Word: sondheimer
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...order to accurately represent the combined visions of Perlman, Sondheim and Seurat, scenic designer Michael P. Lynch ’05 and his crew began working on the set nearly six weeks ago, devoting countless hours to the daunting undertaking...
...Perlman’s focus is Sunday, a project that’s become intensely personal for him. A Stephen Sondheim aficionado, Perlman says, “Sunday in the Park with George is his most beautiful. And there is a moment in Act II, during the ‘Sunday Reprise,’ when I lose it. No matter what production, no matter what’s come before. Some of the most heartbreaking moments and musical phrases in all of theater are in this show...
...Sondheim, the guru for a generation of musical-theater composers, won't comment on the state of the Broadway musical (he doesn't want to hurt any feelings) and says he doesn't see many musicals anyway. He prefers going to straight plays, watches movies at home on video (recent favorites: The Barbarian Invasions and Elephant) and listens mostly to symphonic music--"nonvocal, because the words are so distracting." With Assassins coming together, he is buckling down to finish three final songs for The Frogs ("I'm a slow writer, and I only have a month to do them...
...Sondheim and Weidman have made only minor changes for the new production (directed by Joe Mantello) beyond including a new song, Something Just Broke, written for the 1992 London version. It's a nice addition to a score that is (oddly, given the subject) one of Sondheim's most tuneful and accessible, with its stylistic echoes of American folk ballads, gospel hymns, Sousa-style marches and turn-of-the-century waltzes. Sondheim has little patience for the long-voiced criticism that many of his scores abandon melody for astringent experimentation. "I do what is required for each show," he says...
...there one more Sondheim musical in the wings? "I'm at an age where the energy level is going down," he admits. "But I'm sort of fishing around at the moment." In the meantime, he'll be happy if an old musical called Assassins wins some new fans. "I have no idea what people will make of it today," he says. "I live in a liberal community, which is happy to bring into question things about this country. But you know, when people come in as divisively sensitive as they are these days--goodness." One thing is for sure...