12/17/2022 0 Comments Best notorious big lyrics“One of the lessons of adulthood is disappointment,” says a bleary-eyed actress who muses on her time in “Merrily,” a notorious 1981 flop for Sondheim and Hal Prince that ended their decades-long collaborative friendship. Lonny Price’s documentary about the original production of “Merrily We Roll Along” is an intimate portrait of one of Sondheim’s greatest heartbreaks. “Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened” (2016) (For a perfect double feature, pair it with the “Documentary Now” episode “Co-op: Original Cast Album,” set in a New York City co-op.)Īvailable to stream on Criterion. The film was unavailable for decades, an oversight recently corrected by Criterion. God bless Donna McKechnie for pronouncing “bubbi” for the man. Documentary lovers came to the film for Pennebaker, and musical theater lovers came for Elaine Stritch’s iconic breakdown as she muscled through the recording of “Ladies Who Lunch.” The movie also features unprecedented footage of Sondheim giving notes, which could be notoriously exacting. Pennebaker’s beloved cult classic takes you behind-the-scenes inside the recording studio for the original Broadway cast album of “Company,” one of Sondheim’s most brilliant and enduring works. Shot in black and white for an unfinished series, D.A. A hit with critics and audiences, the film is one of Hollywood’s better musical adaptations in recent memory. Though the stars, not known for their singing, struggled with one of Sondheim’s more difficult scores (it is, after all, an operetta), Burton’s commercial take on the cannibalistic story proved to be the perfect marriage of sensibilities. The director cast his frequent collaborator Johnny Depp as the murderous barber, and Helena Bonham Carter as Broadway’s Lady MacBeth, Mrs. One of Sondheim’s darkest works (rivaled only by “Assassins”) was introduced to a global audience in 2007, courtesy of Tim Burton. “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (2007) The Spielberg remake opens in theaters on December 10. A brilliant lyricist from the start, his fingerprints are all over the clever songs, easily recognizable in lines like: “I like the isle of Manhattan/Smoke on your pipe and put that in.” The upbeat “Gee Officer Krupke” is a rare bop from the king of malaise, his comedic chops shine in collaboration with Bernstein’s more traditional melodies.Īvailable on HBO Max and to rent on Amazon Prime, Apple and other services. “West Side Story” features a book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, and lyrics by Sondheim, who was just 27 years old when “West Side Story” premiered. One of the greatest movie musicals ever made, the original “West Side Story” is getting a contemporary remake from Steven Spielberg in two weeks. To borrow from “Company” scene-stealer Joanne: Let’s all drink to that. Here are six of the best, with notes on where to find them. While we’ll be waiting awhile for Richard Linklater’s “Merrily We Roll Along,” filmed over a 20-year span to follow the chronology of the show, there are plenty of screen versions of Sondheim’s work available to stream today. New Movies: Release Calendar for December 22, Plus Where to Watch the Latest Filmsĥ0 Essential United Artists Movies Amazon Will Own in MGM Deal Stephen Sondheim Rewrote His 'Tick Tick Boom' Voicemail Dialogue: 'I Would Never Say That'īroadway and Hollywood Remember Stephen Sondheim: 'He Was God to Many of Us' Watching a singer grapple with the precision of his lyrics, emotional arcs of his songs, and unusual rhythms of his music separates the standing ovation-worthy from mere mortals. Powerhouse divas like Elaine Stritch, Bernadette Peters, and Angela Lansbury owe much of their career-defining work to Sondheim. Numbers like “Send in The Clowns,” “Ladies Who Lunch,” and “Being Alive” are five-act plays in and of themselves, and as such have been interpreted and re-interpreted by every musical theater performer worth the price of a Broadway ticket. It set me up for a lifetime of appreciating high drama, grand spectacle - and the unlikely comedic potential of cannibalism.Īs last year’s Zoom-ified 90th birthday celebration for Sondheim proved, performing his songs is no small task. As a film critic, my early cinematic experiences began with musical movies, including filmed stage versions of “Into The Woods,” “Gypsy,” and of course, “West Side Story,” for which a very young Stephen Sondheim wrote the lyrics (same for “Gypsy.”) The brilliant mind behind “Into The Woods,” “Sweeney Todd,” “Company,” “Sunday in The Park With George,” and many, many more was a titan of Broadway, and the last living connection to the golden age of musicals. The final curtain has fallen on Stephen Sondheim, maestro of American musical theater, who died at 91 on Friday.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |