On Sondheim: An Opinionated Guide By Ethan Mordden Oxford University Press, New York; xiii, 186 (pp216) ISBN 978-0199394814 Published January 21st 2016 Stephen Sondheim has been the mover and shaker of the modern musical for the past half-century. Widely honoured and celebrated, his work flags how the musical has evolved and become celebrated as…
Tag: Musicals
Hey Old Friend! An 85th Birthday Tribute to Stephen Sondheim
I have long been a fan of Stephen Sondheim. I first encountered him back in the 1960’s, but my love affair was sealed with Merrily We Roll Along in the early 80’s. And so we roll on….. And last Sunday I found myself at a rally of Sondheimites at the Drury Lane Theatre Royal to celebrate…
Two New British Musicals: Union, Southwark and Mercury, Colchester.
And now: for my 160th blog, something completely different……. The White Feather and The Smallest Show on Earth Last week I had the joy of seeing not one but two brand new British musicals. One was at the tiny Union Theatre in Southwark – a dramatic tale of the First World…
Gypsy: A Must Musical
I first saw Gypsy the night I got my PhD back in 1973! It starred Angela Lansbury and I was bowled over. The music by Jules Styne and the lyrics of Stephen Sondheim made me life long fans of both. I have seen it quite a few times since, and most notably with…
This is the moment: Happy New Year!
This is the moment. It only takes a moment. The fateful moment. The banal moment. The long moment. Dancing through life. Anything can happen. Seize the day. Take the moment. Make the moment last. Let the Moment Go. I wish. (with thanks to Jerry Herman, Stephen Sondheim, Stephen Schwartz, Frank Wildhorn and all…
Dogfight: New Summer Musical
This has been a good summer for the great classic musicals: Kiss Me Kate at the Proms; Guys and Doll at Chichester; Porgy and Bess at Regent’s Park- all wonderful experiences. But the little surprise of the summer has been Dogfight. The story line – of marines off for a weekend in San Francisco…
Candide: From Voltaire to Bernstein and Sondheim
I first encountered Voltaire’s witty and scatty satire Candide when I was at school ( it was a set text for A level); and it has stayed with me. Not least because of the glorious musical by Lenny Bernstein ( with lyrics by Sondheim) that he wrote in the 1950’s. Initially a flop, it has…
Imagining Better Worlds, Insipirations, Living Humanity, Musicals, Poems and Poetics, Politics and change
The Scottboro Boys
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Titanic: best musical of the summer?
So here comes the big musical hit of the summer! I first saw this grand musical on Broadway in 1997 when it was given a full and spectacular staging ( the boat tipped and sunk on stage!). I saw it with much doubt. Titanic hardly seemed a suitable subject for a musical – that seemingly…
The Guildhall Musical: Rags
RAGS This is a ‘long lost’ musical – lost partly because when it opened in 1986, it was a big flop on Broadway and run all of four nights. But like so many musicals it comes back fighting – and this tidied up version is now very strong and made me cry a few times!…