79 - Sunday in the Park with George
The lads finally finish the hat as they cover James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim’s beautiful, pointillist musical: Sunday in the Park With George. Topics include the complexity of the score, the controversial second act, and the challenge of bringing order to the whole through design, composition, balance, light, and harmony.
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Media Referenced in this Episode:
Sunday in the Park with George by James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim.
“Eight Lines (Octet)” by Steve Reich. 1979.
Look, I Made a Hat: Collected Lyrics (1981-2011) with Attendant Comments, Amplifications, Dogmas, Harangues, Digressions, Anecdotes and Miscellany by Stephen Sondheim. Penguin Random House. 2011.
“Partitions” by Milton Babbitt, 1957.
Putting it Together: How Stephen Sondheim and I Created "Sunday in the Park with George" by James Lapine. macmillan Publishing. 2021.
Reich and Sondheim: In Conversation and Performance. Interview with Frank Rich. Lincoln Center, 2016.
Sondheim on Music: Minor Details and Major Decisions by Mark Eden Horowitz. Scarecrow Press, 2010. Also available on Youtube.
“Putting It Together” Variations
TWOAPW theme by Brendan Dalton: Patreon // brendan-dalton.com // brendandalton.bandcamp.comFeat. David Armstrong as “Stephen Sondheim”
Comments (8)
Been slowly making my way through the TWOAPW back catalogue and this episode was so moving and so excellent. Stunning tribute both to a beautiful musical and to all the joy and disappointment inherent in “the art of making art.”
2 hours 9 minutes in and no mention of how Putting It Together influenced the song Art Of The Dress in My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic!! that's basically the first place i heard it
Well, I'm late to this one, but this episode not only made me want to watch the show, but it also made me genuinely curious to try out some more musical theater. It's never been a form that's drawn me in much, in part because in my head it was all basically Cats, which fell pretty far into the "not my thin" bucket. Hearing about this show and the feelings it brought out in people made me understand what other people see in musicals, and now I think I'll check out more.
wondering intently if any of the worsts of all possible are joanna newsom fans
My favorite podcast by two guys and one cardboard cutout full of personality.
Why does 2:06:00 sound like an anime op
petitioning barbra for a cover of cruel angel's thesis
i will admit my craft pedantry but nevertheless i was unreasonably upset by the slapdash editing in the ethan allen version of "putting it together" where the audible splicing between vocal takes disrupted the way sondheim tumbles from idea to idea. that guy waited 20 years to license "putting it together" just for it to not be put together