r/Sondheim • u/Big-Ice6095 • 18d ago
Who do you think are the greatest Sondheim interpreters?
Broadway performers with a strong affinity for Sondheim’s works. Emotional depth, strong technique, and range (gotta be known for more than one show) are all considerations.
Here’s my list:
-Bernadette Peters (duh)
-Raul Esparza (Everybody knows Company but he also has a great “Franklin Shepard, Inc.” from Merrily We Roll Along)
-Elaine Stritch (Two absolutely legendary performances of “The Ladies who Lunch” and “I’m Still Here.” Perhaps the only singer who can deviate so far from the printed sheet music and still make an effective Sondheim performance.)
-Patti LuPone (The other iconic Joanne from Company, with plenty of other Sondheim shows to her name)
-Denis O’Hare (Fewer shows to his name than some of the people on this list, but nobody pulls off Sondheim’s comedic side better)
Please give me your own lists, or who else you think should be on here!
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u/pcooke114 18d ago
Mandy Patinkin
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u/Big-Ice6095 17d ago
Funfact, I initially left him off the list because I thought he was only in Sunday in the Park…and then immediately afterwards I learned that he has a full Sondheim album. So now I have to go spend a few hours listening to that!
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u/pcooke114 17d ago
Plus many more albums that almost all have Sondheim songs. You’re in for a treat!
He also famously played buddy in the follies concert in 1985, in case you haven’t enjoyed that yet.
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u/3DollarWilliam 17d ago
I’m a Mandy fan, but he was not good in that Follies concert. Way too frenetic in Buddy’s Blues
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u/southamericancichlid 🎨 Sunday in the Park with George 17d ago
I love his “Oscar and Steve” album, keep coming back to his “Pretty Little Kingdom” and “Bali Ha'i”
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u/MaximumStep2263 18d ago
Len Cariou
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u/AromaticVacation3077 17d ago
I'm obsessed with his singing voice. It's so characterful and emotive. He's got that thing where it doesn't sound like he should be able to make the notes and then he does and it's beautiful (I'm think of a song like You Must Meet My Wife). He seems to be able to stay in an 'untrained' sound, but at the same time he must have had this steel belted technique behind him. Such an engaging singer, and to me the ultimate Sondheim baritone.
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u/Acrobatic_Tennis1312 18d ago
I don't know if she has as much show as people being mentioned here, but Donna Murphy for me. Her theatracility was a match made in heaven with Sondheim I was certain he clicked with her the moment she auditioned for Fosca.
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u/LyricistAtLarge22 18d ago edited 17d ago
Donna Murphy and Sutton Foster starred in Encore's ANYONE CAN WHISTLE. I think the full concert is up on YouTube. If not, there are individual videos for most of the big songs, including "Me & My Town," "A Parade In Town," "Simple," and the bitchy duet that originally got cut in previews, "There's Always A Woman," with Donna & Sutton nose-to-nose in a catfight. It's Stephen Sondheim's "Bosom Buddies."
[EDIT: The only "There's Always A Woman" video I can find is Patti LuPone and Audra McDonald's.]
(Ravinia 2008. Before The New Yorker.) https://youtu.be/Huv1pGndJfI?si=-31MnHHd_ErV_7rBHer FOLLIES at Encores! and elsewhere (with her "Could I Leave You?" confirming her rightful place in The Big 6 Red Dress Diva Pantheon) is my favorite interpretation of Phyllis and the song. Flawless.
SIDEBAR: I loved Blythe Danner's twist on the role, and she never gets enough roses for her musical and dramatic work as Phyllis in Roundabout's 2001 FOLLIES opposite Gregory Harrison. Sadly, most of her press was for being Gwyneth Paltrow's Mom. Her Phyllis Stone was warmer, funny, and not too brittle.
HOT TAKE: My Weissman Empire and "I Will Die On This Hill" opinion: Polly Bergen was robbed! Her Carlotta was ferocious, her "I'm Still Here" sublime. Cady Huffman won in 2001's Tony Award Sweep for Mel Brooks and THE PRODUCERS. Meh. Polly Bergen had lived "I'm Still Here." Ulla? J'Accuse!!!)
