Sal
"Franklin Shepard, Inc." In Sondheim, the words they will deal with things tomorrow, Dorothy-
and the music are one. \bu can pick them apart, Collins looked out into the empty theatre ana I
but they're as intertwined as a double helix of said, "Dear God, this is tomorrow." Greg Da- I
DNA. That's the quality that makes a Sondheim rak, Trumbull, Conn.
musical a "Sondheim Musical" to the extent
that casual observers tend to forget the Hugh For every artist, there is one moment in yw
Wheelers and the James Lapincs and the John life when something clicks within you and thra(
Weidmans of this world and assume Sondheim just make sense. For me, I will always rernem- I
wrote, in the words of Buddy Plummer, "the ber the moment I saw Sunday in the Park \cidi \
whole show." They provide the book, but he sup- George for the first time. It was a period of titaj
plies the soul. Diane Nottle, New York City when I wasn't sure of my path. I was uncertain j
what I should do with my life. As "Sunday"
The bold jacket to the original cast LP, still finished the first act, I found tears pouring dam
looking groovy after all these years, proudly my face. Not tears of sadness, but rather joy. m
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Reviews
W e are now 40 years removed from the the best performances of Sondheim material,
1971 Broadway opening of Follies, as Peters does a better job in these songs of captur-
distant as that show was from the actual ing Sally's self-delusions.
Ziegfeld productions that inspired it. The 2011 Jan Maxwell handles her numbers skillfully
Broadway revival is not only summoning the while embodying the reserve of Phyllis, although
spirits of the Broadway era of George Gershwin, she goes emotionally overboard at the climax of
Irving Berlin and Cole Porter, but the memories "Could I Leave You?" It might have been better
of director Harold Prince and to keep cool throughout that entire song to
choreographer Michael Ben- contrast with the unleashing of "The Story of
nett's staging of the original Lucy and Jessie." (This recording, unlike the
Follies. PS Classics has done 1971 original cast album and the 1985 Avery
an excellent job resurrect- Fisher Hall live recording, includes the dance
ing those echoes in its cast break.) Ron Raines draws out Ben's vulnerability
recording of the Broadway- during the dialogue sections and "The Road You
revival, released in late No- Didn't Take." Danny Burstein clearly conveys
vember 2011. Buddy's exasperation, from his attempt to tell a
Clocking in at one hour corny joke during the "Overture" through "The
and 46 minutes on two CDs, Right Girl" and "The-God-Why-Don't-You-Love-
this recording (produced by Me Blues."
Tommy Krasker and Philip The rest of the ensemble comes off equally
Chaffin) includes more of brilliantly. Elaine Paige understands the world-
James Goldman's libretto weariness of Carlotta. and her "I'm Still Here"
than any previous Follies al- builds in confidence and defiance, rivaling
bum. It relegates most of the Yvonne De Carlo's original performance as the
speeches to separate tracks definitive version of this standard. Terri White
while wisely keeping the brings more personality to the role of Stella
underscoring of the onstage Deems than earlier performers, with an especial-
pit band throughout much of ly vivid lead on "Who's That Woman?" Rosalind
the show. Most significantly, Elias and Leah Horowitz perform an exquisite
almost all of the dialogue of "One More Kiss," the nod to operetta that could
the "ghosts" of the four main serve as the theme to the entire musical.
characters (Lorra Lee Gayer The booklet features the complete lyrics and
as Sally, Christian Delcroix as many full-color photos from the Marquis Theatre
Buddy, Kirsten Scott as Phyl- production. Patrick Pacheco of the Los Angeles
lis and Nick Verina as Ben) Times has also contributed a slightly porten-
The image for Follies' revival has been retained, and they tous introductory essay, which tries too hard to
production was designed by have a much stronger presence here than on draw parallels between the despair of the early
Frank "Fraver" Verlizzo. It's used earlier Fogies recordings. While recent Broadway 1970s characters and the malaise of the real
as the cover for the new cast audiences have grown accustomed to pared- world 2011: "America, it would seem, has finally
recording. down pit accompaniment, Follies is one show caught up to Follies. The worth of the Georgian
that requires a larger-than-life sound, and Jona- silver in Phyllis's dining room, the sophisticated
than Tunick's orchestrations for the 28-piece socialite, might have inflated from $30,000 to
orchestra have never sounded clearer or, in the $60,000 in the intervening four decades, but it's
cases of "Losing My Mind" and "One More Kiss," the deflated dreams and tarnished hopes now
more poignant. loosed throughout the land that have brought
The 2011 album generally displays the musi- American society into such sharp accord with
cal's four central protagonists to their best the harsh and unvarnished truths of Follies."
