The Hollywood Reporter: Barbara Bryne, the British actress who portrayed mothers in the original Broadway productions of Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park With George and Into the Woods, has died. She was 94.... She played George’s mom alongside Mandy Patinkin in Sunday in the Park With George in 1984-85 — they sang the wistful … Continue reading She Made It Beautiful
Sondheim
Maybe I Should Go to NYC
I’ve heard so much about the revival of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s Sweeney Todd that I’ve begun to think that perhaps I ought to take to trip to NYC to see it. After all, it is one of my favorites of Sondheim’s oeuvre, and it’s been years since I’ve seen a live production, and the … Continue reading Maybe I Should Go to NYC
Josh Groban
There’s a good interview with Josh Groban on Fresh Air where he talks about the revival of Sweeney Todd where he plays the title character. Ann Marie Baldonado is the interviewer: BALDONADO: You - when you're describing Sondheim, you talked about how, you know, he often writes staccato, but this - of "Sweeney's" a little … Continue reading Josh Groban
A Very Special Episode
This is the fourth installment of a series. Catch with Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. One of the downsides of hosting the Tuesday edition of Musical Offering was that it already had a programmer, a lovely woman whose name I no longer recall, nor can I find her name on any of the saved … Continue reading A Very Special Episode
April, 1979
This is the third in a series that began with Part 1 and Part 2. Before I began searching through the boxes of saved letters and stuff, I’d have sworn that my volunteer career as a classical host on WMSP lasted nearly two years, but documents don’t lie. I didn’t get my Third Class License … Continue reading April, 1979
246 East 49th Street
One of the many surprises that I found as I’ve been going through the boxes of collected stuff is an empty envelope from my Harrisburg days with the return address of 246 East 49th Street, NYC. Now who could that be? It took me a moment but of course the answer came to me. It … Continue reading 246 East 49th Street
On the Steps of the Schubert
Broadway World has posted a video commemorating the 50th Anniversary of “Sondheim: A Musical Tribute”. I remember getting that album back in the 70s, although probably a year or so after it came out, when I was a fledgling Sondheim fan. That album helped to cement my admiration for Sondheim.
A Brilliant Comic Lyric Writer
Stephen Sondheim compiled a list called “Songs I Wish I’d Written (at Least in Part)” and he included an Irving Berlin number on that list. In the concert that included some of those songs he made some opening remarks, and here is what he had to say about Berlin: One, “You Can't Get a Man … Continue reading A Brilliant Comic Lyric Writer
Merrily Will Transfer to Broadway in the Fall
Very happy to see it confirmed that the Merrily revival will transfer to Broadway in the fall. The production, now midway through a sold-out run at Off Broadway’s small-scale New York Theater Workshop in the East Village, stars Daniel Radcliffe (yes, of “Harry Potter” fame) alongside two popular musical theater performers: Jonathan Groff (a Tony … Continue reading Merrily Will Transfer to Broadway in the Fall
Lord Knows, At Least I Was There
In 1994 when James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim’s Passion was being produced on Broadway, Sondheim, along with star Donna Murphy and pianist Paul Ford, appeared on Larry King’s talk show to promote the musical. How Larry King lasted so long as a host is a subject for another day, but he didn’t ask either Sondheim or … Continue reading Lord Knows, At Least I Was There