George Lee Andrews, Kate Baldwin, Michael Cerveris, and Alexander Gemignani perform "Someone in a Tree" from Stephen Sondheim's "Pacific Overtures" at Lincoln Center's American Songbook on Jan. 31, 2015.
Пікірлер: 84
@jjaniero Жыл бұрын
This song is simply one of the greatest musical miracles ever.
@my41602 жыл бұрын
R.I.P. wonderful and brilliant Stephen Sondheim.
@musicalsplays35836 жыл бұрын
underrated Sondheim classic! i wish they revive Pacific Overtures on broadway
@macrent26 жыл бұрын
The Japanese pentatonic scale of this song is not easy to write lyrics to; especially ones which make sense. This is actually Sondheim's most prideful and favorite personal accomplishment for a song that he wrote for any show. It is no wonder either! It is brilliantly done.
@pessoaestupida56006 жыл бұрын
A genius for all eternity Mr.Sondheim!
@lynnmiller39375 жыл бұрын
Underrated?
@DragonPrincessAoife5 жыл бұрын
They did... terribly from what I can tell...
@richiejohnson3 жыл бұрын
@@macrent2 I would dispute that is in a pentatonic mode. Mode is not a key
@garyscott21465 жыл бұрын
Probably the very best and most delightful song Sondheim has ever composed. And THAT is saying something . . . brings me to a happy tearful state every time I listen. There is a point where this song just takes off and soars - such a magnificent celebration of life and artistry!
@LeftysLefty4 жыл бұрын
I get embarrassed because I thought I was the only one who tears up at this. Thank you. Saw this on Broadway in 1976 - I was younger then....
@trajan754 жыл бұрын
Sorry I don't see it never a big Sondheim fan. Maybe I'm missing something, but I prefer Cole Porter, Rogers & Hammerstein, Rogers & Hart, Irving Berlin, Frank Loesser, then maybe Sondheim.
@doloresgomez15363 жыл бұрын
@@trajan75 yes,you're missing something for sure
@trajan753 жыл бұрын
@@doloresgomez1536 Or maybe I don't like smug know it alls like you.
@limecable12783 жыл бұрын
@@trajan75 I don’t think they were trying to be rude, I think they were just recommending Sondheim?
@lynnmiller39375 жыл бұрын
" Without someone in a tree, Nothing happened there."
@LeftysLefty4 жыл бұрын
Absolutely!
@edifiedreader4 жыл бұрын
"And history is someone in a tree"
@SuperRegency3 ай бұрын
"Cups of tea and history"
@lynnmiller39374 жыл бұрын
Very difficult song and they do it so effortlessly!
@eggizgud Жыл бұрын
The Broadway cast and the four who sang this at his online party did it without looking at the lyrics.
@djmotise2 жыл бұрын
Alexander sounds so great. Wow.
@jaydee9704 жыл бұрын
One of my favorite Sondheim songs. So brilliant.
@soulsurvivorla2 жыл бұрын
It is so time to revive this play!
@fundifferent111 ай бұрын
As long as they do it right. The other revival took away a lot of the essence.
@BandAids4u4 жыл бұрын
Gave me chills listening. Great work!
@SuperRegency3 ай бұрын
Welcome To Kanagawa, Someone In A Tree, and Please, Hello are for me the greatest string of songs in any of Sondheim's great scores.
@pam06262 жыл бұрын
A brilliant reminder of how we all have different perspectives.
@suzanneantisdel42662 жыл бұрын
Well said!
@fundifferent111 ай бұрын
I would love to hear this song with all black singers and a bit of african percussions
@anningram10313 жыл бұрын
BRAVO! BRAVA!
@lynnmiller39372 жыл бұрын
George Lee Andrews listens!
@burtihal8 ай бұрын
Wish they had the original cast do this... not because these 4 are not magnificent, but because the originals are equally wonderful!
@beckygrajeda24023 жыл бұрын
Holy smokes. At 6:15ish the three characters are singing about the same event from different vantage points and/or senses. It's a cubist description of an event in song form. That in and of itself makes this song brilliant. And agreed, they couldn't get any Asian people for this?!
@lynnmiller39372 жыл бұрын
Who is the girl? She is fab!
@silentsmurf2 жыл бұрын
@@lynnmiller3937 Kate Baldwin
@dennislouie Жыл бұрын
I am Asian and the fact that they are not Asian does not bother me one bit. It is a beautiful song, beautifully sung. We often want color-blind casting…we can’t have it one way!
@fundifferent111 ай бұрын
Cubist is 3D. But this is a 4 dimensional song because one of the parties is singing in the present/future while the other 2 are in the past.
@coll91210 ай бұрын
@@dennislouie I am Asian too and I disagree. The show and song is uniquely about the Japanese perspective on a historical event in which they view America in a negative light. For a show to be exclusively all-Asian cast in the 1970s, an era where Asians were heavily discriminated against, this is one of the few pieces that we as a people can claim as our own. Though it was composed by a white man, seeing other cultures try to own it as their own thing just feels as wrong as watching a white man try to sing Hamilton or Porgy n Bess.
@markbarnwell9423 жыл бұрын
The Room Where it Happened .lol
@margaritaperla Жыл бұрын
CERVERIS!
@dogvom6 жыл бұрын
Wonderful! Bit of an oops at around 3:03 to 3:10, though. :)
@brentcehan55024 жыл бұрын
I think that's actually how it goes. Memories of the past self and the present self don't correspond then they do...Ironically when the two selves sing about ripples.
