Is Stephen Sondheim Overrated???
Is Stephen Sondheim Overrated???
#0Is Stephen Sondheim Overrated???
Posted: 10/21/05 at 3:14amwhat do u think?
"People have their opinions and that doesn't mean that their opinions are wrong or right. I just take it with a grain of salt because opinions are like as*holes, everyone has one".
-Felicia Finley-
Jazzysuite82
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/6/05
#2re: Is Stephen Sondheim Overrated???
Posted: 10/21/05 at 3:25amNo, he deserves every bit of praise he has gotten. Name one person who has been as big an influence on musical theatre. Name one person who has had as long and artistically successful career in musical theatre.
Chrysanthemum62001
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/14/04
#3re: Is Stephen Sondheim Overrated???
Posted: 10/21/05 at 3:29am
You are being sarcastic, right? RIGHT?
"What a mystery this world. One day you love them and the next day you want to kill them a thousand times over." The Masked Bandit in THE FALL
Updated On: 10/21/05 at 03:29 AM
BrdwyBnd2005
Understudy Joined: 6/4/05
#4re: Is Stephen Sondheim Overrated???
Posted: 10/21/05 at 3:32amYES. Sorry. I like the guy, but c'mon... he's Sondheim, not God.
#5re: Is Stephen Sondheim Overrated???
Posted: 10/21/05 at 3:35amSo, who is better than Sondheim then? Who does deserve more praise?
#6re: Is Stephen Sondheim Overrated???
Posted: 10/21/05 at 3:45amchill out!!! i am just wondering what people think...i did not state a thing!!! please...these people are angry on here!
"People have their opinions and that doesn't mean that their opinions are wrong or right. I just take it with a grain of salt because opinions are like as*holes, everyone has one".
-Felicia Finley-
#7re: Is Stephen Sondheim Overrated???
Posted: 10/21/05 at 3:49am
Then don't be blasphemous by even suggesting such a thing! 
#8re: Is Stephen Sondheim Overrated???
Posted: 10/21/05 at 3:50amand to respond your question jrb i prefer Kander& Ebb. But i was not saying Sondheim is not talented or anything. Why are these people so angry ...seriously?
"People have their opinions and that doesn't mean that their opinions are wrong or right. I just take it with a grain of salt because opinions are like as*holes, everyone has one".
-Felicia Finley-
#9re: Is Stephen Sondheim Overrated???
Posted: 10/21/05 at 3:51am
"Name one person who has had as long and artistically successful career in musical theatre."
Richard Rodgers
I don't think Sondheim overrated, because he is a truly gifted composer. I just don't think he is the be-all and end-all of musical theater that some individuals make him out to be.
Like a firework unexploded
Wanting life but never knowing how
Wanting life but never knowing how
PJ
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#10re: Is Stephen Sondheim Overrated???
Posted: 10/21/05 at 3:52amMr. Sondheim is absolutely worthy of every ounce of praise he has ever received.
#11re: Is Stephen Sondheim Overrated???
Posted: 10/21/05 at 3:54amWe are all going to have our preferences--of course. And, you are right that this isn't something to get angry about. But, at some point, certain people's greatness in the history of theatre become fact. Shakespeare's greatness is a fact. Ibsen's greatness is a fact. Williams' greatness is a fact. Sondheim's greatness is a fact. So, that might be why people get frustrated because the question may seem silly.
#12re: Is Stephen Sondheim Overrated???
Posted: 10/21/05 at 3:57amI LOVE Rodgers, particularly with Hammerstein. But, Sondheim has had a longer career and I dare say impact. But, If anyone would be in competition to argue that, it would indeed be R&H---they did create the foundation of plot driven musical theatre, creating some of the greatest musicals ever.
#13re: Is Stephen Sondheim Overrated???
Posted: 10/21/05 at 5:40am
And Hammerstein's legacy includes Sondheim, so definately R&H are up there.
Sondheim is by no means overrated. Not one of his musicals has been critically acclaimed, but he deserves every award he has received, and more. Some of his best shows walked away without any Tonys, or the Tonys they received had nothing to do with their brilliant scores...
#14re: Is Stephen Sondheim Overrated???
Posted: 10/21/05 at 6:45amno, neither SOndheim or R&H are overrated
~And let us try, before we die, to make some sense of life~
ashley0139
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/3/05
#15re: Is Stephen Sondheim Overrated???
Posted: 10/21/05 at 7:19am
"Name one person who has had as long and artistically successful career in musical theatre."
Richard Rodgers
Man, beat me to it. That was my first thought. Now, I definetly like Sondheim better- I'm not a huge fan of R&H, however, I do think they may have had more of an impact. But I do not think Sonheim is overrated AT ALL!
"This table, he is over one hundred years old. If I could, I would take an old gramophone needle and run it along the surface of the wood. To hear the music of the voices. All that was said." - Doug Wright, I Am My Own Wife
Smaxie
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/26/05
#16re: Is Stephen Sondheim Overrated???
