Evening Primrose
August 14, 2021 11:30 AM Subscribe
Stephen Sondheim is mostly known as a musical theater composer, but he did do one project for television -- Evening Primrose [Wikipedia]. A musical Twilight Zone-is story in which Norman Bates falls in love with Liesl Von Trapp while living in a department store, the story is full of outdated gender roles, but some really beautiful songs. It's available on YouTube. [50m]
Oooh I can't wait to watch this. Evening Primose was also produced by Escape for radio in 1947.
posted by Calzephyr at 4:05 PM on August 14, 2021
posted by Calzephyr at 4:05 PM on August 14, 2021
There is also a VASTLY superior DVD release, if you’re interested in a version that wasn’t pirated from reel-to-reel or whatever
posted by fontgoddess at 12:07 AM on August 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by fontgoddess at 12:07 AM on August 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
The version of "I Remember" sung by David Kernan on Side by Side by Sondheim, I always find deeply moving, so I'm looking forward to this. Thanks for posting.
posted by the sobsister at 8:25 AM on August 15, 2021
posted by the sobsister at 8:25 AM on August 15, 2021
... Is there any Sondheim that isn't full of deeply outdated gender roles? Just curious.
posted by humbug at 11:33 AM on August 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by humbug at 11:33 AM on August 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
... Is there any Sondheim that isn't full of deeply outdated gender roles? Just curious.
Into The Woods has the Baker's Wife insisting that she take on a fair share of the tasks given to them by the witch to undo the curse, and at one point the Baker is forced to admit that having her assistance makes the job easier than doing it alone.
The Baker is pretty full of outdated gender roles, but the show itself is not.
posted by hippybear at 11:46 AM on August 15, 2021
Into The Woods has the Baker's Wife insisting that she take on a fair share of the tasks given to them by the witch to undo the curse, and at one point the Baker is forced to admit that having her assistance makes the job easier than doing it alone.
The Baker is pretty full of outdated gender roles, but the show itself is not.
posted by hippybear at 11:46 AM on August 15, 2021
"I Remember Sky" and "Take Me to the World" are particular stand-out tunes.
The presence of Charmian Carr highlights an interesting juxtaposition of two distinct eras of musical theater composition. Evening Primrose, in 1966, was an early work by Sondheim, who would go on to be one of the dominant voices of musical theater in the 70s and 80s. Just one year earlier, in 1965, Carr was Liesl in The Sound of Music, the last collaboration between Rodgers and Hammerstein, who practically defined musical theater in the 40s and 50s.
The fact that, in a two-year period, she sings both "I am 16 Going on 17" and "I Remember Sky" shows how much musical theater composition was changing in the 1960s.
Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 1:15 PM on August 16, 2021 [2 favorites]
The presence of Charmian Carr highlights an interesting juxtaposition of two distinct eras of musical theater composition. Evening Primrose, in 1966, was an early work by Sondheim, who would go on to be one of the dominant voices of musical theater in the 70s and 80s. Just one year earlier, in 1965, Carr was Liesl in The Sound of Music, the last collaboration between Rodgers and Hammerstein, who practically defined musical theater in the 40s and 50s.
The fact that, in a two-year period, she sings both "I am 16 Going on 17" and "I Remember Sky" shows how much musical theater composition was changing in the 1960s.
Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 1:15 PM on August 16, 2021 [2 favorites]
I think it's interesting, sort of coming on the heels of Anyone Can Whistle (which has really lengthy dance scenes, nearly ballet really, scored by Sondheim) to realize that Sondheim did all the underscoring for this television piece, too. So most of the 50 minutes have Sondheim music happening, even though there are only four songs.
posted by hippybear at 8:58 PM on August 16, 2021
posted by hippybear at 8:58 PM on August 16, 2021
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autocorrect stole my h
posted by hippybear at 11:35 AM on August 14, 2021 [1 favorite]