Two of my favorite Sondheim songs are "I Remember" and "Take Me To The World". I now have another in "If You Find Me, I'm Here". These are just three of the four songs by Stephen Sondheim in this hour-long black and white telemusical from 1966. Of course, Sondheim's songs are the main attraction and reason for resurrection in this nicely restored DVD, but just as interesting are the performance of the stars: Anthony Perkins - fighting hard to fend off his recent psychosis, thanks to Hitch; and Charmian Carr, aiming to prove that she was not just 16 going on 17. Here Carr gives a hint of what her career might have been like had she not quit the business to start a family. Also reigning supreme is Dorothy Stickney, who most will remember as the Queen with the many names in TV's first "Cinderella". Though Paul Bogart's direction is sometimes clumsy and the sound stage settings clunky, Sondheim's music soars - giving us a hint at the genius that was to come. It is no small wonder that half of this score are considered standards today.
9 Reviews
Worth a Trip to NYC
shamrockdragonfly8 November 2005
I first heard of this movie in a Steven Sodheim song book that I have which one of the songs was in, an amazing song called "Take Me To the World". I got a vague idea of the plot by listening to the songs and from what I could piece together from the internet and also the very helpful posting on IMDb (thank you whoever wrote that). Anyway it inspired me enough to go and see the film at the Museum of TV and Radio in NYC, an I have to say that it was worth it. While the casting creeped me out a little bit (a combo of leads from the Sound of Music and Psyco falling in love-- a little weird). The acting was good enough to make me forget about that and exceptionally well done for a made-for-TV musical from the 50s. While the quality was crappy even at the museum, I would love to get my hands on any copy of this as well and the plot (even though slightly creepy) and music are something that should be honored and possibly even remade. This was definitely worth the trip to NYC for me and I live in Seattle!!!
Brilliant Score
clampton8 March 2006
I agree that the score to Evening Primrose is excellent. There are only four songs, but every one is perfect. I've also seen the Tony Perkins version and agree that it's imperfect, but the 2001 recording from Nonesuch, with Neil Patrick Harris and Theresa McCarthy, is quite good. I think I prefer "If You Can Find Me I'm Here" to "I Remember Sky," but it's close.
And then there's "Take Me to the World" and "When." Gotta love it. Sondheim just got better after this one, of course, but he was already brilliant in 1966.
By the way, this wasn't a "special," in the conventional sense of the term. It was an episode of ABC's wonderful 1966-67 anthology series Stage 67. It featured plays by writers like Truman Capote and Murray Schisgal. It even featured a musical episode by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, though Sondheim blew those guys away. (Despite which, I love Burt Bacharach and Hal David.)
"A world of skies that's bursting with surprise."
And then there's "Take Me to the World" and "When." Gotta love it. Sondheim just got better after this one, of course, but he was already brilliant in 1966.
By the way, this wasn't a "special," in the conventional sense of the term. It was an episode of ABC's wonderful 1966-67 anthology series Stage 67. It featured plays by writers like Truman Capote and Murray Schisgal. It even featured a musical episode by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, though Sondheim blew those guys away. (Despite which, I love Burt Bacharach and Hal David.)
"A world of skies that's bursting with surprise."
Fascinating early Sondheim mini-musical
F Gwynplaine MacIntyre9 April 2002
The 1966 TV special "Evening Primrose" still attracts interest because of its score by Stephen Sondheim and its leading performance by Sondheim's long-time friend and collaborator Anthony Perkins. I viewed a kinescope of "Evening Primrose" at the Museum of Television & Radio in New York City, where the curator told me that they receive frequent requests to view this show.
"Evening Primrose" is based on a short story of the same name, by English author John Collier. In the original story, a sensitive young man retreats from the cruel world by moving into a department store. He plans to hide in the daytime when the store is open, coming out only after closing hours at night, helping himself to food and clothing and writing materials from the store's merchandise. Then he learns that the store is populated by a Morlock-like group of subterraneans with the same idea but different motives, who spend their daylight hours hiding in plain sight, disguised as department-store mannequins. Among the living mannequins is a beautiful girl who was abandoned in the store as an infant and who has lived among the subterraneans for her entire life. The young man falls in love with her and tries to rescue her. But then danger looms...
John Collier's story "Evening Primrose" is a classic of horror fiction, widely anthologised. But the TV special "Evening Primrose" dispels nearly all the eerie atmosphere of its source material. Anthony Perkins, cast as the sensitive young man, is too neurotic - too Norman Bates-ish - for the role to succeed. He's meant to be playing a normal guy among the weirdos; instead, Perkins manages to seem weirder than the (very normal and dull) actors who play the subterraneans.
