Word: sondheims
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Late in the second act of Into the Woods, the Sondheim musical that is this season’s Mainstage, the lead character of the Baker shares a touching duet with his long-lost father. The song, which is lovely and of major dramatic importance, is rendered beautifully by Matt V. Anderson ’03 and Jim C. Augustine ’01. However, despite their best efforts, the only thought echoing in the head of this reviewer was the song’s title—“No More...
...greatest problem with this production is its shallowness; it never attempts to go beyond the fairy tale. Whereas Sondheim puts a complex show with complex characters and meaningful themes in the style of a children’s entertainment, this production, under the direction of Sara B. Heller ’02, captures none of the sophistication or moral ambiguity of the material. It is children’s entertainment. Clear choices about characters’ motivations and rationality don’t register. Instead, the audience is left with gimmicks and inappropriately one-note performances...
...trees. A deep pit in the ground. People speaking quickly, rushing by, intent on completing their tasks. A cross between a sinister mystery and an office scene? No. This is the Loeb Mainstage, a week and a half before opening night of Into the Woods, a musical by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine...
This Broadway tribute to the lyricist of A Chorus Line, who never had another hit and died of cancer in 1988, might seem a precious bit of Broadway navel gazing. Yet it is surprisingly fresh and engaging. Kleban's little-heard songs are witty and original--Sondheim without the thesaurus. And the creators (chiefly director and star Lonny Price) temper their affection with candor and insight into an artist more familiar with frustration than fame...
...steel-girder sets are drably unmemorable. Instead of the film's catchy '70s hits (Hot Chocolate's You Sexy Thing), we have a new score by David Yazbek, whose lyrics ("cojones" rhymed with "what testosterone is") are marginally better than his generic, '70s-pop-with-a-hint-of-Sondheim music. Even the supposed showstoppers--a black man (Andre DeShields) sings of his endowments; a crusty pianist (Kathleen Freeman) celebrates her show-biz past--seem earthbound and underchoreographed...