It's time for this month's Know the Score! In honor of Stephen Sondheim's and Andrew Lloyd Webber's mutual birthday Friday, we're taking a look at what's great--and not-so-great--about these two very different but very influential music theater composers.
And when you're done watching that, check out my crossover with internet superhero DJSoundbite, as we tackle the mephitic mess that is High School Musical!
Hey! Taylor and Chad have much more in common than their skin color! They have the exact same amount of morals, too. Namely, zero! At least they're portrayed as in the wrong in this one, though; in the sequel, they're still douchebags, yet we're expected to side with them. You should do the whole series!
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I could do the whole thing--mostly because what's wrong with the sequels is about the same as what's wrong with the first one, and I don't want to repeat myself. Look for a related work to come down the pike in a couple months, though.
DeleteI beg to differ that Sondheim isn't good at melody; look at the score of A Little Night Music. And many of the standout songs of his shows have very nice melodies (Johanna, A Little Priest, and Not While I'm Around from Sweeney Todd, No One Is Alone and Children Will Listen from Into the Woods, and others).
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I like some (but not all) Sondheim and some (but not all) Lloyd Webber. I don't know where that leaves me as a musical theatre geek. :-)
Indeed, that was kind of my point--despite the common criticism that Sondheim is unmelodic or what-have-you, he has in fact written some beautiful tunes.
DeleteAs to the second part, it leaves you knowing what you like and comfortable in the fact, which is a very good place to be.