STAGE TO SCREENS: "Good Thing Going: Celebrating Sondheim at 75," The Museum of Television & Radio Tribute
By Michael Buckley
13 Mar 2005
April 12-17, "A Waltz . . . and a Master Class," 120 minutes. Barbara Cook, in a 2002 "NewsHour" segment, discusses Sondheim and sings "Send in the Clowns" and "Anyone Can Whistle"; Zero Mostel sings "Comedy Tonight" at the 1971 Tonys; a 1965 edition of "The American Musical Theatre" with Richard
Rodgers, Elizabeth Allen and Sergio Franchi (co-stars of Do I Hear a
Waltz); a 1965 "Camera Three," with Sondheim, Arthur Laurents and
designer Beni Montresor; and the 1984 "South Bank Show" entitled "Sondheim: A Master Class."
April 19-24, "In Comes Company," 200 minutes. Carol Burnett, Eileen
Farrell and Marilyn Horne sing "You Could Drive a Person Crazy"; the 1970
DA Pennebaker documentary about the session of the Sondheim-George Furth musical; and Sam Mendes' 1996 Donmar Warehouse London production of Company, starring Adrian Lester as Bobby.
April 26-May 1, "Follies," 170 minutes. Alexis Smith sings "The Story
of Lucy and Jessie" at the 1975 Tony Awards; Yvonne DeCarlo does "I'm Still
Here"; a clip from a 1977 "Saturday Night Live" features a rendition of
"Broadway Baby" by Lily Tomlin, Gilda Radner, Jane Curtin and Laraine
Newman; a 1971 "David Frost Show" has Sondheim, librettist James Goldman,
Harold Prince and the original Follies leads; and the 1985 PBS
"Great Performances" presentation of Follies in Concert, starring Lee
Remick, Barbara Cook, Elaine Stritch, Carol Burnett, Mandy Patinkin, George
Hearn and Phyllis Newman.
May 3-8, "Night Music and June Moon," 170 minutes. D'Jamin Bartlett singing
"The Miller's Son"; Glynis Johns and Len Cariou perform "Send in the Clowns"
from 1982's "The Best of Broadway"; a 45-minute sequence form Britain's
"Pebble Mill" devoted to the 1996 Royal National Theatre production of the
Sondheim-Hugh Wheeler musical, starring Judi Dench; filmmaker Hart Perry's
1973 13-minute "Sondheim: A Musical Tribute," concerning the one-night
Broadway benefit, and his TV commercial for A Little Night Music; and
the 1974 "Theater in America: June Moon," starring Jack Cassidy and Susan
Sarandon, and featuring Sondheim's acting debut.
May 10-15, "
Pacific Overtures and the Creative Process," 160 minutes. Sondheim and librettist John Weidman appear on a 1976 "Camera Three" episode, "Anatomy of a Song," which features cast members performing "Someone in a Tree"; a 1984 Sondheim interview for "The MacNeil/Lehrer Hour," in which he discusses the creative process; and the complete 1976 Japanese-TV presentation of
Pacific Overtures, which never aired in the U.S.
May 17-22, "Side by Side . . . The South Bank Show," 190 minutes. Two 1977
episodes of "The Mike Douglas Show" that were devoted to Side by Side by
Sondheim; 1977's "Previn and the Pittsburgh: Stephen Sondheim,"
featuring Millicent Martin, Julia McKenzie and David Kernan; and a 1980
"South Bank Show: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street: Scenes from the Making of a Musical," with Denis Quilley, Sheila Hancock, Harold Prince and Sondheim, who talks about writing the songs "The Worst Pies in London" and "God, That's Good."
May 24-29, "Exclusively Sweeney," 145 minutes. Included are a 1979 TV
commercial for Sweeney Todd, and the 1982 telecast of the musical,
starring Angela Lansbury and George Hearn.
May 31-June 5, "Sundays with George," 200 minutes. The 1990 BBC "Omnibus" documentary, "Sunday in the Park. . .with Stephen," which focuses on Sondheim as a visiting professor at Oxford and the Royal National Theatre production of Sunday in the Park with George; the 1986 "American Playhouse" presentation of the Sondheim-James Lapine musical, starring Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters.
June 7-12, "60 Minutes. . .Into the Woods," 170 minutes. A 1988
Sondheim "60 Minutes" interview with Diane Sawyer, and the 1991 "American
Playhouse" presentation of the Sondheim-Lapine musical, starring Bernadette Peters, Joanna Gleason and Chip Zien.
June 14-19, "A Ballad and Passion," 185 minutes. Henry Goodman and
Anthony Barclay perform "The Ballad of Guiteau" from the 1992 London
production of Assassins, on the 1993 Olivier Awards; a 1994 "Charlie
Rose" interview, in which Sondheim discusses his relationships with his
mother, his mentor Oscar Hammerstein, and Passion; the 1996 "American Playhouse" presentation of the Sondheim-Lapine musical, starring Donna Murphy, Jere Shea and Marin Mazzie.
June 21-26, "Celebrating Sondheim . . . Inside the Actors Studio," 150 minutes. A 1992 Sondheim tribute at Carnegie Hall includes performances by Bernadette Peters, Liza Minnelli, Glenn Close, Betty Buckley, Madeline Kahn and Patti LuPone; a 1995 edition of the James Lipton interview show has the host asking Sondheim his favorite curse word, and features performances by Liz Callaway and Jim Walton.
June 28-July 3, "Stop the Presses," 120 minutes. The 2004 "Times Talks" with Sondheim and Barbara Cook is paired with the 2000 German documentary (in English) that features musical clips and comments from (among others) Elaine Stritch, Milton Babbitt, Paul Gemignani, Arthur Laurents, Harold Prince and the subject himself.
The Museum of Television & Radio is throwing quite a party, and all are
invited to attend.
***
I'm sure that everyone wishes Stephen Sondheim a Happy 75, and many more
productive years to follow. We can never fully thank him for the lyrics and
music that have enriched the musical theatre and our lives.
***
Michael Buckley also writes for TheaterMania.com, and is the author of the
book "Between Takes (Interviews with Hollywood Legends)," to be published
later this year.
