Is Stephen Sondheim Overrated???- Page 5
Is Stephen Sondheim Overrated???
TheEnchantedHunter
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/27/05
#100re: Is Stephen Sondheim Overrated???
Posted: 10/22/05 at 9:02pm
But once again, the analogy between Seurat/Van Gogh is an inaccurate one. Sondheim toils COLLABORATIVELY in a populist, commercial medium, the SOLO artists above were dependent upon curators and connoiseurs for their living. A very, very big difference.
Jerusha Bromley
Walpole, Massachusetts
#101re: Is Stephen Sondheim Overrated???
Posted: 10/22/05 at 9:07pm
Sorry my comparison is being lost on you.
Painting isn't a commercial medium?
And do you really think painters paint just for themselves or for curators and connoiseurs? Wow.
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
MasterLcZ
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/12/03
#102re: Is Stephen Sondheim Overrated???
Posted: 10/22/05 at 9:18pm
Yes, but EH, you likened Sondheim to Wagner and I think that's an interesting and apt comparison.
Both were geniuses who went against the popular grain and helped to bring new and exciting drama and darkness to their respective strains of musical theater. And from the start, audiences were greatly divided about them - and both attracted cult followings. They aren't easy to 'get into' but they created the most thrilling music theater of their times.
I love 'em both 
"Christ, Bette Davis?!?!"
nomdeplume
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/20/05
#103re: Is Stephen Sondheim Overrated???
Posted: 10/22/05 at 9:23pm
Is Leonard Bernstein overrated?
Is Mozart?
TheEnchantedHunter
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/27/05
#104re: Is Stephen Sondheim Overrated???
Posted: 10/22/05 at 11:12pm
Sondheim should be happy to get on his knees and kiss the lint on the trailing hem of the nethermost raiment of Bernstein's, IMO.
>>Painting isn't a commercial medium?<<
No, it's not.
>>And do you really think painters paint just for themselves...<<
See above.
Tilde Kooeck
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Updated On: 10/22/05 at 11:12 PM
Guillermo Ugarte
Featured Actor Joined: 9/16/04
#105re: Is Stephen Sondheim Overrated???
Posted: 10/23/05 at 10:52am
I would like to boil this down a little if I may. I believe that Sondheim is a composer that either speaks to you or does not. I know that some people find him too cerebral and some people prefer to listen to just the music and ignore the lyrics, so they miss much of his appeal.
That being said, there are many fans who are snobs and Sondheim would be the last to approve of that attitude. He does, however, appreciate those who really get what he is trying to do and who relate to a lyric or a song, because that is his goal in working with actors and in attempting to connect to an audience. In that regard, I think he is without match in the industry today.
I do not think he is for everyone, nor are the artists many people have mentioned in this thread. But, you need to respect the man's impact on the business and on composition in general. You don't have to relate to him or like him to acknowledge the art. That is your right. The fact is that any kind of art is subjective and the beauty of it all is that we all relate to different things because we are different people.
Hence there really is no one true answer to this question.
"Always smile at your enemies. It will keep them on their toes"
fiatlux
Featured Actor Joined: 3/22/05
#106re: Is Stephen Sondheim Overrated???
Posted: 10/23/05 at 11:15am
">>Do we say the same thing about Shakespeare or Beethoven?<<
No, because Sondheim's works, all told, are not comparable in stature."
That wasn't the argument - the suggestion was made that there should be a moratorium, I was not comparing them. Time will tell if they are indeed comparable.
"A spurious argument. Sondheim has chosen to work in a populist medium, Mozart wrote in an elitist genre for aristocratic and court audiences."
Has (musical) theatre really been that "populist" in the last thirty years - the price of a ticket alone would maintain exclusion for a great many. We're dealing with an equivalent audience who can afford the theatre - and will prefer the certainties of things that they know already rather than gamble on the unknown - especially if it has too many notes.
Updated On: 10/23/05 at 11:15 AM
#107re: Is Stephen Sondheim Overrated???
Posted: 10/23/05 at 2:27pm
Is Sondheim overrated? My answer to this question would be no. I mean, I don't think he is the "god of musical theatre" like a lot of people believe him to be but he has written some great material. That said, I believe that a lot of his fans are the reason people believe he is overrated. Let me explain. There are people on this board (as well as the real world. Wait there is a world outside bww.com? Why, yes there is. )that base every decision regarding musical theatre on whether or not it comes close to matching techniques and so on that Sondheim has established. If every composer was like Sondheim I believe the broadway stage would be a boring place. I like having diversity among what kind of shows are out there (Webber, Kander&Ebb, Sondheim, Jason Robert Brown, etc.) There are people on this board that attack others for liking certain composers but go rampid on that same person if they don't like Sondheim. For me, that is where the frustration lies.
"They're eating her and then they're going to eat me. OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!" -Troll 2
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