Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim
Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim
#1Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim
Posted: 10/20/21 at 5:00pm
Did Arthur Laurents ever publicly compliment a Stephen Sondheim musical where Sondheim wrote the music? If I recall recently in Putting it Together by James Lapine Arthur was not a fan of Sunday. In Mainly on Directing, Arthur says the failure of Wise Guys produced 'more schadenfreude than any in years'.
He then is very careful in his words when he says Steve was the best 'lyricist and collaborator' he had ever worked with (but Steve wasn't just a lyricist for all his work with Arthur). And I guess that implies he probably thought Jerry Herman et al. were better composers.
Did Arthur Laurents actually like Sondheim's work?
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
Updated On: 10/20/21 at 05:00 PM
#2Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim
Posted: 10/20/21 at 5:22pm
Quotes from Putting it Together on Arthur:
Sondheim: "And then there was Arthur Laurents. I think he came with Terrence McNally. We all met afterward. I'm not going to go into that story.....he was, to put it mildly, ungenerous about the show. Terrence liked it a lot. But Arthur...."
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
AnythingYouDo
Chorus Member Joined: 5/28/19
#3Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim
Posted: 10/20/21 at 5:28pm
There may be other examples, but this one comes to mind:
In 1990, Sondheim, who was teaching at Oxford, invited Arthur Laurents and John Weidman to speak to a group of students. Laurents says some complimentary things about Assassins at around 31:18. I suppose it's possible Laurents was merely being diplomatic about the show with both of its writers present, but Laurents was never a diplomat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESjD9nP4Bg8
#4Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim
Posted: 10/20/21 at 7:08pm
When Arthur Laurents was on Theater Talk back in 2009, he talked about how Stephen Sondheim doesn't appear to be as excited for revivals of West Side Story and Gypsy as he normally would be for shows he wrote both music and lyrics for. Michael Riedel then asked Arthur if he considered directing any one of Steve's musicals and if he would've been excited about that. Arthur's response was "Oh, I'm sure he wouldn't." @11:30
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbgYxJnvO9g&t=1261s
ErmengardeStopSniveling
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/20/18
#5Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim
Posted: 10/20/21 at 10:25pm
I remember Arthur writing in one of his books that he didn't feel any of Sondheim's musicals were "warm," with the exception of ALNM. What Arthur actually thought in his mind doesn't really matter, since god forbid he ever compliment someone else's work.
This is from Jesse Green's great 2009 piece about Arthur, "When You’re a Shark You’re a Shark All the Way":
Sondheim held on until a few years ago, when yet another Laurents jab appeared in an article. Sondheim declined to “stir up any goblins” by discussing specifics but said, “It’s not that I don’t talk to him—we have a working relationship. But the friendship is kaput, and we once were really close. I was the last long-term friend of his to say ‘enough already.’ The best part of our relationship was wonderful. He was a joy to write with. It was only when rehearsals started that the trouble began, especially if another director was involved. And he was always a great foul-weather friend: comforting, smart, a good guidance counselor. When I had my first serious love affair and it broke up, I was destroyed, and Arthur was one of the two people who steered me through the shoals. It’s when you’re miserable that he’s at his best. If you’re happy or, especially, successful—watch out. Arthur is the master of the imagined slight. I had the temerity to question some of the things he did to Gypsy when it transferred from City Center to Broadway—oy, was that a mistake. The screaming hasn’t stopped since.”
A Director
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/18/07
#6Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim
Posted: 10/21/21 at 1:11am
Arthur Laurents was an insecure little man. The majority of his Broadway plays did not make it to 100 performances. The Time of the Cuckoo ran the longest with 263 performances. Today, his plays are seldom, if ever, revived.
Yes, he wrote the book for West Side Story, but it's the weakest part of the show. Yes, he wrote the book for Gypsy, but in every production he directed, his goal was to erase the contribution of his collaborators.
IMO, he was jealous of Sondheim's success after they stopped working together.
As for "Mainly On Directing," it should have been called "Mainly Arthur Rants."
#7Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim
Posted: 10/21/21 at 1:24am
There would be no West Side Story without Laurents, so the idea that his was the weakest contribution is ludicrous. Famous anecdote repeated in various settings:
Man: Steven Sondheim saved West Side Story!
Stranger Overhearing: No, Arthur Laurents saved West Side Story.
Man: (turning to him imperiously) How do you know?
Stranger: Because I'm Steven Sondheim.
I'm not great fan of Laurents, but that is one solid book.
Loopin’theloop
Leading Actor Joined: 1/9/18
#8Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim
Posted: 10/21/21 at 7:26am
joevitus said: "There would be no West Side Story without Laurents, so the idea that his was the weakest contribution is ludicrous. Famous anecdote repeated in various settings:
Man: Steven Sondheim saved West Side Story!
Stranger Overhearing: No, Arthur Laurents saved West Side Story.
Man: (turning to him imperiously) How do you know?
Stranger: Because I'm Steven Sondheim.
I'm not great fan of Laurents, but that is one solid book."
A Director did not say that Laurent’s contribution overall was the weakest. His dramaturgy and his vision, yes that was a huge, huge, huge part of the show’s success. That doesn’t alter the fact that the book as written is the weakest part of the show
#9Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim
Posted: 10/21/21 at 9:48am
joevitus said: "There would be no West Side Story without Laurents"
We can't say that's true. Aside from the obvious fact that the score was and remains the sine qua non of the show's success, there is also the matter of Robbins. Can you articulate an argument that Robbins could not have found another book writer to execute his plan successfully had Laurents stormed out on Day One? (Obviously, there were contributions; that's not what this is about.)
