Stephen Sondheim's Putting It Together

Description

An all-star cast performs the music of one of the greatest composers of our time... Stephen Sondheim. Anxiously anticipated by the myriad of fans of the legendary composer, Putting It Together marked the return of Carol Burnett to the Broadway musical stage for the first time in over 35 years. Stephen Sondheim has won a record seven Tony Awards for his songwriting, and the Pulitzer Prize for Sunday in the Park with George. His Broadway smash shows and movies include Gypsy, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Sweeney Todd, Dick Tracy, and West Side Story. Putting It Together features many hit songs from some of Sondheim's biggest hits, including "Lovely" (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum), "More" (Dick Tracy), "Pretty Women" (Sweeney Todd), "The Ladies Who Lunch" (Company), and many more.

Joining Carol Burnett is Tony Award winner George Hearn (La Cage aux Folles, Sunset Boulevard), John Barrowman (The Fix), Ruthie Henshall (She Loves Me), and TV and film star Bronson Pinchot (Perfect Strangers, Beverly Hills Cop). This Cameron Macintosh stage production was captured live in performance during its Broadway run and recorded in high definition with a widescreen format using ten cameras and over 40 microphones. You get the feeling of being there live!

Customer Reviews:

putting all there.......2007-03-09

Having watched this DVD only once all i can say is it has lived up to the expectations i was expecting .The tour de force of Sondheims music is fun and the numbers are well executed. The highlight for me was Carol Burnett and the hilarious performance of "Everyone needs a Maid" Only Carol could perform this number with a touch of mad humour.
I do recommend this dvd and I look forward to veiwing the disc again on a cold wet night with a bottle of wine and a good fire going in the wood burner.

On the Whole, Not Equal To the Sum of Its Parts.......2007-01-10

Musical revues can be quite tricky. When a show celebrates the talents of a particular composer, having the material performed out of context is usually not a problem for the works of lesser composers. But in the case of Stephen Sondheim, it is very hard to appreciate the full force of his amazingly deft and intelligent lyrics (not to mention his subtle melodies) when the individual pieces are removed from the show for which they were written. I have seen, or at least heard, many, many musical revues of Mr. Sondheim's works. Sometimes they succeed brilliantly, but because of the high caliber of the material and intellectual connection with the source work, the producer and director of any musical revue of Sondheim must be very cautious. For these reasons, among others, I did not find this production of Putting It Together to be as completely satisfying as it should have been. And, as a Sondheim "purist", the first strike against this production was the fact that some of the lyrics were changed, which is always guaranteed to get me off on the wrong foot, at least, when dealing with Sondheim.

It has long been my considered opinion that, artistically, Mr. Sondheim can do no wrong. At his worst (if such a word could ever be applied to his output) he writes circles around every other Broadway composer of the 20th century. But, out of context, his material does not always come across, particularly his later works, which almost always require the accompaniment of the various subtle melodies that he intricately weaves throughout the course of any one show. Combining material from more than one Sondheim effort is risky, as his "voice" is never the same in any two successive theatre pieces, let alone five or ten. This is the true mark of a genius; the Grand Guignol atmosphere of Sweeney Todd cannot be expected to mix easily with the delicate waltzes of A Little Night Music, let alone the broad slapstick of Forum, the "70's Mod feel" of Company, the serious celebration of the artistic process that is Sunday In the Park With George, or the heartbreaking, stark nostalgia of Follies. From the tricky lyrics of West Side Story, through the folly of Anyone Can Whistle and right up through the achingly beautiful prose of Passion, it is best to experience Sondheim in the context of a complete piece. Not that it can't be done, mind you, but it is oh so tricky an undertaking to mix his bananas with his grapefruit.

The cast of this show are consummate professionals all, who, for the most part, are up to the task of interpreting Sondheim as he should be: minimally. Any amount of over dramatization or gesticulation in a Sondheim number will ruin it - his words are simply too powerful, too potent and too direct. I steadfastly believe that, in order to present Sondheim correctly, all any actor need do is simply sing his words. They take care of themselves, thank you, and do not require the slightest embellishment to maintain their brilliance. Exquisite diamonds rarely require magnifying glasses.

