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Last broadcast on Mon, 26 Jul 2010, 12:00 on BBC Radio 3 (see all broadcasts).
Synopsis
As part of his 80th birthday celebrations, Broadway legend Stephen Sondheim looks back over his life and work, with Donald Macleod. The result is a fascinating retrospective of half a century of creativity, with the artist himself as tour guide. Along the way, he explodes a few myths about the inner workings of musical theatre.
In the first of the week's programmes, Sondheim talks about his childhood, his parents' divorce, his near-adoption by the Hammerstein family and his apprenticeship with Oscar Hammerstein, the lyricist of Oklahoma! Then there's the rollercoaster ride of his early career: his first, abortive Broadway show; two amazing breaks, when he was commissioned to write the lyrics for first West Side Story, then Gypsy; his unhappy collaboration with Richard Rogers; and his major creative breakthrough with Company, a musical with situations and characters but no conventional plot, and the first appearance of characteristic Sondheim subject-matter - the virtual impossibility of forming good relationships. As one British critic observed, "It is extraordinary that a musical, that most trivial of forms, should be able to plunge as Company does, with perfect congruity, into the profound depths of human perplexity and misery.".
Music played
Timings are shown from the start of the programme in hours and minutes.
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Stephen Sondheim
— Pretty Little PicturePerformer: Stephen Sondheim (pno & vox)
PS Classics PS-9529, 2 -
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Stephen Sondheim — Pretty Little Picture
Performer: Zero Mostel (Pseudolus) Performer: Brian Davies (Hero) Performer: Preshy Marker (Philia)
Angel ZDM 7 64770 2, 6 -
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Stephen Sondheim — What More Do I Need
Performer: David Campbell (Gene) Performer: Lauren Ward (Helen) Performer: Clarke Thorell (Hank) Performer: Andrea Burns (Celeste) Performer: Rachel Ulanet (Mildred) Performer: Natascia A. Diaz (Florence) Performer: Christopher Fitzgerald (Bobby) Performer: Michael Benjamin Washington (Ted) Performer: Kirk McDonald (Artie) Performer: Greg Zola (Ray) Performer: Joey Sorge (Dino) Performer: Michael Pemberton (Clune) Performer: David A. White (Lieutenant)
Nonesuch 7559-79609-2, 20 -
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Jule Styne — Everything’s Coming Up Roses (lyrics by Stephen Sondheim)
Performer: Ethel Merman (Rose)
Columbia CK 32607, 12 -
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Stephen Sondheim
— Free
Performer: Zero Mostel (Pseudolus) Performer: Brian Davies (Hero)
Angel ZDM 7 64770 2, 4 -
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Stephen Sondheim — There’s Always a Woman
Performer: Madeline Kahn (Cora Hoover Hooper) Performer: Bernadette Peters (Fay Apple) Performer: American Theatre Orchestra Performer: Paul Gemignani (cond)
Columbia CK 67224, 25 -
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Richard Rodgers
— Do I Hear a Waltz (lyrics by Stephen Sondheim)Performer: Elizabeth Allen (Leona Samish)
Sony SK 48206, 12 -
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Mary Rodgers — The Boy From … (lyrics by Stephen Sondheim)
Performer: Millicent Martin Stuart: Pedlar (pno)
RCA 1851-2-RG, CD 2 track 8 -
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Stephen Sondheim
— Company
Performer: Dean Jones (Bobby) Performer: Company
Sony SK 65283, 1 -
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Stephen Sondheim — The Little Things You Do Together
Performer: Elaine Stritch (Joanne) Performer: Company
Sony SK 65283, 2 -
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Stephen Sondheim — You Could Drive a Person Crazy
Performer: Donna McKechnie (Kathy) Performer: Susan Browning (April) Performer: Pamela Myers (Marta)
Sony SK 65283, 4 -
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Stephen Sondheim — Getting Married Today
Performer: Beth Howland (Amy) Performer: Steve Elmore (Paul) Performer: Teri Ralston (Jenny) Performer: Company
Sony SK 65283, 8
Broadcasts
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Mon 22 Mar 201012:00
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Mon 22 Mar 201022:00
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Mon 26 Jul 201012:00
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