advantage. Bernadette Peters, who since the If recordings of the original Broadway pro-
mid-1980s has become the premier Sondheim duction of Follies (official or bootleg) remain the
interpreter, brings a genuine vulnerability to the ultimate standard for many Sondheim fans, PS
role of Sally. During the "Prelude" she intro- Classics has nevertheless added to the public's
duces herself as "Sally Durant ... Plummer," understanding of this masterpiece with its vital
and that pause before her married name speaks cast album. |TSR|
volumes about her disillusionment over what her
life has become. If Barbara Cook's renditions of ANDREW MILNER reviews books and CDs for Phila-
"In Buddy's Eyes" and "Losing My Mind" on the delphia's City Paper. He has been a TSR contributor
1985 Avery Fisher Hall recording remain two of since 2004.
More insights
from Sondheim REVIEW BY ANDREW IVIILNER
Composer/lyricist is a commentator
on West Side Story Blu-ray release
A
t o n e p o i n t in A Place for Us, a t h o r o u g h ' A n d I have a n i d e a f o r a t u n e . ' A n d h e w e n t t o
documentary accompanying the new Blu- t h e p i a n o a n d h e s t a r t e d g o i n g 'Ya-ta-ta ya-ta-ta
r a y release o f t h e 1 9 6 1 m o t i o n p i c t u r e t u m - t u m - t u m ' w i t h t h e i d e a o f a l t e r n a t i n g be-
West Side Story, i t i s n o t e d t h a t w h e n P r e s i d e n t t w e e n six a n d t h r e e , six a n d t h r e e ... A n d , m a n y
O b a m a v i s i t e d B u c k i n g h a m Palace i n 2 0 0 9 , h e years l a t e r , a f r i e n d o f m i n e f o u n d i n a b o x o f
presented Queen Elizabeth I I w i t h an iPod con- Lenny's papers a n u n p r o d u c e d ballet he'd w r i t -
taining music f r o m the musical. I n Snmecliing's t e n c a l l e d Conch Town [ c o m p o s e d i n 1 9 4 1 1 , a n d
Coming, M i s h a B e r s o n ' s West Side Story h i s t o r y , t h e f r i e n d said, ' L o o k o n page 1 7 . ' A n d there, o n
she p r o c l a i m s , " I t ' s k i n d o f a w a y o f s a y i n g , 'You p a g e 1 7 , was 'Ya-ta-ta y a - t a - t a t u m - t u m - t u m . ' H e
k n o w , t h i s is o u r p o p c u l t u r e , b u t y o u share i t m a d e u p t h a t w h o l e s t o r y so h e c o u l d use t h a t
w i t h u s . ' " B e r n s t e i n protege J o h n M a u c e r i adds, o l d tu ne and, of course, I fell for i t . "
" T h e fact t h a t West Side Story was a p a r t o f t h a t T h e h a l f - h o u r A Place for Us d o c u m e n t a r y
is e x a c t l y r i g h t . VVesr Side Story is a n e s s e n t i a l f e a t u r e s a n a s s o r t m e n t o f t a l k i n g heads, f r o m
part of A m e r i c a n c u l t u r e . " A t t h a t fulsome mo- o r i g i n a l Broadway star C h i t a Rivera t o movie
m e n t , S o n d h e i m h i m s e l f appears o n s c r e e n t o chorus m e m b e r s Jaime Rogers ( L o c o ) a n d
add s o m e levity. " G u e s s w h a t ? I d i d n ' t k n o w t h a t Yvonne Wilder (Consucla); f r o m Debbie A l l e n
u n t i l t h i s m i n u t e . D i d she a b d i c a t e ? T h e i d e a ( w h o p l a y e d A n i t a i n t h e 1 9 8 0 B r o a d w a y revival)
of h e r w i t h t h e l i t t l e c a r b u d s ... I ' m s o r r y , " h e t o c u r r e n t B r o a d w a y f i g u r e s s u c h as L i n - M a n u e l
chuckles, " i t ' s t o o funny." M i r a n d a a n d S u s a n S t r o m a n w h o a t t e s t t o West
A m o n g the o t h e r features o n t h e three-disc Side Story's i n f l u e n c e o n t h e i n t e g r a t e d m u s i -
set is S o n d h e i m ' s n e w l y r e c o r d e d song-by-song c a l . I t also i n c o r p o r a t e s Family Giiy a n d That
a u d i o c o m m e n t a r y , w h i c h takes u p 19 m i n u t e s '70s S h o w h o m a g e s . M i k h a i l B a r y s h n i k o v t e l l s o f
of t h e 1 5 3 - m i n u t c m o v i e . (A^Tiile h e says i n h i s w a t c h i n g t h e H i m f o r t h e first t i m e i n J a p a n i n
c o m m e n t a r y a b o u t " T h e Dance a t t h e G y m " 1969 and immediately r u n n i n g out and purchas-
t h a t " m y f a v o r i t e m u s i c i n t h e score is t h e d a n c e ing a lavender shirt s i m i l a r t o the one George
m u s i c , " t h e r e is n o S o n d h e i m c o m m e n t a r y f o r C h a k i r i s w o r e as B e r n a r d o .
