When encountering a fully satisfying musical, it is hard to imagine the difficulties it endured on its way to Broadway. Think of Fiddler on the Roof or Hello, Dolly! – both a shambles in their out-of-town tryouts – or virtually every show by Stephen Sondheim, the musical theater’s pre-eminent composer-lyricist, notoriously slow in completing each score. Such is certainly … [Read more...]
Happily ever after? FAU’s ‘Into the Woods’ takes on the question
In the often lightweight genre of musicals, composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim has tended towards the grim, in shows about a homicidal barber, presidential assassins and America’s opening and despoiling of Japan. Then there is his Grimm musical, Into the Woods, written with his Sunday in the Park with George collaborator James Lapine. Its first act, which interweaves several … [Read more...]