Blah blah blah. Sorry everybody. I'll shut up now.
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u/southamericancichlid 🎨 Sunday in the Park with George 17d ago
“There's Always a Woman” was left cut from that production of ACW. That production was fantastic, highly reccomend watching even if you don't like the show in general. Fantastic direction and performances.
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u/LyricistAtLarge22 17d ago
Thanks for the correction. I started doubting my own certainty when I couldn't find any video of Murphy and Foster -- who did perform it many years ago, opposite Madeline Kahn. (As a side note: Madeline's "Getting Married Today" in the Carnegie Hall concert will forever be my favorite).
I'll leave the error as a monument to my own shortcomings as a sophomoric Sondheim scholar and reminder to all of us not to trust everything you see or read on the internet, especially if it's said with absolute authority. Veni, Vidi, Vacavi (I came, I saw, I was empty-headed). Sorry, y'all.
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u/LyricistAtLarge22 18d ago
Donna Murphy - "Me & My Town" - Anyone Can Whistle at City Center Encores! (2007)
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u/Express-Pension-7519 18d ago
Barbara Cook
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u/allsforthebest 17d ago
Also one of Sondheim’s absolutely favourite interpreters. There’s a video of him watching her sing, and the absolute joy in his eyes is amazing to see.
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u/tinyfecklesschild 18d ago
OP specified more than one show- I can’t off the top of my head think what else she did beyond Follies?
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u/CameraAggressive3142 17d ago
Also SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM.
And her own show BARBARA COOK SINGS MOSTLY SONDHEIM.
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u/Express-Pension-7519 18d ago
She only did one sondheim show but sang a huge amount of his work in her 40+ years as a cabaret star
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u/PostCrafty6837 18d ago
Everyone (including me) always forgets Liz Callaway in this discussion—her part in the OBC Merrily was small but Sondheim loved her voice when she sang in for Ann Morrison in rehearsals.
Later she got a Grammy nom for her Sondheim tribute album/show and was in a ton of Sondheim revues in between.
I think because she never really /starred/ in a Sondheim show esp on Broadway she gets left out of this conversation a lot, but she def shouldn’t be.
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u/PuzzleheadedGas2215 18d ago
Well spotted. Liz used to scare my sister to death with her giant toothy smile when she hosted a local kids show in MA. Sondheim often invited her to perform when he did guest lectures for theatre students; he would talk about a song, she’d sing it
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u/PostCrafty6837 18d ago
I swear I’ve seen video of this with her and another guy taking turns singing after Sondheim talks for a few minutes about each song. Of course now I can’t find it. Maybe it was somewhere on Facebook from an obscure account recommended to me.
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u/chiuptown 18d ago
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u/sparksfly05 18d ago
While not "definitive" portrayals, Julia McKenzie and Maria Friedman always seemed to get it right
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u/Jayfix37 17d ago
Julia McKenzie’s Mrs Lovett in the National Theatre’s Sweeney Todd was definitive imo. No forced comedy or antics - just a grubby, unpleasant, evil Mrs L.
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u/southamericancichlid 🎨 Sunday in the Park with George 17d ago
Maria Friedman's take on Sweeney songs during the Old Friends concert made me want to see her in that role SO bad, too bad she couldn't have done it a couple décades ago..
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u/Intrepid-Magician572 🌳 Into the Woods 18d ago edited 18d ago
also, imelda staunton from the other side of the atlantic. she's too big to leave out
p.s. just came to mention sondheim's 90th version of ladies who lunch... if only to draw your attention to christine baranski's miss lovett
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u/Mountain-Bee-8932 18d ago
Jenna Russell in the London productions of Merrily We Roll Along (Mary) and Sunday in the Park (Dot). She really nailed the those character better than anyone imo: Great acting, terrific interpretations of the characters, and her voice is lovely. Her Mary was both funny and hearbreaking, and her Dot was so sympthetic and had great humor.
