All That Chat - re: Herman's LA CAGE Score Tony

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re: Herman's LA CAGE Score Tony

Posted by:	pierce 02:57 am EDT 04/03/14
In reply to:	re: Herman's LA CAGE Score Tony - perfectlyfrank 02:27 pm EDT 04/02/14

Like Alan, I've never understood the claim that Sunday in the Park with George lacks "heart." I don't know how anyone can listen to songs like "Color and Light," "Finishing the Hat," "We Do Not Belong Together," "Beautiful," "Children and Art," "Lesson #8" "Move On" and the aforementioned "Sunday" and say they lack heart. But then, I could never understand claims (made by some) that Sondheim couldn't write "hummable" songs. Does he write songs that have simple-minded, derivative melodies? No, but that doesn't mean his music isn't hummable. I was out of the country when the 1984 Tony Awards were broadcast, but when I got back a friend of mine (who did watch the awards) seemed distressed by what she considered a disrespectful attitude toward Sunday. I got the impression she didn't like Jerry Herman's statement that the "simple, hummable show tune" was alive and well at the theater where La Cage was playing. Well, I didn't care for the statement myself when I finally watched a tape of the broadcast - not just because it came across as a dig at Sondheim, but also because it didn't show much generosity toward John Kander or David Shire, either. But ultimately, it didn't really matter to me. I thought Sunday in the Park with George was a masterpiece, and I couldn't have cared less whether anyone else shared that viewpoint. And as it turned out, I wasn't the only one who felt that way.

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