One of the problems, for me, is the tendency in musical revues to rely heavily on material that was cut from completed works. Whole evenings have been structured around Sondheim's "rejects". There are those who insist, and not without some merit, that the songs that Sondheim discards on his way to a finished piece are frequently superior to the final product proffered by certain other composers. True to a point, but I always like to think that there is a reason why songs are cut, and it's not always just because they don't quite fit. For example, there are those who think that the song, Happily Ever After, which was replaced by Being Alive in Company, is just as good as the final choice. I don't agree. Nevertheless, I don't object to a certain amount of "cut" songs in a Sondheim review, as long as they don't overpower the real stuff. After all, the finished scores for Follies, Sweeney Todd and Company alone could yield enough songs for a full evening's entertainment. Why do we need to "celebrate" Mr. Sondheim's rejects?

As for the performers here, let's start with George Hearn, who is easily one of the most successful interpreters of Sondheim to come along in the past 25 years. After replacing Len Cariou in the role of Benjamin Barker, Mr. Hearn so completely placed his stamp on the character of Sweeney Todd that many people erroneously believe him to have originated the role. Of course, there was nothing wrong with Mr. Cariou's performance, but Mr. Hearn established himself as the definitive Barker / Todd through the wonderful PBS production and subsequent DVD that was released several years ago. Here, as always, he often speaks as much as he sings, but there is an underlying comprehension and simplicity to his presentation that other actor / singers frequently fail to realize while performing Sondheim. His comfort level with the song, The Road You Didn't Take, from Follies, is such that you want to see him tackle the role of Ben, and his simple and poignant understating of Old Friends is no less skillful than his marvelously dry, deliciously comic reading of Have I Got A Girl For You.

As for the rest of the cast, well, Bronson Pinchot was a revelation. His perfect rendition of Buddy's Blues was the best I've seen since the original production of Follies closed in 1971. I saw that show three times during its original Broadway run, and I never expect to see the like of it again. Mr. Pinchot is in perfect character for every number assigned here, and he is truly a joy to behold. Just as able throughout were the performances of Ruthie Henshall and John Barrowman; Mr. Barrowman in particular sang with a sweet, clear voice, and he presented himself as sophisticated, handsome and poised throughout the evening.

This brings me to the performer that impressed me least - Carol Burnett. Throughout the 1960's and early 1970's, I was a great fan of her hilarious slapstick antics, as presented on her television show. I have also been aware for years of her fascination with Sondheim, but I just don't think that she has what it takes to do him justice. I saw her perform The Ladies Who Lunch on her variety show in the early 1970's - it left me cold then, and her rendition of it has not change one bit. She simply tries too hard to put it over, when all it needs is to be presented. Her performance of the biting, satiric classic, Could I Leave You, is even worse. Once again, her overreaching chews up the scenery completely, without managing to milk a single laugh from one of the great comedic songs of Mr. Sondheim's output! I will say that she succeeds a bit more with Getting Married Today, although she admits in the interview segment that she slowed it down. Of course, part of the charm of the original was the manic pace that Beth Howland brought to the song, and admittedly, the breakneck speed of the original would prove difficult for all but the most highly-skilled vocalist to match, let alone a woman of Miss Burnett's maturity. Carol Burnett's duet with Ruthie Henshall, Always A Woman, a wonderful song cut from Anyone Can Whistle, was quite funny, but with material like this it's hard not to be funny. Miss Burnett came across best for me on her rendition of Everybody Ought To Have A Maid, even though she destroyed the melody.

Finally, to read some of the reviews here, you would think that Carol Burnett's "blooper", which appears as a DVD bonus, was the funniest thing ever filmed before a camera. Sorry. This is Sondheim - the wit of his glorious lyrics should be the focus and main source of the laughs here, and I frankly don't believe that whoopee-cushion humor mixes at all well with the sophistication of Mr. Sondheim's wit.

