Fabulous performance by Donna Murphy - "Could I leave you?"

[Merboy]

I didn't know this song but I think it's from Follies. I believe it's a song about a woman who's been married to a wealthy man who she doesn't really love (but then again, does she?). I'm not familiar with this Stephen Sondheim song but its truly masterful!

 

[BasketBaller]

Your surmises are right, a great number from Follies performed at Sondheim's 80th birthday concert at Lincoln Center.The ladies in red are Broadway stars of various vintages, and they all sing great songs from his shows. Here's another--

 

[BasketBaller]

And the others--

 

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=sondheim%27s+80th

[bostonman]

Given that the first 2 posts here featured Donna Murphy and Marin Mazzie, I should say that I saw them together in the original Broadway run of Sondheim's Passion, playing two extremely contrasting rivals for a young soldier's love, and they were both perfection. (That production was also filmed on the original Broadway set - I'm not sure it's on youtube but it should be available for purchase if not.)

 

Many of you may know that we lost Mazzie last year, after a long and courageous battle with ovarian cancer. She is irreplaceable.

 

@Merboy - yes - "Could I Leave You" is sung by the character of Phyllis in Follies, who 30 years prior fell in love with "stage door johnny" Ben Stone, when she was a Follies girl. Ben had ambitions for wealth and fame - and Phyllis looking back on her life now (which is the whole theme of the show - characters looking back on the lives they have ended up with - many of them "shadowed" by actors playing their younger selves throughout the show), she bitterly realizes she really sold her soul to try to be the kind of woman Ben wanted her to be. Their marriage is on the rocks, she in particular has become very brittle, he has the success he strove for but feels empty.

 

Two things I'll say about the writing of the song - as I'm a huge Sondheim fan and can't help myself, lol. One is the waltz feel - the wonderful irony of this simple, catchy waltz tune becoming more and more edgy and complex as Phyllis goes on a roll - notice how she has to keep pulling herself back from the brink - reflected in the music by returning to the original tune.

 

Also, the clever way Sondheim uses the word "leave." First, just in the idea of divorcing Ben. Then later, "tell me, how could I leave, when I left long ago" - making the distinction between the physical act of leaving and the emotional one. And then, turning the question around to "could you leave me...well I guess you could leave me the house, leave me the flat..." - so that "leave" is now about what gets "left" to each other in a divorce settlement. And though it's obviously all very cleverly mapped out, it actually comes across as very natural stream-of-consciousness thought.

 

Amazing stuff.

[Merboy]

Bostonman, it is amazing stuff I love Donna's performance, how it goes from funny to angry to sad so quickly. I keep watching it over and over... and Marin Mazzie was fabulous as well. She was the original Mother in Ragtime. I love that note "Or were you just being kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiind!?" at the end "Losing My Mind".

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

Sidetracking a bit...

 

Marin's talent was incredible with a personality and genuine warmth to match.

 

I felt lucky to have spent time with her on several occasions: She and Jason would come to Key West frequently, to help do fundraisers for local theaters. Having heard her in the OBC of Ragtime, it was the first time I had heard her sing Back To Before in a small room with only a piano. It was truly magical. That voice was a damned force of nature. Her vowel placement was beautiful.