R&H hands down, for it was through “Oklahoma” that transformed the musical from a series of disparate songs strung together with a paper-thin plot, to a full integration of story, music, and dance.

ALW and Sondheim both owe what they are to them (Literally so with Sondheim, for it was Oscar Hammerstein who was his first instructor on the art of writing for the theatre).

“There’s not a tune you can hum,
There’s not a tune to go bum-bum-bum-da-bum.
You need a tune to go bum-bum-bum-da-bum,
Give me a melody!

Why can’t you throw them a crumb?
What’s wrong with letting them tap their toes a bit?
I’ll let you know when Stravinsky has a hit.
Give me some melody!”

The whole show was infantile. They had a good concept (Seasame Street parody). But, once again, the same tired tropes(Gay Republican in this instance) sort of ruin it. As far as the “George Bush” line goes (Only for Now), well, that was put in obviously to get the “Daily Show applause” response, but now has made it entirely dated and stale. My guess is that line will eventually be rewritten in order to get a chance to play better regionally.

You don’t see “Angels in America” being revived much, do you?

I think the problem is Broadway HAS learned a thing or two about it, see my previous post. Because they are relying more on the spectacle or “brand name” recognision (Disney), or regurgitating old pop tunes and repackaging them as a “musical”, they have caused the theatre audiences to become accustomed to expecting this ALL the time. And since these technical shows are very expensive, have priced themselves into a corner.

New composers and writers in the heyday used to have a much better chance of seeing their show make it on the great White Way. It didn’t have to take YEARS for a show to make back it’s investment. And, sadly, even off-broadway is now starting to become overpriced. This is not good for anyone, not even ALW or Sondheim.

But only if you see it in that prism. It’s also been compared to the AIDS epidemic, but again, that prism is one applied by critics. Sondheim himself said that the overall message was working together to overcome a common menace. Though, the second acts of Sondheim-Lapine shows are generally weaker than the first act.

Do also take into account that it’s the LIBRETTIST that sets the tone for the musical, for without it, the music means nothing.

Now, for my take. I like both of them for different reasons. I do think that ALW in later years (post Rice) has relied a little too much on specacle than advancing a plot, and Sondheim, when he gets TOO clever, is when he is his weakest (he’s admitted this himself.) The person who wrote that Sondheim writes “atonal” music obviously does not understand what “atonality” is…but then, some of the best composers (Debussy, Prokoffiev, Stravinsky) have been accused of the same thing. The main complaint about Sondheim is usually that he writes no “hummable” tunes. This is due to his infrequent use of reprises (No slur to ALW, but of course you can hum “Music of the Night” or “Think of Me”…the melodies of both are repeated at least 20 times in the piece.)

I think a great deal of the jealousy against ALW is not so much politics, but because he rose to prominance during the time when Broadway was saturated with “spectacle” British shows that ran forever. This, unfortunately, has affected how new shows come to Broadway…gone are the days of Angels and individual investors, but now muli-million dollar companies have to finance the new shows, hence the shows are “safe” (i.e. guaranteed to run a long time to pay back on the investment), the cycle perpetuates.

Broadway is no longer an reasonably priced entertainment…it costs big money to go see a show, and I think there is where the real resentment is.

I never liked Sondheim’s music, sorry Ms.”Funny Girl”, Barbra!