As a revue, this show has no actual plot, but songs were chosen with certain guidelines in mind. They would only use music for which Sondheim had written both words and music, and since this was put together in 1983, that meant from Saturday Night through Merrily We Roll Along.
They wanted to feature rare and lesser known songs, and in this aim were quite successful, using many lesser known and cut pieces from Saturday Night, A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum, and The Frogs. Six songs received their New York premiers with this concert: "Invocation and Instructions to the Audience", "Fear No More", "The House of Marcus Lycus", "There's Something About a War", "This is Nice, Isn't It?" and "What More Do I Need?". Lastly, they wanted to feature songs that reveal Sondheim's most romantic, most openhearted side, making this the least "cold" of the various Sondheim compilations.
During the evening, each song was introduced with a very brief narration by the cast members performing it, and these narrations form what "book" there is to the show. As a surprise finale, Angela Lansbury came out unannounced with "accompanist" Stephen Sondheim to sing "Send in the Clowns", and Sondheim himself sang the opening lines of "Old Friends", which closed the show. This concert version was packaged for rental as a revue under the title "You're Gonna Love Tomorrow". The cast recording of the original concert is still called "A Stephen Sondheim Evening", and was released on RCA. A CD version is rare, but available.
- June Abernathy
Show Data
Original Production Info: Opened ................... March 3, 1983 Closed ................. Ran ..................... 2 Performances Theatre .. Sotheby's Park Bernet Gallery Music ................. Stephen Sondheim Lyrics ................ Stephen Sondheim Producer .................. Paul Lazarus Director .................. Paul Lazarus Musical Direction ....... Paul Gemignani ....................... Charles Schwartz ............................ Palmer Wald Musical Supervision ......... Thomas Fay Scenic Supervision ...... Keith Gonzales Lighting Supervision ... Edward Matthews Alt. Title .. A Stephen Sondheim Evening Original Cast: Angela Lansbury Liz Callaway Cris Groenendaal Bob Gunton George Hearn Steven Jacob Judy Kaye Victoria Mallory Stephen Sondheim Musical Numbers: 1. Invocation & Instruction to the Audience 2. Saturday Night 3. Isn't It? 4. Poems 5. What More Do I Need? 6. Another Hundred People 7. With So Little to Be Sure Of 8. Pretty Little Picture 9. The House of Marcus Lycus 10. Echo Song 11. There's Something About a War 12. Fear No More 13. Being Alive 14. You're Gonna Love Tomorrow 15. Love Will See Us Through 16. The Miller's Son 17. Johanna 18. Not a Day Goes By 19. Someone in a Tree 20. Send in the Clowns 21. Old Friends Recordings: 1. Original Cast (2 LP), 1983 (RCA, CBL2-4745) 2. Original Cast (CD), 1994 (RCA, 09026-61174-2) 3. Original Cast (Tape), 1994 (RCA, 09026-61174-4) Secondary performance rights handled by Music Theatre International Articles: 1.
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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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