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| Stephen Sondheim and Mary Rodgers, late Broadway greats, have brilliant last words | |
| Posted by: Charles-McNulty 12:57 pm EST 11/21/22 | |
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| Two theater books sing with the voices of a golden Broadway era. | |
| Link | Stephen Sondheim and Mary Rodgers, late Broadway greats, have brilliant last words |
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| re: Stephen Sondheim and Mary Rodgers, late Broadway greats, have brilliant last words | |
| Posted by: GreatMartin (greatmartin2003@yahoo.com) 01:10 pm EST 11/21/22 | |
| In reply to: Stephen Sondheim and Mary Rodgers, late Broadway greats, have brilliant last words - Charles-McNulty 12:57 pm EST 11/21/22 | |
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| On a personal note I have been trying to get through Rodgers book now for 3 months--what a bore! And Greene's 'footnotes' are irritating! She is nothing but a whiner!!! |
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| re: Stephen Sondheim and Mary Rodgers, late Broadway greats, have brilliant last words | |
| Posted by: Jack1009 07:13 am EST 11/22/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Stephen Sondheim and Mary Rodgers, late Broadway greats, have brilliant last words - GreatMartin 01:10 pm EST 11/21/22 | |
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| Exactly my thought. | |
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| re: Stephen Sondheim and Mary Rodgers, late Broadway greats, have brilliant last words | |
| Posted by: NeoAdamite 04:43 pm EST 11/21/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Stephen Sondheim and Mary Rodgers, late Broadway greats, have brilliant last words - GreatMartin 01:10 pm EST 11/21/22 | |
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| I found it straightforwardly entertaining. She gives praise and criticism evenhandedly and (in my opinion) accurately, and that applies to her own work as well. She doesn't mistake her talent for genius, and doesn't mistake MATTRESS for a masterpiece. She appreciates where she has been lucky, and where not. But there's no point in arguing about taste, I suppose. |
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| re: Stephen Sondheim and Mary Rodgers, late Broadway greats, have brilliant last words | |
| Posted by: jjhbb340 03:20 pm EST 11/21/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Stephen Sondheim and Mary Rodgers, late Broadway greats, have brilliant last words - GreatMartin 01:10 pm EST 11/21/22 | |
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| I felt the same way-could not understand all the acclaim. She's always complaining about something or someone and is quite mean spirited. Does anyone really think Once Upon A Mattress was anything but a mediocre musical at best? At the end,I felt she was bitter about being surrounded by musical geniuses and not having any of their talent. | |
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| re: Stephen Sondheim and Mary Rodgers, late Broadway greats, have brilliant last words | |
| Posted by: ms721 03:25 pm EST 11/21/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Stephen Sondheim and Mary Rodgers, late Broadway greats, have brilliant last words - jjhbb340 03:20 pm EST 11/21/22 | |
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| oh, thank goodness, i wasn't the only one. i checked out the sample on amazon and couldn't even make it through the whole thing. i found her mean-spirited and while i love theater gossip, the "tone" of her book just put me off reading more. | |
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| Mary Rodgers book. | |
| Posted by: Sullivan 01:29 pm EST 11/21/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Stephen Sondheim and Mary Rodgers, late Broadway greats, have brilliant last words - GreatMartin 01:10 pm EST 11/21/22 | |
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| I just received my copy and I am finding the same of what you said. I find it disappointing. And the 'footnotes' more than irrating. | |
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| re: Mary Rodgers book. | |
| Posted by: Zelgo 02:08 pm EST 11/21/22 | |
| In reply to: Mary Rodgers book. - Sullivan 01:29 pm EST 11/21/22 | |
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| I'm reading the book on the Kindle App on my iPad. I'm LOVING it! It's fun, gossipy, and she tells it all. The footnotes are actually a very original addition, IMHO. They give more details about her musings and in a humorous way. |
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| re: Mary Rodgers book. | |
| Posted by: comedywest 05:55 pm EST 11/21/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Mary Rodgers book. - Zelgo 02:08 pm EST 11/21/22 | |
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| I loved it too. the footnotes, which are almost all Jesse's, were worth it. Sometimes they would support a statement; sometimes they would elaborate on it, and sometimes they'd remind me of the narrator in Arrested Development (make fun of Mary's statement). | |
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| re: Mary Rodgers book. | |
| Posted by: Broadwaywannabe 07:25 am EST 11/23/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Mary Rodgers book. - comedywest 05:55 pm EST 11/21/22 | |
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| Count me in as loving it too. The tone reminds me of her young adult books which I read over and over in my youth. She knew everyone in the theater world given the household where she grew up and her career in theater so the book is filled with great anecdotes. The details about her relationship with Sondheim are fascinating. She doesn’t take herself too seriously (including as to her talent or lack thereof as a composer). And I loved the footnotes. Yes, there were some sections that were a little slow but so what. And there is nostalgia in its portrait of a New York City that barely exists (if at all) anymore. | |
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| re: Mary Rodgers book. | |
| Posted by: CCentero 12:12 pm EST 11/26/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Mary Rodgers book. - Broadwaywannabe 07:25 am EST 11/23/22 | |
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| I encourage anyone who stopped reading it (like I did) to pick it up again. Her potshots at her parents are tiresome and I'm not sure that I even like her, but she had a front row seat to at least two incredible creative eras on Broadway that is unmatched. As the above poster relates, she's funny and honest about her failures and doesn't spend any time blaming others or the audience for lacking the sophistication to understand them. A little bit of Green goes a long way: he's not as funny as he thinks he and his editor thinks he is. One leaves with the feeling that Mary herself would have cut his stuff way back. | |
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| re: Mary Rodgers book. | |
| Posted by: Snowgrace 10:45 pm EST 11/23/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Mary Rodgers book. - Broadwaywannabe 07:25 am EST 11/23/22 | |
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| Completely agree with you, & yes, yes,yes, what a joy to hear again the tone which made her young adult books (& THE ROTTEN BOOK, which I memorized at age 5 in the course of having parents read it to me over & over again) such a joy! And agreeing yet again re what a comfort (if a sad one) to have that old NYC theatre world brought back to life for a while. | |
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