Nevertheless, I give the production four stars, mainly for the material and George Hearn. If you want to hear the perfect Sondheim revue, check out the CD of the 1973 recording of Sondheim Evening: A Musical Tribute.

Great performances...........2006-10-08

Love this DVD. Wish it had a separate CD sountrack available.

If you only think of Carol Burnett for her comedy, you will be pleasantly surprised, she can sing, too. George Hearn is in fine singing form, as always. The two of them together looked and sounded like a real-life married couple. John Barrowman (from Doctor Who) is great, and watching Bronson Pinchot made you wish he had more solos.

Ruthie Henshall was in a way the weakest part of the show--her accent was somewhat annoying (on the order of Marina Sirtis' accent in Star Trek: TNG--if that grated on your ears, Ms. Henshall's will too), but she can sing and dance well.

I can't say that I liked all of the original shows (e.g. Sunday in the Park with George) these songs came from, but watching this DVD makes you want to seek out the original shows to view or re-view, as the case might be.

Well worth buying!

''It started out like a song'' Putting it Together.......2006-08-15

If you are a fan of Stephen Sondheim, or yet to discover many of his finest musical numbers, this show taped live in 2001 is a must.

A strong team, all class acts individually, take us through some of the highlights from Follies, Company, A little night music, Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods, Merrily we roll along, Sunday in the Park with George, and more.

Arguably, some numbers work better out of context than others, but the production is strong and though a ''review'', based around an older couple and a younger couple, staged with minimal scenery and props, the concept works well and the cast are strong throughout.

Highlights are Burnett's ''Ladies who lunch'', who gets this number just right, finding seething frustration with the world, but thankfully not resorting to the wayward comedienne hectoring, yelling, and crass overacting of others in this number.

Henshall smoulders sensually in ''Sooner or later'', and Barrowman joins her effectively in ''I am unworthy of your love'' from Assasins, one of Sondheim's most lyrical creations. Bronson Pinchot has a fine comic gift and makes the most of it throughout.

George Hearn is the very model of Sondheim style, singing off the text in an easy, unaffected manner. His moving rendition of ''We had a good thing going'' from Merrily we roll along, is masterful, and worth the price of the disc alone. As the older couple, his scenes with Burnett are a joy throughout, and the relationship between them always feels genuine.

Other numbers worth mentioning here include Hearn and Barrowman, who make a fine job of ''Pretty Women'' from ''Sweeney Todd'' (about the best I've heard it done), and the ensemble numbers including ''Putting it Together'' and ''Being Alive'' work well. The notoriously difficult opening of Act 2 of ''Sunday'', ''It's hot up here'', is superbly handled out of context and delivered with amusing results.

This is a multiregion disc although recorded NTSC format. Considering this was taped live, the audio recording is first rate (5.1 surround), the voices are crisp and there is plenty of detail from the slick and sassy ensemble in the pit. Occasionally, some of the orchestrations sound a little thin with such a small scale band, but this is a marginal quibble. If you want to view an enjoyable retrospective of Sondheim's work, effectively staged and performed with skill, then don't hesitate to view this.

Totally Worth It!.......2005-10-12

I have to comment on the people complaining about the fact that there is no plot. This is a MUSICAL REVUE, which is, simply put, a PLOTLESS variety show with a unifying factor (in this case, Sondheim). The fact that there was a thin plot was nice, but not a requirement. Sometimes I am amazed at what people write, based on sheer ignorance. The cast was great, especially Burnett, who still has an incredible set of pipes for a woman her age. I found Ruthie Henshall to be a little irritating, though. True, she is pretty and can dance and sing, but the way she sings through her teeth half of the time, without opening her mouth, began to grate on my nerves a bit. But I'm nitpicking. Order this. Watch it. Love it. Oh, and Bronson is an absolute HOOT. Marginal voice but still a great performance on his part.

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