Finishing the Hat; AHS 1.11

[prodigy]

Things learned from browsing Stephen Sondheim's annotated libretto collection Finishing the Hat:
- "The Ladies Who Lunch" was written specifically for Elaine Stritch.
- Carl-Magnus and Desiree had a song in ALNM originally called "Bang!" which was creepy as hell. I'm not sure how it was scored, so I'm not sure what proportions creepy and darkly comic it was meant to be, but the lyrics were kind of jarringly creepy on the page. Leaving it in probably would've landed too hard on the side of "so why does Charlotte want this man back?"
- The line "Perpetual anticipation is good for the soul but bad for the heart" was originally "Perpetual anticipation is good for the soul but bad for the skin," but Hugh Wheeler or someone made Sondheim change it. ... yeah, I'm with them.

American Horror Story 1.11 - Birth:

Comments

[mindsplinters]

Ooo, how is that book? I keep eyeballing it at work number two with a bit of lust.

[prodigy]

I only got the chance to skim it in Rittenhouse Square before a doctor's appointment, but it looked cool from what I could see! I love reading creators' annotations on their work and it has a bunch of commentary from him on the nearly-was and what-might-have-been of his librettos, along with some scans of his original handwritten notes. Swiggity sweet, right?