well, That's Show Biz, 03-26-2023 52 Sondheim Remembered Part 4

Sondheim Remembered part 4

“Well, That’s Show Biz!”

03-26-2023

• You are listening to [station ID]

• 
  

• Welcome to “well, That’s Show Biz!”. I am your host, Jeremy Freedman, and every week I bring you music from Broadway, Movies, and Entertainers along with some anecdotes, information, and commentary all based on a theme.

• 
  

• Today is part 4 of Sondheim Remembered. Part 1 featured his early shows, movies, and a few oddities. Part 2 centered around his shows of the early 70s, Company, Follies, and A Little Night Musics. Part 3 dealt with Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George, and Into The Woods. Today we will focus on Pacific Overtures, Merrily We Roll Along, and his last three shows. There will be a part 5, where we will delve more intimately into his music.

• 
  

• In 1976, Sondheim’s Pacific Overtures opened to mixed reviews. It told the story of Japan’s opening up to western civilization, told from the point of view of the Japanese and staged in Kabuki style with a sort of Japanese style of music. You are going to hear the song “Someone in a Tree” which Sondheim has stated was perhaps his favorite song that he wrote. The song is about different perspectives of the historical event of when Commodore Perry first met with Japanese officials. The first perspective is of an old man remembering how he watched the meeting from a tree outside of the treaty house. Then, his younger 10 yr old self appears and they argue over the details. They are eventually interrupted by a warrior who was hiding under the floorboards who could only hear but not see what was going on. Three different perspectives of an historical event.  Here is Sondheim’s favorite song that he wrote, “Someone in a Tree”.

• 
  

• You just heard “Someone in a Tree” from Stephen Sondheim’s Pacific Overtures as we look at some of Sondheim’s later works on this edition of “well, That’s Show Biz!”

• 
  

• <PSA>

• 
  

• This is part 4 of remembering the works of the late great Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim. Right after his success with Sweeney Todd, Sondheim’s next show was one of his biggest failures, at the time. Merrily We Roll Along premiered in 1981 to terrible reviews. It only played 16 performances. And yet, over the years it has shown great popularity and had many productions including its London premiere in 2000. Sondheim spent 30 years rewriting it and finally in the winter of 2022, a limited run off-Broadway production was mounted to rave reviews. It will transfer to Broadway in the fall of 2023.

• 
  

• Merrily tells the story of a relationship  between 3 friends that changes over the course of 20 years.  But it tells the story in reverse time.  We start off with the tragic break up of the friendship and end with their joyful meeting.

• 
  

• We are going to start off with the song “Old Friends”. Then the act one version of “Not a Day Goes By”. We will then hear “Good Thing Going”. And finally we will hear the finale “Our Time” when the friends first meet.  It is an uplifting song full of hope and yet for the audience who knows how the relationship ends it is all the more tragic.  Here’s “Old Friends” from Merrily We Roll Along.

• 
  

• You just heard “Old Friends”, “Not a Day Goes By”, “Good Thing Going”, and “Our Time” from Merrily We Roll Along as we look back on the later career of composing Legend Stephen Sondheim. They are currently filming a movie version of Merrily, but they are filming it in real time, over the course of the next 20 years. I hope I’m around for the premiere.

• 
  

• Sondheim’s last major original Broadway show was 1994’s Passion which, at 280 performances, was the shortest-running musical ever to win the Tony Award for Best Musical. It was based on an 1869 novel, Fosca, about an obsessive love. We are going to hear two songs from the show “Loving You” and “I Wish I Could Forget You”. There will be a brief break between each song so we can deal with station business. Here’s “Loving You” from Passion.

• 
  

• <Underwriting>

• 
  

• You are listening to “well, That’s Show Biz!” on [station ID]

• 
  

• (“I Wish I Could Forget You”)

• 
  

• You just heard “Loving You” and “I Wish I Could Forget You” from Stehen Sondheim’s Passion. 

• 
  

• Prior to Passion, Sondheim wrote Assassins in 1990, that opened off-Broadway.  It was a semi-review that portrayed historical figures that assassinated Presidents of the United States and analyzed how they reflected the society of their times. In 2007 it was produced on Broadway and won the Tony for Best Revival of a Musical. It is being revives again this year. We are going to hear two songs from it, the first is the “Ballad of Booth” and the second is the reprise of the opening song “Everybody’s Got the Right” which is used as the finale.  I do have to warn you that in the “Ballad of Booth”, Sondheim has Booth sing the ‘N’ word but it is used in an appropriate historical context. Here’s the “Ballad of Booth” from Assassins sung by Neil Patrick Harris from the 2007 revival.

• 
  

• We are listening to part 4 of Sondheim Remembered on this edition of “well, That’s Show Biz!” and you just heard the “Ballad of Booth” and the reprise of “Everybody’s Got the Right” from Assassins.

• 
  

• <Other Show Promo>

• 
  

• <PSA>

• 
  

• If you would like to contribute to future shows, you can send me your theme and song suggestions to wruushowbiz@gmail.com. And if you are enjoying today’s show, please contact the station at WRUU.org and let them know.

• 
  

• We have now reached the final completed show by Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim. Sondheim spent 20 years trying to write the story of the Mizner brothers, entrepreneurs of the early 20th century that created Boca Raton, Florida. The first try was a musical called Wise Guy that was never produced. It morphed into another show called Gold. Later it became Bounce which had a premiere in 2003 in Washington. It’s final incarnation was called Road Show, which opened off-Broadway in 2008. We are going to hear the song “Bounce” from the original Bounce. Then we will hear “Talent” and “The Best Thing That Has Ever Happened” from Roadshow.  Here’s “Bounce”.

• 
  

• You just heard “Bounce” from Bounce and the songs “Talent” and “The Best Thing That Has Ever Happened” from Stephen Sondheim’s final completed show, Roadshow. At the time of his passing Sondheim was working on a musical that his producer claimed to be about 50% complete. I have some epic news to report. i recently found out that Sondheim's final show will be staged this coming September off-Broadway. The show is called "Here We Are".

• 
  

• And that ends part 4 of Sondheim Remembered. There will be a part 5 where we will delve more deeply into Sondheim’s revolutionary thinking and his influences on other composers and performers.

• 
  

• If you would like to assist with future shows, you can send me your theme and song suggestion to wruushowbiz@gmail.com. And please, contact the station at WRUU.org and tell them how much you enjoy the show. See you next week.