What Is A Lover?

No doubt that book all lovers of theater - musical theater, specifically - will want this year. This is typical Stephen Sondheim "Finishing the Hat" (Knopf), an irresistible collection of (to quote the subtitle of the book) "lyrics collected (1954-1981), with comments Operator of Principles, heresies, grievances, complaining and anecdotes. "
Is not it rich?
The book would be of great value if it contains only letters, because Sondheim is the most consistently brilliant images, emotion and rhyme that has graced a Broadway show. But there's more. Large chunks of dialogue are included, providing the context for the texts of the songs.
And for the icing on the cake layers, there is no running commentary from Sondheim - explanation of how he came to the words and phrases, analysis of how each show is gathered, how and why the songs worked or not work in their respective scenes, tons of backstage stories, including descriptions of the pencils Sondheim uses when writing.
You come away understanding aspects of the development of a line that you may never have considered. They also come away, of course, with an understanding of what makes Sondheim Sondheim.
The most fun in the book - fun bad, actually - and you can have the author's comments on fellow songwriters. Just love the brutal honesty, but Sondheim deflates one of his favorites in the process.
LOL it was time for me when I read your opinion and Oscar Hammerstein"You have to be carefully Place" in "South Pacific":
... There is a lack of surprise fervent thoughts of Hammerstein, as evidenced by his need to explain things with persistent insistence, as in: "You have to teach before it's too late, / Before you are six or seven or eight "I always feel like asking, 'How about five or nine or 13 years?"
He points fatal in a "bright canary yellow" heaven and a lark "praying", too.
Then there is "widespread laziness," Lorenz Hart poor as when making a
sacrifice meaning for rhyme. "His appearance is laughable, / Unphotographable 'Unless the object of affection of the singer is a vampire, it probably means is that Hart" photogenic ". Only vampires are unphotographable.
Sondheim gets too rough, too, with Porter, Coward and WAS Gilbert. Ira Gershwin just get out unscathed, either. I guess some people willing to discuss the author in one or more of these reviews, but I bet that Sondheim would be victorious every time. After all, the opinions in "Finishing the Hat" is delivered by the voice of authority.
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