#10Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim
Posted: 10/21/21 at 10:30am
I will gladly admit Arthur was often monstrous and a five star bitch, and particularly ungenerous once Steve Sondheim, for lack of a better word, outgrew him collaboratively speaking, but I won’t undermine his contributions to WEST SIDE STORY. It’s not a show I particularly love, but his book is a marvel— packed with action, yet clear and precise. I am not sure anyone writing books to musicals in 1957 could have done that job.
And his pen was aflame writing GYPSY. He never eclipsed that. Sondheim did, and all Arthur could do was shout “for me, for me!” until he died.
#11Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim
Posted: 10/21/21 at 10:42amNow I can’t wait to use “five star bitch.” Thank you.
#12Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim
Posted: 10/21/21 at 10:54am
TotallyEffed said: "Now I can’t wait to use “five star bitch.” Thank you."
Happy to be of service!
Honestly, that NY Mag piece by Jesse Green is very apt. It’s not a hatchet job, either. None of Laurents’ “victims” air out any dirty laundry, and Sondheim is particularly diplomatic and has remained so, even ten years after he died. It must have been very painful to cut him off after so many years.
#13Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim
Posted: 10/21/21 at 10:58am“Five Star Bitch” : The Arthur Laurents Story
#14Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim
Posted: 10/21/21 at 11:03am
Jordan Catalano said: "“Five Star Bitch” : The Arthur Laurents Story"
Credit me in the acknowledgments, darling.
When I watched the Netflix remake of BOYS IN THE BAND last summer, I thought to myself, this must have been what it was like at a party at Arthur Laurents’ house.
#15Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim
Posted: 10/21/21 at 11:06amWho is she? Who was she? Who does she hope to be?
#16Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim
Posted: 10/21/21 at 11:27am
Having felt both Arthur's love and Arthur's venom, I can say that the crux of it is in Sondheim's words "Arthur is the master of the imagined slight." SS told once told a group of us that he loved collaborating with Arthur, but that periodically he and Arthur would not speak for several years.
Each time that would happen, Arthur would say it was because SS had said or done "something unforgivable."
"Which is funny," SS said, "since Arthur says and does unforgivable things to people every day."
Nolan LuPone
Featured Actor Joined: 8/9/21
#17Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim
Posted: 10/21/21 at 11:32am
This reminds of the time where Patti LuPone turned down a role in one of Arthur's flop plays so he yelled at her and banned her from his work. He later completely "forgave" her and offered her the role of Rose in the 2008 revival of Gypsy.
Updated On: 10/21/21 at 11:32 AM
ErmengardeStopSniveling
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/20/18
#18Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim
Posted: 10/21/21 at 11:37am
And as anyone who has spent more than an hour in therapy or psych analysis will tell you, the following quote (from the Jesse Green piece) is supremely unhealthy –– if not uncommon for Laurents' era –– and likely indicates larger mental health issues than just being a narcissistic ass.
even during his time in analysis, he rarely brought up his childhood, despite such ripe figures as an embracing father, a difficult mother, and a sickly sister. “I don’t want to know that maybe there’s something really askew with me,” he says. “It makes it easier to live, I’ll tell you that.”
#19Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim
Posted: 10/21/21 at 11:39am
On another thread, someone linked that old Out Magazine interview with him, in which he made these two characteristically pithy statements about Larry Kramer and Sondheim:
===
Are you still friendly with Larry Kramer?
Not for a moment.
What happened? You'd been friends for so many years.
He's attacked me so much I'm tired of it.
And Sondheim?
We are amicable.
#20Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim
Posted: 10/21/21 at 11:54am
TotallyEffed said: "Who is she? Who was she? Who does she hope to be?"
Ok "Seek Treatment"
#21Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim
Posted: 10/21/21 at 11:54am
I could never forget the time when the West Side Story revival from 2009 appeared and what Arthur Laurents did to it, causing quite a stir around these boards (a funny stir mind you).
#22Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim
Posted: 10/21/21 at 12:02pm
PalJoey said: "Having felt both Arthur's love and Arthur's venom, I can say that the crux of it is in Sondheim's words "Arthur is the master of the imagined slight." Once, in a classroom setting, SS told us that he loved Arthur and loved collaborating with Arthur, but that periodically he and Arthur would not speak for several years.
Each time that would happen, SS went on, Arthur would say it was because SS had said or done "something unforgivable."
SS then paused and smiled ironically. "Which is funny," he said, "since Arthur says and does unforgivable things to people every day.""
Good lord, was Arthur in the room when he said all that?
Oh yes, and there was the article from years ago where he claimed to have entirely fixed WICKED for Schwartz and Holtzman, but no one credits him.
#23Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim
Posted: 10/21/21 at 12:08pm
There’s more unspoken tension in this panel interview than there is in a Pinter a play. It’s a fascinating document.
1965
#24Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim
Posted: 10/21/21 at 12:27pm
Poor Beni Montresor! He looks like he'd rather be anywhere else but there!
#25Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim
Posted: 10/21/21 at 12:54pm
Well, to be honest NO ONE wanted to be there in the first place!
(I like DO I HEAR A WALTZ?, by the way.)
