This is a fascinating video. It was broadcast on Sunday October 15, 1961, but it was recorded a few days before then. It’s a WCBS production, so I don’t think it was ever broadcast nationally, but I really don’t know. Moreover, this is the raw tape with a false start and a do-over. Would commercials … Continue reading Sondheim in 1961
Sondheim
They Wanted a Ton of Money
I recently watched the Clue movie from 1985 and it turned out to be a pretty hilarious screwball comedy with a great cast including Eileen Brennan, Madeline Kahn, Christopher Lloyd, Michael McKean, Martin Mull, Lesley Ann Warren, and Colleen Camp, but it’s Tim Curry as the butler, who has twice as many lines as anyone else, … Continue reading They Wanted a Ton of Money
The Ballad of Guiteau
“A story about religion, sex, an assassination, and silverware.” That’s how the August 4th episode of the Criminal podcast is described on their website, and it’s a pretty accurate description. I’d highly recommend it as it serves as an excellent introduction to the video clip that I’m including at the end of this post. I’m … Continue reading The Ballad of Guiteau
Johanna Quartet
The “Johanna Quartet” from Act II of Sweeney Todd or just called “Johanna (Act II Sequence)” from the forthcoming revival album has been released. It features Josh Groban, Ruthie Ann Miles, Jordan Fisher, and Maria Bilbao. Unlike the Original Broadway Cast recording, this one apparently does not include the sound effects of Sweeney dispatching his … Continue reading Johanna Quartet
She Made It Beautiful
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
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