Posted: 10/21/05 at 7:58am
>Not one of his musicals has been critically acclaimed<
That's not true. Although a lot of his shows have opened to mixed reviews, the original productions of A Little Night Music and Sweeney Todd opened to nearly unanimous raves.
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.
fiatlux
Featured Actor Joined: 3/22/05
#17re: Is Stephen Sondheim Overrated???
Posted: 10/21/05 at 8:04am
I don't think he's overated. I think there is a tendency of some fans (and I count myself as a fan) to be dismissive of other writers in musical thetare, on his behalf - which is not helpful at all.
I do dispute the statement that "Not one of his musicals has been critically acclaimed", which is manifestly not true - but I think we can say that he can polarize their reaction.
This Sunday there will be a gala in London to celebrate Sondheim's 75th and there was an opinion piece in the Daily Telegraph which sums up my feelings on the subject:
Capital Show for Sondheim at 75
MasterLcZ
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/12/03
#18re: Is Stephen Sondheim Overrated???
Posted: 10/21/05 at 8:11am
"But, at some point, certain people's greatness in the history of theatre become fact. Shakespeare's greatness is a fact. Ibsen's greatness is a fact. Williams' greatness is a fact. Sondheim's greatness is a fact."
All true. But not all of Shakespeares plays are equally great. Not all Rembrandts are masterpieces. And though it is heresy to suggest it here, I think that will similarly follow with Sondheim.
"Christ, Bette Davis?!?!"
Updated On: 10/21/05 at 08:11 AM
MasterLcZ
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/12/03
#19re: Is Stephen Sondheim Overrated???
Posted: 10/21/05 at 8:11am
I do think that if there is a problem with Sondheim is that he has set so high a standard of consise, emotional and adult lyric writing that it is very difficult for any up-and coming musical theatre writer to find their own voice.
"Christ, Bette Davis?!?!"
Updated On: 10/21/05 at 08:11 AM
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#20re: Is Stephen Sondheim Overrated???
Posted: 10/21/05 at 8:15am
It's not that Sondheim is overrated. He is a musical genius, and, like so many of us, I hold his work in high esteem. He is a far, far better lyricist, however, than as a composer, in my opinion.
The problem, I believe, is more that Sondheim is overexposed at this point. Producers, at every level--community, regional, off-Off Broadway and Broadway--want to appear on the cutting edge, but they really don't want to take risks. A Sondheim show gives the majority of these producers the cache of producing "art," while minimizing their risk, as compared to actually introducing new work from underexposed musical creators. It's called show "business" for a reason.
I'm all for Sondheim musicals, but I believe there should be a moratorium, or at least a slowing down of the number of productions, to avoid the redundancy and overexposure.
Overrated? No. Overexposed? Yes.
#21re: Is Stephen Sondheim Overrated???
Posted: 10/21/05 at 8:21amHe is absolutely not overrated.
"I don't really get the ending,all i can go with is when after several months,Judith saw Pat sang,and later she kissed him on the toilet,after that the story back to where Pat went down from the stage after he'd sung,and he went to the italian lady.I just don't get it,what Judith exatcly meant when he kissed Pat that she had seen,and did Pat end up together with The Italian Lady?Please help me,thank u very much!"
Quote from someone on IMDB in reference to a movie he/she didn't understand. Such grammar!
MasterLcZ
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/12/03
#22re: Is Stephen Sondheim Overrated???
Posted: 10/21/05 at 8:23am
Excellent point, José. I totally agree.
In some ways, Sondheim has become almost a catch-phrase for "musical sophistication" the way Cole Porter was fifty years ago.
Since then, Porter has be re-evaluated. Some of his songs have stood the test of time and a fair number of them have not. And I actually think Porter is now verging on being UNDERrated.
As great as Richard Rogers is, I overdosed during his centennial. If I heard "Bewitched" one more time that year I thought I would scream.
"Christ, Bette Davis?!?!"
Updated On: 10/21/05 at 08:23 AM
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#23re: Is Stephen Sondheim Overrated???
Posted: 10/21/05 at 8:23amMaster has spoken wisely, and I agree.
fiatlux
Featured Actor Joined: 3/22/05
#24re: Is Stephen Sondheim Overrated???
Posted: 10/21/05 at 8:32am
"I'm all for Sondheim musicals, but I believe there should be a moratorium, or at least a slowing down of the number of productions, to avoid the redundancy and overexposure."
Do we say the same thing about Shakespeare or Beethoven?
I'm not sure that is a very cogent argument - a moratorium is a form of censorship, which I would be very much against. Producers are driven by an economic impetus more than the cachet of appearing at the cutting edge of art - if there is too much product in the marketplace a producer or theatre company is not going to saturate it further unless the product has definite USP's - I would tend to look to market forces to guard against overexposure.
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