"The R u m b l e " o r "The Taunting.") A m o n g t h e o t h e r d i s c f e a t u r e s a r e West Side
Readers o f S o n d h e i m ' s 2 0 1 0 Finishing the Hat Memories, a 55-minute documentary from 2003
will find m o s t o f his c o m m e n t a r i e s o n the disc ( f r o m a D\T C o l l e c t o r ' s Set r e l e a s e d t h a t y e a r ) ,
familiar. O f t h e l y r i c s t o " M a r i a , " S o n d h e i m says, w h i c h includes silent h o m e movie footage o f
" L e n n y and I disagreed about w h a t poetic lyrics l o c a t i o n s h o o t i n g o n N e w Y o r k C i t y ' s W e s t Side,
are. I t w a s n ' t a b i g , v e r b a l d i s a g r e e m e n t ; i t was and recordings of Natalie Wood's actual singing
an a p p r o a c h . L e n n y w e n t f o r r a t h e r heavy, w h a t v o i c e i n " A m e r i c a " b e f o r e M a r n i NLxon d u b b e d
I c a l l ' p u r p l e ' prose. A n d I , h a v i n g b e e n b r o u g h t h e r vocals. \ b u ' l l also f i n d a b r i e f d o c u m e n t a r y ,
u p b y Oscar H a m m c r s t e i n a l t h o u g h O s c a r Pow! The Dances of West Side Story a n d a five-
has h i s share o f v e r y f r u i t y i m a g e s , t o o I r e a l l y m i n u t e montage of Maurice Zuberano's original
believe t h a t as m u c h as p o s s i b l e t h e k i d s i n t h i s s t o r y b o a r d s c o m p a r e d t o t h e final m o v i e f o o t -
show s h o u l d speak v e r y s i m p l y a n d t h e r e f o r e age.
sing v e r y s i m p l y . ... L e n n y ' s m u s i c i s w h a t m a k e s T h e film is a n i d e a l fit f o r B l u - r a y ' s c l a r i t y ,
the p l a i n K T I C p o e t i c . " f r o m t h e o p e n i n g overhead shots of New York
" S o m e t h i n g ' s C o m i n g , " Tony's i n t r o d u c t o r y C i t y t o the sheen o f t h e switchblade k n i f e i n t h e
song, S o n d h e i m n o t e s , was w r i t t e n i n j u s t t w o r u m b l e . W i t h t h e B l u - r a y release c o i n c i d i n g w i t h
days: " I t has t h a t f e e l i n g o f s p o n t a n e i t y t o i t . I t the 5 0 t h anniversary o f the movie's theatrical
doesn't feel so ' w o r k e d o v e r ' t h e way 1 t h i n k so release, t h e i n d e s t r u c t i b l e West Side Story c o n -
m a n y o f t h e o t h e r l y r i c s feel. Too o f t e n i n t h e q u e r s y e t a n o t h e r m e d i u m . |TSR|
show y o u c a n feel t h e sweat f r o m t h e l y r i c w r i t e r
in the lyTics, b u t n o t , 1 t h i n k , i n 'Something's ANDREW MILNER is a contributor to Base Ball: A
Coming.'"
Journal of the Early Game and the Philadelphia City
Sondheim includes a funny story about t h e Paper. He has been writing for TSR since 2004.
provenance o f B e r n s t e i n ' s m e l o d y f o r " A m e r i c a " :
"Lenny came back from a vacation i n Puerto
Rico a n d said t h a t h e ' d c o m e across a w o n d e r f u l
dance r h y t h m c a l l e d t h e huapungo, and he said,