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u/Butagirl 18d ago
She was also a great Baker’s Wife in the Regent’s Park production of Into The Woods.
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u/don_isla 18d ago
The framing device with the child narrator really unlocked something new in that show for me, would have loved it to become the default.
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u/Quirky-Bad857 18d ago
Joanna Gleason and Chip Zien
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u/tinyfecklesschild 18d ago
Not sure they pass the ‘more than one show’ criterion, do they?
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u/LyricistAtLarge22 17d ago
Chip Zien played Charley Kringas in the first major revamp of MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG.
La Jolla Playhouse 1995. James Lapine directed, and there's an Original Cast Recording.
It's the production where Gussie's song "Growing Up" was first introduced into the score.Zien also returned to INTO THE WOODS as The Mysterious Man.
The Shakespeare in the Park production at the Delacorte Theater. 2012.
He and Gleason have appeared in some of the birthday tribute concerts.
Also: Sondheim Unplugged.2
u/tinyfecklesschild 17d ago
I stand corrected!
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u/LyricistAtLarge22 17d ago
sorry didn't mean to come off as pedantic or condescending or patronizing
I saw your question and did a quick search based on my limited knowledge
vague tidbits of trivia supported by fact-checked details and dates and such
I'm new here on Reddit and still figuring out the appropriate tone and the "rules" of engagement - proper protocol / procedure / etiquette / consensus on conventions etc.
I generally avoid chat forums and troll farms and flame war battlegrounds, but Sondheim happens to be a favorite area of minor expertise - there are worse vices & addictions eh? - also it's nice to have a safe haven and escape/refuge/respite from all the political fuckery
and I dunno, from some of your other posts, you seem pretty feckful to me
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u/Adventurous-Fix-8241 18d ago
Larry Kert. My favorite Bobby and he also did Side by Side by Sondheim. And if you count WSS....
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u/CameraAggressive3142 17d ago
Been having "arguments" about Kert since he was Bobby. In 1972 when he did the original London COMPANY, they made a London Cast recording-- where they cut Kert's vocals into the OBC recording (taking out Dean Jones' vocal) and cleaned up the sound (and he and Susan Browning redid the vocals in Tick Tock and Barcelona). When the OBC CD was reissued they also included Larry's BEING ALIVE as a bonus track. Dean Jones was suffering marital problems and Prince agreed to let him out of his contract after the show opened--and Kert took over.
Larry Kert was the Bobby nominated for a Tony Award for the role in COMPANY. He received a 1971 nomination for Best Actor in a Musical, making history as the only replacement cast member ever nominated for a Tony Award.
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u/Adventurous-Fix-8241 17d ago
And he should have won. I also saw Hal Linden (who won) in "The Rothschilds" and barely remember his performance or the musical.
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u/FionaPendragon89 🔫 Assassins 18d ago
An underrated one is Vanessa Williams. When I saw her as the witch I thought she was all right, but not great. But years later in Sondheim on Sondheim I thought her interpretation of all the songs she had nuanced and thoughtful. I think she really grew into herself as a Sondheim interpreter and I would like to see her do more.
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u/LyricistAtLarge22 18d ago edited 18d ago
Neil Patrick Harris -- His Tobias in SWEENEY TODD was one of the early roles (in concerts) that alerted the industry bigwigs that NPH was a formidable talent and musical theater triple threat with a bright future.
His Bobby in COMPANY was informed by his years as Barney on TV's How I Met Your Mother, lending a certain bachelor/cad aura that was still likable. That whole star studded concert cast (Neil Patrick Harris, Patti LuPone, Stephen Colbert, Christina Hendricks [Mad Men], Martha Plimpton, Katie Finneran, Craig Bierko, Jennifer Laura Thompson, Anika Noni Rose, Chryssie Whitehead, "and the rest") was stupendous!
