All tagged Merrily We Roll Along
There is always an ongoing discussion about what musicals have the best book, even if the book writers are often given short-shrift for their contributions. A few weeks ago, I reposted a piece that I had written a few years back with my picks in this area. Some of my choices were mutually agreed-upon with my readers (as much as we can agree on anything subjective) while other choices were hotly debated. It was perhaps a few of my omissions that stirred the ire of many of my readers, but I’ll address those I left out in another article down the road (for my public lambasting, no doubt). You know what they say about opinions…
With Bernadette Peters taking the stage as Dolly Gallagher Levi in the Broadway revival of Hello, Dolly!, I thought it would be fun and appropriate to create a compilation of some of Ms. Peter’s finest musical performances on stage, television, and the big screen. Just like the waiters at Harmonia Gardens are ecstatic to have Dolly return to her favorite haunt, we are beyond thrilled to have her back where she belongs in a Broadway musical. I hope you enjoy this tribute to one of Broadway’s finest leading ladies.
The new book Sense of Occasion by theatrical director and producer Harold Prince is a memoir wherein he explores his vast career in theatre starting with The Pajama Game and then brings us up to date with his plans for the future. It is a curious book. For the first half, it is a reprint of Prince’s 1974 biography Contradictions: Notes on Twenty-Six Years in the Theatre, with a page or two at the end of each chapter adding additional reflections and making new observations that only time and distance can make space for. The second half is a continuation of Prince’s story, walking us through all his productions post Candide (1974), giving most of the shows in that section the similar treatment of telling us how they came to fruition. More exciting than the fascinating history itself are Prince’s candid observations and assessments of his own work. He is his own worst critic, but he is also a conscientious man who takes his obligations to artists and audiences seriously.
Stephen Sondheim is perhaps the most revered and worshipped composer-lyricist in the American Musical Theatre, and though he has earned that status with an extraordinary canon of work, certain musicals he has written are obviously better than others. Opinion and personal preferences, of course, play into one’s feelings about his shows. As an experiment to sort out my enthusiasm and criticism of his work, I have ranked Sondheim’s musicals from his worst to his best.
Let the judgment begin…
