Lad
ies and gentlemen, I present to you Stephen Sondheim, aka the greatest thing to walk the earth since Christ Himself. His music. Is brilliant. Let's see what I can dredge up for you to sample...
ies and gentlemen, I present to you Stephen Sondheim, aka the greatest thing to walk the earth since Christ Himself. His music. Is brilliant. Let's see what I can dredge up for you to sample...A Little Priest, which is generally considered to be his best song. Yeah, it sounds really messed up out of context, but it's from Sweeney Todd, which is definitely the most messed up musical ever. Except Cats. God never intended for Cats to happen.
Getting Married Today, which is MY personal favorite song of his. Check it out, if only just to hear how ridiculously fast it is. I am proud to admit that I can kind of sing it, but I nearly pass out from lack of oxygen and I'm no gifted singer to begin with.
King Sondheim is the all-time greatest, but my current favorites are Kait Kerrigan and Brian Lowdermilk. C'mon, she spells her name as "Kait," not the ultra-played out "Kate." How do you not love them for that fact alone?Well, if that didn't sell ya, might as well hear some of their stuff. (And they are strictly non-musical theatre, for the Broadway-phobes among us.)"Freedom" from the Unauthorized Biography of Samantha Brown, sung by Helene York and Phoebe Strole.
"Not a Love Story" from Tales From the Bad Years, sung by Phoebe Strole.
"Thanksgiving Plan" from Tales From the Bad Years, sung by Nancy Kerrigan, Skylar Astin, Brynn O'Malley, and Phoebe Strole.
"My Life is Over" from Tales From the Bad Years, sung by Brynn O'Malley. I actually freaking hate this song, but it's one of the rare Kerrigan/Lowdermilk videos that does not feature Phoebe Strole.
My third favorites are Kander and Ebb. I'd post a picture of them, but my Google has suddenly and randomly turned to Spanish, and to find a picture I'd have to "Buscar con Google", so you'll just have to imagine what they look like. John Kander writes the music, and Fred Ebb writes the lyrics. They're responsible for shows like Cabaret and Chicago. Up till recently I thought their best show was Chicago, but I'm pulling a Palin and recanting the statement. It's most definitely Cabaret. "Start by admitting/ from cradle to tomb/ it isn't that long a stay..." That's brilliant. That's freaking brilliant. Almost as brilliant as the ending of the recent revival, where the background would split open and the whole ensembled would be standing there in concentration camp uniforms. *shudder* That was chilling even via Youtube.
My fourth favorite composer is whoever wrote the theme song to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. That was a defining moment in television history.
Fifth favorites: Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey. They composed the incredible flop that was High Fidelity, but they hit it big with Next to Normal. I am going to Buscar con Google just to show you how very much I love the poster for this show. It's about a bipolar mother who keeps hallucinating that she is seeing her dead son. Note the shattered head. I actually hated this show, but it did have some good songs. For the record, it was better when it was called Feeling Electric. You know, before they cut the song where she passes out in Costco, aka the best part. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFoR0-gZ-4g&feature=related "Didn't I See This Movie" aka the new best part.
Last one: Joe Iconis. He's the new age of the thee-ay-ter, right up there with Kerrigan and Lowdermilk. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WQIM6sTbt0 "Blue Hair." I love love love this song, almost as much as I hate hate hate Next to Normal. "I'm gonna do what I want to/And I wanna dye my hair blue." Simple, stupid, and ridiculously catchy.
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