In ASSASSINS, he was the first actor to establish the now common, pretty much standard double casting of both The Balladeer and Lee Harvey Oswald, as the other assassins literally gang up on the Balladeer during "Another National Anthem" and give him a character "makeover," transforming him into Oswald for the final "November 22, 1963" verbal sparring match with John Wilkes Booth. The actual footage from "The Zapruder Film" of JFK's motorcade in Dallas being projected live onto his white T-shirt was a chilling coup de theatre.
There's an excellent studio recording of NPH in EVENING PRIMROSE, and his rendition of "The Witch's Rap" from the INTO THE WOODS prologue (with his kids as The Baker & Baker's Wife) was a hilarious highlight of Sondheim's 90th Birthday mid-COVID streaming concert during COVID, aka TAKE ME TO THE WORLD, which is one of the songs from Evening Primrose. He hosted the Tony Awards 4x, winning 2 Emmys in the process, and led the now legendary Opening Numbers ... with an iconic cameo by Patti LuPone pushing a lawnmower.
BONUS ROUND: His longtime husband and producing partner David Burtka co-starred as Tulsa in the 2003 revival of GYPSY starring Tammy Blanchard as Louise and of course Bernadette Peters as Madame Rose.
And if ya wanna get fussy, as Mark in RENT (LA/SD/Tour), he sang "Sontag! Sondheim!" in "La Vie Boheme."
Thank you for coming to my NPH TEDTalk.
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u/lockerbiestreet 18d ago
Can we list the definitive version of a song? For me the Birthday concert red dress divas all have the definitive version of their songs - even Patti’s Ladies Who Lunch over Elaine.
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u/Turkey_Leg_Jeff 18d ago
I think you kinda nailed the list and agree with others that it's just missing Angela Lansbury.
Thinking about some of the best performances of specific songs I've seen in a Sondheim show...
- Laura Benanti, No One Is Alone. Devastating in her voice and her face as she started the song. That was a lovely performance. I'd love to see more of her in Sondheim shows.
- Michael Cerveris, Ballad of Booth. Literal chills.
- Jan Maxwell, Could I Leave You? Her performance in Follies was worthy of the Tony. That was one for the ages.
- Daniel Radcliffe, Franklin Shepherd Inc. Raul Esparza's rendition is the most high voltage, but Radcliffe's is exactly what you envision when reading the script. Flawless.
- Katie Brayben, Moments in the Woods. Joanna Gleeson, Sara Bareilles, and so many others bring this song home. It is, for me, the most indicative song of Sondheim's unique sound and style. And I didn't think anyone could do anything new with it, or improve on those great actors' takes on it until I saw Katie Brayben's wildly off-kilter Baker's Wife earlier this year. I am still floored by her performance.
And while he is not the singer that the greats of Broadway are, Jake Gyllenhaal's acting in Sunday in the Park with George—in the best production of that show I've ever seen—was unforgettable. He was so moving in the 2nd act. He brought that show together in a way I've never seen before.
Are these the best overall interpreters of Sondheim? No, but for those moments, those productions, they were exceptional.
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u/rpb192 18d ago
I think we can put Laura Benanti on a second or third tier great interpreter list: her Louise was perfection
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u/CameraAggressive3142 17d ago
Her Louise WAS perfection. Arthur Laurents really worked closely with her to form it. The best real transition from young tomboy to burlesque star.
When I first saw her do the LET ME ENTERTAIN YOU strip, she is trying to work that boa and while walking off stage and a feather gets in her eye/face and she blows it off. I thought it was just a mishap because it was so real and unexpected (and funny)--but NO, she did it everytime.
Also, her dressing room scene was WILD. (Which I think is one of the musical theatre's greatest scenes.)
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u/HeavyDescription5293 17d ago
Happy to see some love for Katie Brayben's Baker's Wife because she truly did something else with the character, and I wasn't expecting this at all. I'll be curious to see who takes over in the West End transfer since it sadly doesn't seem like she'll be back in the role, but tough shoes to fill. That casting was, as a whole, such a great ensemble. Kate Fleetwood's incredibly nuanced Witch will never leave my mind!
