For the second of Oscar Hammerstein II's assignments for Stephen Sondheim, in which he was to adapt a play he felt was flawed, Sondheim chose the Pulitzer-Prize-winning verse play High Tor by Maxwell Anderson. Sondheim wrote the music, lyrics and libretto between 1949-50, but never completed the assignment.
Although Sondheim wanted to produce the play at Williams College, he could not get the rights from Anderson, who was intending to make High Tor into a musical himself, with Kurt Weill. Anderson's play did eventually become a musical for television, written by Anderson and Arthur Schwartz starring Julie Andrews and Bing Crosby.
Sondheim's version included the title song and "List a While, Lady."
Discuss this show in Sondheim.com's
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
Explore the rest of the Finishing the Chat Community Forum
 |
|
CD: $13.99
DVD: $25.49
VHS: $19.98
|
Browse additional merchandise...
