Stephen Sondheim wrote Climb High, an original musical that was the fourth of the "Hammerstein assignments," around 1951, while he was studying with Milton Babbitt. The story was based on one of Sondheim's classmates and involved a college student coming to New York to be an actor. Sondheim got the title from a motto written on one of the staircases at Williams College.
When Sondheim sent his draft to Hammerstein for critique, the first act was 99 pages long and the second was 60. In comparison, the entire script for South Pacific was 90 pages long. Hammerstein circled the page number on page 99 and wrote the word "Wow!" Sondheim managed to get the interest of John Barry Ryan III at the Westport Country Playhouse. Ryan wanted to produce Climb High, and even made a recording of Sondheim singing its songs, but ultimately, the musical was never produced.
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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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