Favorite Sondheim Show?

[Cfried]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 8:58pm

Just wondering...

Personally, I'm a huge fan of Sunday in The Park!

[MarkBearSF]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 9:12pm

Changing. It keeps changing.

Probably Sweeney, but Follies is a seemingly endless source of discussion and interpretation.
If I want to listen to a song that goes bum-bum-bum de dum, I'll often go to Merrily We Roll Along, an all time favorite recording. If I want something with more of a stinger, Company fits the bill.

But I love them all. Except Passion. I really have no passion for Passion.

Updated On: 10/7/16 at 09:12 PM

[Another Winter]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 9:30pm

Company for sure! I feel like the music is so catchy and it's such a unique and original show!

[Oak2]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 9:30pm

My taste is likely much different than most, but from what I've heard (I've only experienced these from cast recordings and movie versions - haven't gotten to see any professionally done live on stage yet), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Sweeney Todd, and Assassins are my favorites. The ones I feel most people will probably find the best (Company, Follies, Sunday, etc.) I personally find kind of boring, but that's just my taste, not my cup of tea. I also absolutely love Gypsy, though I know he only did lyrics for that. 

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 10:17pm

Depending upon my mood, etc., it's Company, Follies or Merrily.

[sng]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 10:20pm

the only correct answer to this question here is ALL OF THEM.

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 10:35pm

A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC hits all the sweet spots for me, the most romantic, the most hopeful, the most rueful, the smartest book, the most delicious lyrics, the most evocative score, and wonder of wonders-- the happiest ending. The original production at the Shubert in 1973 has never been bettered and stands as one of my 2 or 3 happiest theater memories. 

[LW2]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 10:49pm

Was just discussing this with a friend the other day.  It's a nearly impossible question!

 

Sweeney is his greatest score.  

Sunday devastates me emotionally and Finishing the Hat is maybe the greatest song he ever wrote.

Assassins holds a very special place in my heart.  

Night Music is basically perfect and has the best Act 1 finale of any show ever.  

Into the Woods is pure joy. 

Follies is beautifully flawed and flawlessly beautiful. 

Passion contains the other greatest song he ever wrote (Loving You...simple, perfect)

....so yes, all of them.  

 

 

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 10:50pm

Into the woods

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 10:57pm

A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC of course.

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 11:00pm

^ Yay, Mr. Novack. Astute as ever.

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 11:04pm

Was for a great many years my favorite musical PERIOD and remains a close second to a certain letter-centric show.

[Crazy NooNooHead]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 11:48pm

I have personal attachments to Sweeney Todd, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, and Into The Woods. Sweeney Todd is the show that introduced me to Sondheim's work, and I did productions of the other two in college.

[Oak2]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 11:50pm

Oh yeah, I forgot about A Little Night Music! That was also one of the cast recordings I really enjoyed when I listened. I really hope I get a chance to see a version of that sometime - I love what I've read of the story and most of the music (though I'm not a fan of Send in the Clowns - that's more because I have a kind of aversion to slow songs in general though - I just can't get into them at all)

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 10/7/16 at 12:20am

It's a tie between Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods, A Little Night Music, Sunday in the Park with George, Follies, Company, and Passion.  I love all of them for different reasons and I think that they are all equally exquisite.

I also love Assassins, Merrily We Roll Along, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum and Pacific Overtures as well.  His hidden gem (Evening Primrose) is lovely also and I would love to see it adapted into a full length musical.

Sondheim is definitely my favorite composer of all time.  I don't know if there is another musical theatre composer to have such a brilliant legacy.  Rogers and Hammerstein are the only other composers to even get close and even they have a few absolute duds.  Sondheim's weakest show (Anyone can Whistle) has numerous shining moments, which is something that can't be said for most composers.  I can't wait to see his new show!

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 10/7/16 at 12:21am

The Mad Show

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 10/7/16 at 12:24am

Merrily

[Musical Master]

Posted: 10/7/16 at 12:39am

Personally it's a three-way tie between Follies, Sweeney Todd, and Into The Woods, each with different reasons why I love them. I also really like A Little Night Music, Assassins, Pacific Overtures, Sunday in the Park with George, and Passion. 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 10/7/16 at 1:46am

Leaving Gypsy and Funny Thing out, since he did not do the score.