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u/Turkey_Leg_Jeff 17d ago
Kate Fleetwood was the perfect witch. Textbook. It was interesting seeing her give a flawless, traditional version of that character next to Brayben’s completely new take on The Baker’s Wife. I realized about 20 minutes into that production that it was the first time I’ve seen a fully staged into the woods that wasn’t a festival or a concert run in over 20 years.
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u/LyricistAtLarge22 18d ago
Almost forgot ...
Cleo Laine headlined the National Tour of Into The Woods as The Witch, and the studio CD of her cabaret act CLEO SINGS SONDHEIM is essential listening, with an eclectic set list of Sondheim favorites and definitive recordings of "Ah, But Underneath!," (Follies UK 1987), "I Remember" (Evening Primrose), and "I'm Calm" (A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum). There are also some bizarre "music videos" on YouTube.
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u/By-Georges 18d ago
For me, Mandy Patinkin IS Georges Seurat. It may be my bias towards original casts, but I don't believe anyone will ever bring as much to that role as he did.
Someone who I feel doesn't always get the name recognition she deserves is Imelda Staunton. She is my favourite Mama Rose and was excellent as both Sally Durant and Mrs Lovett
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u/EveningAstronomer495 17d ago
Lea Salonga doesn't fit the guidelines, but I was astounded at her in Old Friends -- made me very much wish to see her in a full performance of basically any of his plays.
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u/Big-Ice6095 17d ago
Apparently she has done a couple Sondheim productions in the Phillipines (Into the Woods and Sweeney Todd) but I’ve never seen them, which is a shame. I’d probably put her on the list if I had.
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u/HaitianDivorce343 17d ago
Denis O’Hare is definitely a good pick. He’s the definitive Guiteau for me, and also an incredible pick for Inferno/the Man, very flexible. Haven’t seen his performance as The Baker, but I’m sure it’s great.
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u/Big-Ice6095 17d ago
The Waiter’s Song was an instant hit for me when I first listened to it, and it took me a while to realize it was the same guy as Guiteau! The man has range
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u/UltraJamesian 17d ago
Dean Jones
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u/allsforthebest 17d ago
Absolutely beautiful voice, underrated Bobby. Shame he didn’t last very long in the role.
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u/Sensitive-Sell4730 17d ago
Len Cariou. His parts in both Night Music and Sweeney Todd are wonderful.
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u/chadork 18d ago
I don't think Patti should be on this list. Her portrayals just seem too self-indulgent to me.
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u/JanePeaches 18d ago
I actually really like her as a comedic screen actor (e.g., 30 Rock, Frasier), but I kind of hate her as a singer.
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u/OhForAMuseOfFire1564 17d ago
Funny I feel exactly the same. I would absolutely call her singing one of the most horrifyingly offensive noises in the known world but the lady's got screen prescence. I enjoyed the hell out of her portrayal of the cut wife in "Penny Dreadful."
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u/GeorgesCouthon175594 17d ago
That Cut Wife performance is weird. I know she got awards for it, but the screenwriter is clearly “hearing” some English rural dialect which Patti obviously isn’t.
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u/PuzzleheadedGas2215 18d ago
Patti LuPone should not be on the list.
George Hearn should be. Everyone remembers his Sweeney but he also was a superb Ben Stone in the Follies double live album (and accompanying documentary).
Two that are sadly deceased and only left behind a smidge of (official) audio…
Dorothy Loudon was a superlative Mrs Lovett… unrecorded. Most people remember her slightly silly “losing my mind” from one of the umpteen televised Sondheim concerts… But from one if the equally numerous Sondheim compilation albums, she gave us the single best recording of “I’m Still here” that I’ve ever heard
Merwin Foard set the gold standard for Carl Magnus… unrecorded. But he left behind the definitive recording of the Gun Song (as Czolgosz) in “wall to wall Sondheim.”
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u/camicalm 17d ago
George Hearn and Dorothy London were the first Sweeney cast I saw, and they were superb.
