In 1968, Jerome Robbins appoached Stephen Sondheim about musicalizing Bertolt Brecht's The Exception and the Rule. Despite his general dislike of Brecht's work, Sondheim agreed to the project because of his admiration for Robbins. After writing a couple of songs, Sondheim realized that the project was just not for him, and asked Robbins if Leonard Bernstein could do the music. Bernstein agreed, but wouldn't do the lyrics, so Jerry Lieber was brought in. After a couple of months, Sondheim was asked back to write lyrics for the production.
By this time, the project was titled A Pray by Blecht. Sondheim agreed to come back only because Robbins had approached playwright John Guare about writing the book. Eight or nine songs were written, and in 1968, it was announced that the play would premier in New York the next year, and star Zero Mostel. However, the project was eventually aborted, and Sondheim never was too happy about his involvement with it.
Songs from the project include "The Year of the..." and "Don't Give It a Thought."
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community forum: Finishing the Chat... ››
“Assassins is about how society interprets the American Dream, marginalizes outsiders and rewrites and sanitizes its collective history. "Something Just Broke" is a major distraction and plays like an afterthought, shoe horned simply to appease. The song breaks the dramatic fluidity and obstructs the overall pacing and climactic arc which derails the very intent and momentum that makes this work so compelling...”
- Mark Bakalor
“I found [the Sondheim Celebration's Company] to be completely delightful. Almost all of the numbers excited and energized me, and most of the scenes were about as pitch-perfect as you can get. I just sat there with a big smile on my face the whole show.
Which is not to say that it is perfect...”
- popcornonmyknees
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