So, to both esteemed Steve S's I say: less work on the old, more work on the new.
Sondheim's not had a new work on Broadway in 10 years. Used to be, he was mighty prolific, with openings in:
1970, 1971, 1973, 1976, 1979, 1981, 1984 & 1987.
And what shows those were!
Schwartz, at long last, has given us Wicked. In the 70's, he gave us three of the decade's longest runs:
Pippin, Godspell and The Magic Show, plus the never-quite-made-it-to-Broadway The Baker's Wife, and Working.
And what shows those were!
I had a lovely walk. I looked at the statue of Kossuth, about whom Panni can tell us more. It's not far from the statue of Tildin, a fellow who won the popular vote for President. But the results were disputed, and votes from three southern states were authenticated by a panel consisting of mostly Republicans, thus giving the election to the Republican Rutherford Hayes. Sound familiar?
I took a good look at some recently-constructed buildings. There's something on a side street called Lenfest Hall which is well-proportioned, and uses two cheerful shades of brick. The new School of Social Work (to open this year) strikes me as very successful. There's overly-subtle brick work (the color: buff) which requires one to look closely to see the brick-layers' art.
OK, now I've given TCB enough set-up lines.
I did some writing in Riverside Park and a little more overlooking Morningside Park. A very emotional scene and then an angry but comic one. Songwriting is my natrual bent, so, when I set out to write a book scene, I find my characters launch into rhythm and rhyme. So, at some time later, I face the delicate question of exactly what should be sung and what should be spoken. A father is going to tell his son he can no longer play with his best friend. I think that will be said without music, and hope the absence of music will maximize the impact. At least that's the idea for today.
With the painting, stuff gets moved around: While I'm now missing Making Love Alone again, I did find this photo (and I'm utterly amazed I was able to figure out how to do this)...