This project suffers from a small budget. "Evening Primrose" takes place in a luxury department store, but we're obviously on a tiny soundstage with a few props. When we first see the store's mannequins, we're meant to assume that they're REAL (plaster) mannequins, but they're obviously played by live actors trying to stand motionless. This gives us the impression that the producers were just too skint to obtain actual dummies, so they hired bit-part actors and paid them minimum scale (less expensive than renting real dummies) to stand still and pretend to be plaster dummies. Later, when we learn that the "plaster" mannequins really are flesh-and-blood denizens of this nocturnal realm, the surprise has been blunted by the clumsy early scenes. A well-known "Twilight Zone" episode ("The After-Hours") handled a similar idea in a much better way: use plaster dummies (with the facial features of real actors) to play inanimate mannequins, then bring on the real actors when the mannequins come to life.
"Evening Primrose" features some weird effects that are baffling rather than eerie. When Perkins first enters the department store, we hear a loud heartbeat: is it HIS heart? Somebody else's? Why are we hearing it? We never find out.
Due to the short length of this musical (less than an hour), there are only a few songs ... but the Sondheim score is excellent. The best song is the poignant ballad "I Remember Sky", sung by the beautiful girl (who has lived in the store from early childhood) as she tries to recall her brief existence in the living world. This girl (the "evening primrose" of the title) is played by Charmian Carr, who gives a much better performance here than she did as Liesl von Trapp in "The Sound of Music". Make every possible effort to view "Evening Primrose". I wish it were available on commercial video: maybe this review will start some demand for it to be issued.
"Evening Primrose" is based on a short story of the same name, by English author John Collier. In the original story, a sensitive young man retreats from the cruel world by moving into a department store. He plans to hide in the daytime when the store is open, coming out only after closing hours at night, helping himself to food and clothing and writing materials from the store's merchandise. Then he learns that the store is populated by a Morlock-like group of subterraneans with the same idea but different motives, who spend their daylight hours hiding in plain sight, disguised as department-store mannequins. Among the living mannequins is a beautiful girl who was abandoned in the store as an infant and who has lived among the subterraneans for her entire life. The young man falls in love with her and tries to rescue her. But then danger looms...
John Collier's story "Evening Primrose" is a classic of horror fiction, widely anthologised. But the TV special "Evening Primrose" dispels nearly all the eerie atmosphere of its source material. Anthony Perkins, cast as the sensitive young man, is too neurotic - too Norman Bates-ish - for the role to succeed. He's meant to be playing a normal guy among the weirdos; instead, Perkins manages to seem weirder than the (very normal and dull) actors who play the subterraneans.
This project suffers from a small budget. "Evening Primrose" takes place in a luxury department store, but we're obviously on a tiny soundstage with a few props. When we first see the store's mannequins, we're meant to assume that they're REAL (plaster) mannequins, but they're obviously played by live actors trying to stand motionless. This gives us the impression that the producers were just too skint to obtain actual dummies, so they hired bit-part actors and paid them minimum scale (less expensive than renting real dummies) to stand still and pretend to be plaster dummies. Later, when we learn that the "plaster" mannequins really are flesh-and-blood denizens of this nocturnal realm, the surprise has been blunted by the clumsy early scenes. A well-known "Twilight Zone" episode ("The After-Hours") handled a similar idea in a much better way: use plaster dummies (with the facial features of real actors) to play inanimate mannequins, then bring on the real actors when the mannequins come to life.
"Evening Primrose" features some weird effects that are baffling rather than eerie. When Perkins first enters the department store, we hear a loud heartbeat: is it HIS heart? Somebody else's? Why are we hearing it? We never find out.
Due to the short length of this musical (less than an hour), there are only a few songs ... but the Sondheim score is excellent. The best song is the poignant ballad "I Remember Sky", sung by the beautiful girl (who has lived in the store from early childhood) as she tries to recall her brief existence in the living world. This girl (the "evening primrose" of the title) is played by Charmian Carr, who gives a much better performance here than she did as Liesl von Trapp in "The Sound of Music". Make every possible effort to view "Evening Primrose". I wish it were available on commercial video: maybe this review will start some demand for it to be issued.
More recordings of the music
Davenicity27 November 2009
On Mandy Patinkin's 1987 CD Dress Casual, the music from Evening Primrose is sung by the two great interpreters of Sondheim's music: Patinkin and Bernadette Peters. It was a wonderful introduction to the songs. The CD itself suffers from something common in his albums, a too-large modulation in volume, which is forever causing you to turn the volume up, then down, then up again.
But the singing itself is gorgeous. These are two magnificent voices singing music representative of Broadway's best composer, and it's a wonder we haven't heard the tunes more often in the many tributes to Sondheim. The plot idea is as old as Greek mythology, and over-used. Anyone interested in Sondheim at all should get a listen to this CD.
But the singing itself is gorgeous. These are two magnificent voices singing music representative of Broadway's best composer, and it's a wonder we haven't heard the tunes more often in the many tributes to Sondheim. The plot idea is as old as Greek mythology, and over-used. Anyone interested in Sondheim at all should get a listen to this CD.
