For someone who is a master of words in his lyrics, I don't get why Sondheim would phrase his description of Hammerstein that way. Certainly Hammerstein didn't write in the witty style of Lorenz Hart, but he did his own style successfully and well. For every "lark that is learning to pray" Hammerstein wrote, Sondheim had his own "it's alarming how charming I feel". Hammerstein may not have been ashamed of the former either, unlike Sondheim who is of the latter. Sondheim got a lot of advice, important business introductions and musical theater know-how from Hammerstein, and it just doesn't seem right for him to phrase Hammerstein as having "limited talent", even if he wants to contrast it with the compliment of unlimited soul. He should have done a rewrite.
In acting class, I recall the teacher saying if you want to play someone who is mean, have the objective of "just being really honest". |
