Here, Barbara Cook, despite having never previously appeared in any Sondheim production but the concert version of Follies, shows her massive affinity and admiration for the man by offering one of the greatest showcases his work has ever … [Continue reading]
The Spitfire Grill
This show, like the movie it’s based on, is one of those works that you either absolutely adore, or think is the tritest and most overwrought thing you ever laid eyes on. The original film had several good and even beautiful qualities, but it was … [Continue reading]
The Last 5 Years
The best and most important musical of the 2001-2002 season was not a Broadway show at all, but a tiny two-person off-Broadway production, written by a young composer who has to this date never managed a Broadway hit, but who ranks just behind Adam … [Continue reading]
The Wild Party (Lippa)
And now we come to the other show, based on the same source material and bearing the same title, that, in one of Broadway’s oddest coincidences, opened the same year as the very different musical by Michael John Lachiusa. Oddly, the off-Broadway Wild … [Continue reading]
STUPID MUSIC QUOTE # 10
STUPID MUSIC QUOTE # 10 “Lippa’s…one of these young(ish) composers who are all Sondheim and no tunes. Jason Robert Brown’s another one, though I hear his score to “Honeymoon in Vegas” is surprisingly catchy. Ricky Ian Gordon is one, too. They’re … [Continue reading]
Stupid Music Quote #9
"…Ayckbourn’s painfully precious lyrics—‘I know this night can’t be in vain/The stars hang in God’s daisy chain/And even Mr. Moon’s begun to snore…” (Michael Walsh, Andrew Lloyd Webber: His Life and Works) Misleading quotation to support argument … [Continue reading]
Stupid Music Quote #8
As much as we would like it to be the case, the "bebop" referred to in the title of this tribute album is not the legendary Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles villain (we experienced similar disappointment a few years ago when we picked up No Doubt's Rock … [Continue reading]
Stupid Music Quote #7
So this Phantom, with just as lush music and vastly superior lyrics...best of all, it’s refreshing to hear a Phantom that is musically satisfying and not lyrically pinheaded. (Marc Miller, The Theatermania Guide To Musical Theater Recordings) Of … [Continue reading]