@fundifferent111 ай бұрын
@@brentcehan5502 No, she came in late and because both parts play off each other by swapping melodies her coming in late threw him off time (his rhythm is supposed to sync up with hers, but her being off, made it sound like he was in the wrong rhythm so he kind of had to adjust). It's subtle but it is a bit of an oops. Luckily the song is so complex that they can easily get back on time when their melodies become the same.
@lynnmiller39374 жыл бұрын
Tell George to stop looking at me!
@lynnmiller39375 жыл бұрын
The guy with the beard doesn't look at his book!
@lynnmiller39375 жыл бұрын
He just listens! That's a performance! That's playah!
@mjastoria4 жыл бұрын
His name is George Lee Andrews. He was in the original production of "A Little Night Music". He holds the record for most performances in a Broadway show for "Phantom Of The Opera". Jesus Christ, educate yourself on the musical theater or else shut up.
@ndgunited72124 жыл бұрын
@@mjastoria take a deep breath it'll be okay
@jcthefluteman4 жыл бұрын
@@mjastoria wow get mad Lynn was appreciating him, don't be a dick
@Luke_The_Musical5 ай бұрын
@@mjastoriahey pal it’s been 3 years, just checking in, you still upset?
@hilarycohen1470 Жыл бұрын
« It’s not a tune you can hum…. »
@elioperez-wilson8223 Жыл бұрын
Why are they both white though?!
@eggizgud Жыл бұрын
Kate Baldwin doesn't seem to be on top of the beat as the others. You can hear her tiny lags when they're singing in unison towards theend.
@lynnmiller39375 жыл бұрын
Ginger doesn't know the song!
@sambrown21544 жыл бұрын
I love all four of these singers. But who thought it was okay to not have four Asian singers do this, even if it's just this song? Kind of inappropriate.
@walterwhite48624 жыл бұрын
It's not an actual production of the show. There's no problem with any three singers singing this song.
@RobertDPore3 жыл бұрын
This was originally part of a panel interview featuring Sondheim and Steve Reich with performances of their music. They had the same four singers doing a variety of Sondheim songs. It still would have been nice to have a more diverse group of performers, but it's ok as it is.
@hectormata4492 жыл бұрын
As a minority I say screw your racist-leaning/divisive wokeness and diversity. These “white” performers did a fabulous rendition of Sondheim’s music. I saw the original all Japanese cast performance in San Francisco and it was also fabulous to attend, this was before woke agitators of your ilk began poisoning race/gender/etc relations. .
@tomarmstrong3297 Жыл бұрын
Are you kidding? They’re singing a song. Not 4 gringos in a musical pretending to be Asians
@peerah Жыл бұрын
They’re not doing yellowface. This is not a production of the show. Kate Baldwin is not even a 10 year old boy. It’s ok.
@marvintheatre5 жыл бұрын
Sounds like "Into The Woods".
@lynnmiller39375 жыл бұрын
The girl doesn't know the song.
@mjastoria4 жыл бұрын
@@lynnmiller3937 She is Kate Baldwin and she is a major Broadway talent. She obviously was called in to sing this concert with the score on music stands in front of them and minimal rehearsals. Why would a white female actor be well-versed in singing a score written for a male Asian cast? Why can't you just appreciate Broadway professionals doing their job? Put into your YouTuve search Kate Baldwin's performances in Broadway revivals like "Finian's Rainbow" or "Hello Dolly" where she received Tony nominations and appreciate her talent instead of smugly carping about her.
@mjastoria4 жыл бұрын
Is that a problem? You don't have much of an ear for musical theater.
@eggizgud Жыл бұрын
@@lynnmiller3937 Yeah I just commented something similar when another person gave the time stamp of the tutti, and you could tell she was a little behind.
@georgetimson86204 жыл бұрын
A negative view: the musical content of this piece (of which Sondheim was very proud) is zero. "Send in the clowns" at least has a tune. This, like so much of Sondheim, is just declamation.
@tuberaxx4 жыл бұрын
Just because it’s not lyrical doesn’t mean it has “zero” musical content. It has more of a tune than “Rite of Spring” and that’s a musical masterpiece.
@littlelizzyann3 жыл бұрын
kzbin.info/www/bejne/nnfOnZeQfbSjlc0 Tunes are not the sum total of musical content.
@tyramey12652 жыл бұрын
Opinions are like a**holes. Everyone has one.
@nicholasfox9662 жыл бұрын
No one--NO ONE--wrote more memorable musical material than Sondheim. A Sondheim song--no matter its purpose: lyrical, monologue, scene, patter, confessional, philosophical--is instantly unforgettable because of its musical specificity. Specificity is the mark of a great creative artist. His music has SPECIFICITY. That may be the tune, the vamp, the harmony, some combination thereof--whatever it is, there is nothing else that sounds like it. There is nothing else in all of musical theater that sounds even faintly like "Someone in a Tree." What does that have to do with? Could that possibly mean that its musical content is zero, or just the reverse? The combination of tune, harmony, rhythm, vamp, harmonic structure and trajectory (and of course, the monumental lyrics), creates a TRANSCENDENT experience. This is an absolutely transcendent artistic and aesthetic experience, and that has more to do than with merely the vague "hummability" of a tune. It is operating on an infinitely more comprehensive level than that.