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For Sondheim Fans

A few Sondheim thoughts, for Sondheim fans only:

*"Into the Woods" will be at Town Hall in several weeks. So we're looking at three major NYC events in the next year (at least): the Doyle revival of "Assassins," the staged reading of "Woods," and the "Company" import. (I'm not sure if "Company" is confirmed yet, but it seems like it's a given.)

*If Patti LuPone wins a Tony for "Company"--seems like a given--she will be the first actor of either gender to win a Tony Award for a role in "Company." LuPone will also join the august company of Angela Lansbury, the only actor (at present) to have two Sondheim acting Tonys. (Incidentally, Lansbury recently trashed Ethel Merman in an interview. Basically, Lansbury said, "My Rose was better than Merman's, because I'm a real actress." I guess you can say this sort of thing when you reach a certain age.)

*"Into the Woods" is about how a community does and does not work. The song "The Blame" shows what happens when ego gets in the way of forward movement. It shows that one person's decision has repercussions for many, many people. Its theme is echoed in "No One Is Alone": "You move just a finger, say the slightest word....Something's bound to linger, be heard...." One way in which "Into the Woods" is quietly radical: It rips a family apart, then leaves the family in semi-ruins. The grouping we get at the end--Baker, Cinderella, Jack, Red--is a pseudo-family. Spouses have disappeared. People are improvising. This is moving--and it seems even more relevant in 2019 than it was in the 1980s.

*It worries me that Alice Ripley will be playing the Witch. Can she hit all those notes?

*One of the smarter, more sinister moments in "Assassins": "Everybody's got the right to be happy....Everybody's got the right to some sunshine...Not the sun, but maybe one of its beams..." Do we really have this right? We can *pursue* happiness, certainly. In a jaunty number, Sondheim says something about entitlement, American naivete, and grievance. Not your standard Broadway fare.

Obsessed! Mark your calendar for "Into the Woods"!
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