| They cut what made Sondheim cry in 1945 (with an added edit) | |
| Last Edit: AlanScott 12:58 am EST 12/31/24 | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 12:40 am EST 12/31/24 | |
| In reply to: re: CAROUSEL question - theatreguy40 01:42 am EST 12/29/24 | |
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| From the interview with Frank Rich in the Sunday Times magazine section. when he remembers attending the opening night of Carousel in New Haven: "Sondheim lights up when I ask him if he remembers the first opening night he ever attended, because it is a show Hammerstein wrote with Richard Rodgers: 'New Haven! 'Carousel'! It was a seminal experience of my life. I was completely overwhelmed.' Sondheim and Hammerstein's son Jamie, both turning 15, were taken as a double-birthday treat to the pre-Broadway premiere. The first song from the show that Sondheim mentions is not 'If I Loved You' or 'June Is Bustin' Out All Over,' but the sorrowful 'What's the Use of Wond'rin',' in which the heroine rendingly predicts that the ending of her love affair 'will be sad.' And the first character he recalls is not among its leads, but the hoodlum villain, a misfit and outcast named Jigger. 'I remember how everyone goes off to the clambake at the end of Act One and Jigger just follows, and he was the only one walking on stage as the curtain came down. I was sobbing.' The teenage Steve hugged Hammerstein's wife, Dorothy. 'She had a specific fur stole that she wore to every opening of Oscar's for good luck, and I cried so heavily I stained it.'" Btw, while Sondheim's 15th birthday was that day, Jamie's 14th birthday was the following day. Anyway, whoever cut the end of the act understands little or nothing about dramatic structure. Also, there is important info in the remainder of the act as written. Is it crucial? No. But important? Yes. EDIT: I should add that, according to the published script, Julie and Billy exit together, with Jigger trailing behind. So, as Sondheim remembered, Jigger is alone. I'm pretty sure that is also in the licensed script, which i have a physical copy of here somewhere, but I can't find it right now. |
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