Truth be told, it usually takes the occurrence of a slight miracle or the off-chance that the moon be gussied in blue that I would have any such impetus to turn the television set on this day in age. But thankfully I can still intuit, and do pick my moments - and the other evening, I was admittedly in rare form and did in fact switch the telly on and after a good scour through the dials, happened upon one of the many HBO channels that come in bulk form (among the other umpteen hundred networks I have a seemingly pointless subscription for.) One of the reasons I kept my subscription to satellite television was in hopes there would be more subsequent surprises after the televisual redemption that was Johnathan Ames' Bored to Death (2009-2011). Having any interest in that series in itself was a shock to my proverbial system, and yet growing so enamored with it for upon reading about it in it's conception stages, I couldn't get past the torturous tagline a noir-otic comedy,' and yes as you - my lovely readers must be apprised of by now, that to me, the pun is mightier than the sword, but alas. Returning to brass tax - I was absolutely astonished to discover there on one of the several HBO channels was an offering of a Stephen Sondheim documentary/performance piece special titled Six by Sondheim. And since I am in the ol' iron striking mode of being more frank , I will confess that if there is one thing that maketh the earth sway for me in the inimitable way cinema does - it's a Stephen Sondheim musical.
You may recount that I did broach the subject of having a deep admiration for the legendary Elaine Stritch, (yet another soul that makes for the unbearable task of being objective about), in fact it was precisely the Sondheim musical Company that she starred in that inspired my obsession with both the Broadway powerhouses (or is that powerhousi)?. Profoundly was I left inspired, that I went on to pen a musical myself, (any benefactors reading)? (Joking). Back to Stephen - now how on earth does one sum up the world of Herr Sondheim in just eighty-minutes. Only a James Lapine could do that. Yes that Lapine, one of Sondheim's most frequent collaborators.
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| And Seven makes Six... |
Oh yes, if you are wondering about the selections showcased, naturally one of the most poignant numbers of Company was one of the six illustrated here - (ah) Being Alive with George Furth's co-piloting, oh my did this end of Act II number soar - although Mr S. has gone on record deeming the ditty a 'cop-out 'for the 1970 musical's, coda. I so beg to differ, but then again that's probably why my libretto exists only inside of a shoe-box.
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| It's the little things you do together,do together, that make perfect relationships |
And a hundred gold stars for Lapine, for veering away from the traditional bio-pic and documentary, treating us to a day in the life by way of six songs - and peppering it with interweaves of interviews, images and new interpretations of old favorites via the talented tykes; America Ferrara, Darren Criss and Jeremy Jordan. Perhaps it wouldn't cause any such withdrawal symptoms if they edited out Jarvis Cocker's rendition of Follies, 11 o'clock number I'm Still Here, but I'm still a believer - and je ne regrette one second of Six by Sondheim and will undoubtedly give this another watching, it isn't every day you get to be privy to the supernal songsmith crooning one of his canon.
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| He's still here! |
F.Y.I. - HBO has a habit of repeating things like this, if you haven't a HBO subscription please find another way to be privy to this unusual glimpse into the life of the musical theater Colossus that is Stephen Sondheim