| If / When / How Sondheim's cleverness alienates his audience... | |
| Posted by: GrumpyMorningBoy 01:03 pm EDT 10/09/24 | |
| In reply to: re: super clever lyrics REALLY CLEVER - Musicals54 11:42 am EDT 10/09/24 | |
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| Sadly, though, I really think these FOLLIES rhymes fly at you so quickly that it's almost impossible to take them in on first listening, and that's where I do think Sondheim sometimes fails his audience. You can't read a lyric and savor / ponder it. You have to be able to hear and comprehend it in real time, in the theatre. Of the three, I do think "The Story of Lucy & Jessie" is probably most apropos. "Ah, But Underneath!" is a great idea for a strip tease song... but although I LOVE LOVE LOVE the "Ritz, oh, it's so schizo" line, man... you have to just be 100% clued-in as a listener to catch that. And, have a crispy sharp delivery from whoever's performing. Pivoting, this is actually where I think Lin-Manuel Miranda became a lovely inheritor of the genre advancements that Sondheim developed. Although HAMILTON has more lyrics per minute than any Broadway musical in eons, LMM is quite good at the use of repetition and meter to make sure that whatever's being said can be understood in real time. I saw HAMILTON without having heard any of the score -- the Cast Recording hadn't been released yet -- and I caught pretty much every line, right there in the back of the orchestra. I can't say the same about my first hearing of some Sondheim scores. My first listen to A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC was decades ago, but I remember thinking, half the time, "I'm sorry, but what the heck are you talking about?" Especially: In view of her penchant For something romantic De Sade is too trenchant And Dickens too frantic And Stendhal would ruin The plan of attack As there isn't much blue in The Red and The Black De Maupassant's candor Would cause her dismay The Brontés are grander But not very gay Her taste is much blander I'm sorry to say But is Hans Christian Andersen ever risque? Which eliminates A... Do I know who Guy de Maupassant, Charlotte Bronte, Charles Dickens and Stendahl are? Yes. Have I read them? Yes, read "A Tale of Two Cities," "Jane Eyre" and "The Necklace" in high school. Would I catch that this is who you're singing about within a bedroom trio in Sweden? God no. Obviously, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC is both about (and is aimed at) a certain social class, but when your cleverness is incomprehensible, you risk alienating your audience. I do think Sondheim did that more than many of us want to admit. And that makes folks feel like this wasn't written for them, a very dangerous thing when someone's just paid a whole lotta dough for a ticket. - GMB |
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