"I wonder now if he's more interested in quality control than he was before. I certainly know that when I bring friends who don't know and already love a show to see a mediocre or bad production, they don't usually give it another chance, that is their one and only chance to appreciate or love it. When I brought my mom to the Roundabout Follies I was so frustrated because it would be her only chance to see it on stage. The point is, approving mediocre or misguided productions that don't sell what's amazing about the show properly (or worse, undermine what's amazing about it) does a lot of harm, just as having the show revived can do a lot of good in terms of exposure, relevance, new audiences, etc..."
Do you remember the statement/response in the press between Sondheim and Todd Haimes over the size of the orchestra for the Roundabout revival of SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE? Link to the original NY Times article below, and here is a quote from that article, followed by an excerpt from Sondheim's response. Perhaps this sheds some light on the Sondheim/Roundabout relationship.
HAIMES QUOTE IN THE TIMES:
What happened? Were the producers too cheap to allow six more instruments into the theater? “It was part of a particular artistic concept the director had,” said Todd Haimes, Roundabout’s artistic director. “The show had been in a small theater in London. Then when it came over here, Steve Sondheim was asked if he was happy with the way it sounded. He said yes, so there was never a discussion about increasing the size. If he had said, ‘No, it can’t come to New York unless there are 11 musicians,’ we probably would have accommodated that.”
QUOTE FROM SONDHEIM'S RESPONSE, IN A LETTER TO THE TIMES:
Like everybody else, as Ms. Elliott reports, I deplore the downsizing of orchestras, but I understand the economics. If I had thought for one minute that Roundabout, a nonprofit company, could afford 11 players for the revival of “Sunday in the Park With George,” I’d have asked for them. After reading in Ms. Elliott’s article that Todd Haimes, the company’s artistic director, would have given them to me, I’ll know better the next time we work together (which, I hasten to add, I hope will be soon). |