I used to think it was Follies; but, since I have not seen a single production since the original that even approaches the magnificence of that one, I think it is probably my second favorite.

I have seen at least 6 different versions of Sweeney Todd and, while the original is still the best, several were still brilliant, so I guess I would have to say Sweeney.

I also love A Little Night Music and Sunday in the Park (although I have never been fully satisfied with the first act...I have never liked the 'dog' number, for instance.

Love the score more than the show: Company, mainly due to George Furth's awful script (it was dated when it opened); Merrily...a great score, but the only production I saw, the original, was painfully awful, to the point that I did not even realize the score was good until the CD came out.

HATE, HATE, HATE: Passion (a total bore from beginning to end), Into the Woods (although I largely enjoyed the movie...I get so sick of that title ditty constantly being refrained throughout the show).

[Musical Master]

Posted: 10/7/16 at 2:01am

Actually, Funny Thing was Stephen Sondheim's first musical that he did both the music and the lyrics for. Some people sometimes confuse Anyone Can Whistle as his first.

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 10/7/16 at 3:06am

My father was the sales manager for the Union Pacific Railroad Manhattan office, and as such, often wined and dined customers with dinner and a Broadway show, with my mother along. As such, Mom became very familiar with the music and exposed me to all the music. She loved Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Loewe, Bernstein. She saw Candide during its original run and fell in love with the overture forever.

My poor father was always trying to please my rather domineering mother, usually without success. One night he came home from work with the OBC album of Company. He was pretty confident here because the score had won the Tony award. 

Neither my mother nor myself was familiar with any of the songs. The record went on the Hi-Fi and the first that we heard was a group chanting "Bobby baby, Bobby bubbi." This did not exactly measure up, in our opinion, to "Oh What a Beautiful Morning" or "Some Enchanted Evening." The record got one more play and then went to the rear of the record shelf forever.

In my opinion, Sondheim will be remembered as the lyricist of two shows for which he was not the composer: West Side Story and Gypsy. To  me, there is no shame in this, since both are among the greatest musicals ever produced. Indeed, West Side Story may attract votes as the greatest, with that Bernstein/Sondheim score surpassing anything written by Rodgers, Gershwin or Kern. Indeed the Symphonic Dances hold up to most classical music pieces.

This is just my opinion and I could certainly wrong about Sondheim's place in musical history and I won't be around long enough to find out. In the end it might just come down to "different strokes for different folks."

Updated On: 10/7/16 at 03:06 AM

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 10/7/16 at 3:08am

Duplicate. Delete.

Updated On: 10/7/16 at 03:08 AM

[indytallguy]

Posted: 10/7/16 at 4:44am

OlBlueEyes said: "In my opinion, Sondheim will be remembered as the lyricist of two shows for which he was not the composer: West Side Story and Gypsy. To  me, there is no shame in this, since both are among the greatest musicals ever produced. Indeed, West Side Story may attract votes as the greatest, with that Bernstein/Sondheim score surpassing anything written by Rodgers, Gershwin or Kern. Indeed the Symphonic Dances hold up to most classical music pieces.

This is just my opinion and I could certainly wrong about Sondheim's place in musical history and I won't be around long enough to find out. In the end it might just come down to "different strokes for different folks.""

 

Whether one likes Sondheim's work or not, he is known—and always will be remembered—for far more than this.

 

[broadwaybabywannabe2]

Posted: 10/7/16 at 6:07am

well let me see here...A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC is Sondheim's most perfectly written musical...but my favorite is MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG...and like others this choice for favorite musical changes as i do!

[gypsy101]

Posted: 10/7/16 at 6:12am

musical master, the first musical he wrote the music and lyrics for was Saturday Night, intended for production in 1954 but left unproduced professionally until 1998.

i agree with SNG, the correct answer is all of them. Sondheim has written so many absolutely fabulous musicals it's impossible for me to choose a favorite.