More info on the new Sondheim and David Ives musical (UPDATE, 2018)

[ljay889]

http://www.theatermania.com/news/_70233.html

certainly sounds like something Sondheim would write. I'm glad it's still in the works.

[wonkit]

I am happy that Sondheim is writing but this sounds quite grim.

[Jordan Catalano]

The biggest news in that article is that they actually finished the first draft. THAT is exciting.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

I also note that it sounds like they completely abandoned their first attempt at a project, which sounded wholly different from this. Maybe he decided he couldn't fix that idea, which had apparently already seen an early Nineties draft with Terrence McNally doing the book, not that any of the articles about All Together Now at the time made a big deal about it.

[broadwaybabywannabe2]

AWESOME!!...I remember loving 'THE DISCREET CHARM...' when I saw it way back then...while I am not familiar with 'THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL', I soon will be I am sure...here's hoping for the best with this project...one more reason to be a SONDHEIMMANIAC!

[Fantod]

Those movies are now next on my "to watch" list. As for the show, I doubt it will be very good.

[haterobics]

"As for the show, I doubt it will be very good."

Well, at least you're keeping an open mind...

[Fantod]

What can I say? Sondheim's style works for shows like A Little Night Music or Follies, which are big and almost epic. Once he started to work on the weirder shows they weren't as good in my opinion. This seems to be a show closer to Passion than A Little Night Music, so I am less than optimistic. Sondheim's style is different that what it used to be, and I liked it before it changed.

[RippedMan]

It seems strange to cram two movies into 1 act?

[broadwaybabywannabe2]

Rippedman...from all that I have read it does seem that they will be trying to combine aspects of both LUIS BUNEL films into a non-intermission show...not just a one act but one that does not have an intermission...but we shall see what develops...

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

...so one act. Without an intermission, no matter how you divide it in the Playbill, or decide it should go in licensing, it's one act. I guess the experience of Road Show as collage back in 2008 went so well that Sondheim decided intermissions are for plebs. Hey, whatever floats his boat.

[devonian.t]

I think this material plays to his strengths, and surely we recall that one of his greatest works originally ran without an interval over 40 years ago! It's not a recent fad.

I look forward to it- I am optimistic!

[Mr. Musical]

He mentioned that someone else wrote a show too similar to what they were trying to do, so they abandoned it for something totally different.

[Charley Kringas Inc]

Sounds like fun, I can definitely see Discreet Charm leading into Exterminating Angel, and the darkly satiric humor in both seems right up Sondheim's alley (they're both viciously funny films).

[HorseTears]

I'm remaining cautiously hopeful. It's time to move past the monumentally disappointing Road Show.

[RippedMan]

I think the idea sounds intriguing enough, if not all that exciting. But then again Road Show was really enjoyable and that story sounded lame on paper.

[ljay889]

The problem with ROAD SHOW was not Sondheim's score. It is quite a strong score. "Isn't He Something?", "The Best Thing That Ever Has Happened" and "Talent" are easy modern Sondheim classics.

[ljay889]

BTW, This definitely sounds more intriguing than Sondheim and Ives' earlier attempt at a collaboration.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Rialto-Chatter-New-Stephen-Sondheim-David-Ives-Musical-to-be-Based-on-ALL-IN-THE-TIMING-20130226

[qolbinau]

The problem with Road Show was that the subject matter just wasn't that interesting IMO. Even the way Sondheim sometimes describes the show is boring (e.g., if I recall in Sondheim on Sondheim he describes it about two brothers who made a 'minor cultural impact').

Having a new collaborator could be exactly what is needed to write an interesting musical and inspire Sondheim. The last time Sondheim collaborated with a new playwright to write a new musical (excluding revues; revised works such as the Frogs etc.) was 30 years ago. That's a long time.

[Up In One]

Far too little writing from Mr. Sondheim of late, Congress should enact minimum annual song output requirements for our greatest writers. Even his throw aways would be better than much of what has come to the stage these past two decades.

[NoName3]

"He mentioned that someone else wrote a show too similar to what they were trying to do, so they abandoned it for something totally different."

In that case, Exterminating Angel is not a good choice as British composer Thomas Adès is currently at work on a musical adaptation of the same film on commission from the Metropolitan Opera, to be presented in the 2017/18 season.

[ljay889]

How would an opera interfere with this musical at all? Two different mediums. Heck, there was a WILD PARTY on and off Broadway at the same time. This is different.

[Mr. Musical]

"In that case, Exterminating Angel is not a good choice as British composer Thomas Adès is currently at work on an musical adaptation of the same film on commission from the Metropolitan Opera, to be presented in the 2017/18 season."

He actually mentioned this and how he hopes people will use this as an opportunity to see how an opera writer and a musical theatre writer approach the same source material differently.

I think he just didn't want to do a musical that was the same as something else recent.

[NoName3]

The works of Adès that I've heard (and haven't enjoyed) don't conform to traditional ideas of opera and I think would fit more comfortably into the larger umbrella of "musical theater" than "opera." That's personal opinion only. And I was writing specifically in response to the earlier comment that they had abandoned their earlier project because someone else had produced a work based on a similar idea.

ETA I posted the above before reading your reply, Mr. Musical.

[Play Esq.]

NoName...I was actually about to make the same point. (Though I apparently enjoy Ades more than you and find his music distinctly operatic, particularly the Tempest.)

I will say that Sondheim does have an edge re: timing as Ades' opera is not anticipated until, earliest, the 2017/18 season.