I can't remember not knowing his music. I can't remember when I began to sing it. (Long before I was cast in a small role in a high school production of Into the Woods.) Lyrics of his come around consistently in conversation in my family. He's just one of these people whose importance I can't catalogue, and I know they die like everyone else, but it's still loss.
[COMPANY] Stunning surprises! Cunning disguises! Hundreds of actors out of sight! Pantaloons and tunics! Courtesans and eunuchs! Funerals and chases! Baritones and basses! Panderers! Philanderers! Cupidity! Timidity! Mistakes! Fakes! Rhymes! Mimes! Tumblers! Grumblers! Bumblers! Fumblers!
No royal curse, no Trojan horse And a happy ending, of course! Goodness and badness Man in his madness This time it all turns out all right! Tragedy tomorrow Comedy tonight! One, two, three!
The actual song I sang over and over again when I was twelve was "America". Both sides. I heard that argument between the adults in my life all the time, and here it was in a musical. I saw being an immigrant, saw my home community, in the song. And it led me on to so many other discoveries.
Thank you, Mr. Sondheim. For the music, for the poetry, for all the possibilities.
I've seen my favorites of his - Sweeney Todd and Assassins - live, in excellent productions, multiple times each. Some of my very best theatre experiences.
I have two icons with Sondheim quotes at the moment, and I always have at least that many in rotation.
I never imagined I could love any musical as much as anything Sondheim until I heard Hamilton. Now when it comes to musicals, I love Hamilton and Sondheim.
In college, a friend and I used to compete in singing "Not Getting Married Today." I could do the fast parts pretty well. My favorite part is "but by Monday I'll be floating down the Hudson with the other garbage."
I dragged a guy in my graduate class to Assassins, even though he hated musicals; forever after he said "I hate musicals unless they're by Sondheim."
91 years old, sharp and honored and beloved to the end.
I said elsewhere that I was talking to John Chu about Company just the day before Sondheim died. And like: the odds that John Chu and I are talking about some musical within a given week are fairly high, it's what we do. But still. But still, Sondheim was with us always.
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I can't remember not knowing his music. I can't remember when I began to sing it. (Long before I was cast in a small role in a high school production of Into the Woods.) Lyrics of his come around consistently in conversation in my family. He's just one of these people whose importance I can't catalogue, and I know they die like everyone else, but it's still loss.
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*hugs*
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*hugs*
I ended up serenading the cats with "The Ladies Who Lunch."
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I GOT THROUGH ALL OF LAST YEAR!
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. . . that's for those of you who have absolutely no interest in pirates.
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[COMPANY]
Something familiar
Something peculiar
Something for everyone:
A comedy tonight!
Something that's gaudy
Something that's bawdy--
Something for everybody!
Comedy tonight!
[SENEX]
Nothing that's grim
[DOMINA]
Nothing that's Greek
[PSEDOLUS]
She plays Medea later this week
[COMPANY]
Stunning surprises!
Cunning disguises!
Hundreds of actors out of sight!
Pantaloons and tunics!
Courtesans and eunuchs!
Funerals and chases!
Baritones and basses!
Panderers!
Philanderers!
Cupidity!
Timidity!
Mistakes!
Fakes!
Rhymes!
Mimes!
Tumblers!
Grumblers!
Bumblers!
Fumblers!
No royal curse, no Trojan horse
And a happy ending, of course!
Goodness and badness
Man in his madness
This time it all turns out all right!
Tragedy tomorrow
Comedy tonight!
One, two, three!
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One of the lines in regular household rotation!
*hugs*
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The actual song I sang over and over again when I was twelve was "America". Both sides. I heard that argument between the adults in my life all the time, and here it was in a musical. I saw being an immigrant, saw my home community, in the song. And it led me on to so many other discoveries.
Thank you, Mr. Sondheim. For the music, for the poetry, for all the possibilities.
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I am glad he made music you could see yourself in, and beyond.
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I mean, it usually has the virtue of being true, but....
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I have two icons with Sondheim quotes at the moment, and I always have at least that many in rotation.
I never imagined I could love any musical as much as anything Sondheim until I heard Hamilton. Now when it comes to musicals, I love Hamilton and Sondheim.
In college, a friend and I used to compete in singing "Not Getting Married Today." I could do the fast parts pretty well. My favorite part is "but by Monday I'll be floating down the Hudson with the other garbage."
I dragged a guy in my graduate class to Assassins, even though he hated musicals; forever after he said "I hate musicals unless they're by Sondheim."
91 years old, sharp and honored and beloved to the end.
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Damn it all, he should have been immortal.
Does anyone else remember his crossword puzzles? They were as witty as his lyrics. I loved them.
*hugs*
Nine
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Yes.
*hugs*
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