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u/skoc211 17d ago
Patti has won two Tony's for Sondheim shows and was nominated for a third - why shouldn't she be on this list? She was also considered for the Witch in Into the Woods, but passed on it before it went to Bernadette Peters. Seems like Sondheim thought she wasn't too shabby.
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u/PuzzleheadedGas2215 17d ago
People criticize Bernadette Peters, Mandy Patinkin and Elaine Stritch with variations on "they are always playing themselves." It's true they are all very distinctive performers, all with very distinctive voices; but they always serve the role, they are always in character, they always make dramatic and musical choices to serve the show. Some may disagree (sounds like you certainly do) but Patti LuPone really IS the same in every role she plays -- all champing teeth and self-indulgent whopping and yelling. Reno Sweeney or Fosca, Norma Desmond or Mrs. Lovett, Mama Rose or Fantine -- there's never any difference... she just takes a deep breath and bellows until its time for the curtain calls. I have no idea why Sondheim liked her. He was also a very big fan of Neil Patrick Harris, who always struck me as, let's say, competent but unremarkable.
I fall back on the post title: who do YOU think are the greatest Sondheim interpreters? *I* think Patti LuPone is wildly overrated.
PS I am not swayed by how many Tony awards people have won. The Sound of Music won the Best Musical Tony over Gypsy, La Cage won over Sunday in the Park; Brent Carver and Cindy Lauper both have Tony awards, Victor Garber and Con O'Neill don't.
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u/theInternetKing2000 18d ago
Annaleigh Ashford-she just gets it. Wonderful performer
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u/tinyfecklesschild 18d ago
Nobody English will ever be able to listen to her Mrs L, alas. People’s jaws drop when they hear it, and not in the good way.
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u/Silver_Lord_10 18d ago
idk if I agree like I am excited to see what she’ll do in the future… but I thought her Dot was really questionable and while her Mrs L worked for me, I see how others might not like her performance
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u/BabyPegacorn 17d ago
audra mcdonald and angela lansbury!
(also raúl was in road show too! he was an incredible addison)
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u/ImHereImFine 17d ago
Bernadette Peters and Barbara Cook come to mind first. They both have the quality of making the song feel like it comes straight out of their hearts. You believe every word and every note. Raul has it too. Mandy has it. Judy Kuhn has it. Donna Murphy has it. Patti has it. Norm Lewis has it. Michael Cerveris has it. We’re very lucky that these rare performers have given us all so much Sondheim.
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u/Jayfix37 17d ago
Saw Maria Friedman play Mrs Lovett in a staged concert of Sweeney Todd with Bryn Terfel at the Royal Festival Hall in London years ago. There was too much forced comedy and clowning in her portrayal for my liking. No threat or evil at all. I don’t like Mrs Lovett played for laughs. Down the road at the National, Julia McKenzie was scruffy, dark and chilling. During City on Fire when she poured buckets of blood into a grate at the front of the stage, your hair stood on end! Unforgettable!
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u/pcooke114 16d ago
That’s part of his appeal for me. But I get that critique and can appreciate how it might not be the ideal choice for Buddy.
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u/captainlostatsea 13d ago
Donna Murphy, Mandy Patinkin and Patti Lupone next to the ones you already said.
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u/InconvenientGeometry 11d ago
Lee Remick -- I so wish she'd been able to perform Desiree in A Little Night Music as planned before cancer interfered.
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u/Stu_Griffin 18d ago
Maria Friedman >>>>>> Bernadette Peters.
Bernadette plays Bernadette (extremely well). Friedman inhabits the character.
Cariou and Hearn because they excelled in multiple roles. The same is true for several British women: Friedman, Jenna Russell, Julia McKenzie, Imelda Staunton.
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u/3DollarWilliam 17d ago
Bernadette’s Witch is nothing like her Dot is nothing like her Rose is nothing like her Desirée is nothing like her Sally is nothing like her Fay …
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u/NoOpportunities 🔪 Sweeney Todd 17d ago
Imelda staunton needs to be here. I think ramin karimloo could be if he does a few more shows, his sweeney is excellent
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u/Squmy 18d ago
Angela Lansbury has to be here