Wonderful Sondheim gem and Perkins can sing!!
princessduvet11 March 2024
Heard about this while watching Sondheim interviews. Was not aware this existed and was delighted to find it on the tube. The songs are wonderful and well sung by the two leads. While I knew she could sing, Perkins was an absolute revelation!! The plot was interesting and I agree with the other reviewers that this is very much a twilight zone style episode. The other actors were wonderful as well - delighted to discover they were all NY stage actors. The setting and props were very well done. The lighting worked to create the atmosphere!
The ending, while you have an inkling, is so much more emotional than expected!!
These shows are examples of what TV could be if producers and networks had the courage to give actual stories a try!! Realize that audiences aren't stupid and would appreciate being challenged with something like this!!
The ending, while you have an inkling, is so much more emotional than expected!!
These shows are examples of what TV could be if producers and networks had the courage to give actual stories a try!! Realize that audiences aren't stupid and would appreciate being challenged with something like this!!
Definitely worth the discovery
TheLittleSongbird26 September 2013
By all means not mind-blowingly amazing, more interesting and good. There are moments of clumsy direction, especially with the mannequins, the special effects are rather substandard and hindered by budget and Charmian Carr's singing voice sometimes did sound on the weak side. The settings are decent though for its budget and give the production a creepy but also melancholic look. The stage direction succeeds in being frightening and poignant, while the photography is decent and the sound while it could have been sharper was serviceable enough. Anthony Perkins is charming and commanding with a pleasant singing voice- just 6 years since playing one of Hitchcock's creepiest and most iconic villains in Psycho-, and Charmian Carr is an attractive partner for him with her acting faring better than her singing. Dorothy Stickney deftly-characterises and seems to be having fun with her role. Stephen Sondheim's score and songs though are the real star, and while not one of his best scores they are of high quality, I Remember and Take Me to the World are outstanding. Overall, not a classic but worth discovering. 7/10 Bethany Cox
Twilight Zone: The Musical
cherold15 April 2021
There's some serious talent involved in this little musical, with a script by James Goldman, performances by Tony Perkins and Charmian Carr, and - and this is the reason this thing is still talked about - 4 songs by Steven Sondheim.
The show rolls out like an episode of Twilight Zone, as a man decides to live in a department store and discovers there's a whole bunch of people already living there and no one can leave or the "dark men" will be called. Occasionally someone starts singing.
Sondheim, right between Funny Thing and Company, composed some really good songs for this, like I Remember Sky, which I was familiar with from a Jody Collins LP. They are classic Sondheim, clever, original, and catchy.
The script is a mixed bag. There are some nice individual scenes but it doesn't make a lot of sense, isn't weird enough for that not to matter, and goes *exactly* where you thought it was going 15 minutes in. In other words, it's like a Serling-original Twilight Zone, not a Matheson.
The direction is ... indifferent. There's no sense that the director has any particular vision for the show. It has elements of horror but never feels like a horror show. The characters feel underdeveloped. Sure, it's short, but *something* needed to be done with it, and the director just blocks the scenes and hopes for the best.
The end is predictable and unsatisfying, which is always a terrible combination.
Interesting curio, watch it or don't.
The show rolls out like an episode of Twilight Zone, as a man decides to live in a department store and discovers there's a whole bunch of people already living there and no one can leave or the "dark men" will be called. Occasionally someone starts singing.
Sondheim, right between Funny Thing and Company, composed some really good songs for this, like I Remember Sky, which I was familiar with from a Jody Collins LP. They are classic Sondheim, clever, original, and catchy.
The script is a mixed bag. There are some nice individual scenes but it doesn't make a lot of sense, isn't weird enough for that not to matter, and goes *exactly* where you thought it was going 15 minutes in. In other words, it's like a Serling-original Twilight Zone, not a Matheson.
The direction is ... indifferent. There's no sense that the director has any particular vision for the show. It has elements of horror but never feels like a horror show. The characters feel underdeveloped. Sure, it's short, but *something* needed to be done with it, and the director just blocks the scenes and hopes for the best.
The end is predictable and unsatisfying, which is always a terrible combination.
Interesting curio, watch it or don't.
Anthony Perkins Could Sing
drednm10 February 2017
Odd mini-musical from Broadway giant Stephen Sondheim seems almost like an episode from "Twilight Zone." Story centers on a community of department store dwellers who hide during the day but come out at night and inhabit the store. Anthony Perkins pays a failed poet who stumbles upon this weird cult and falls in love (and finds his poetic voice) with the aged group's maid (Charmian Carr).
Several haunting songs highlight this outing with Perkins and Carr in good voice. The plaintive songs accent their new-found love and desire to leave the group and go outside. But no one is allowed to leave for fear of exposing the group and casting them all outside. Anyone suspected of leaving is gathered up by the "darkmen," another group that lives at a funeral home.
Perkins is a major surprise, showcasing a wonderful singing voice. Carr is also excellent as the maid held by the group against her will. Her "I Remember Sky" is especially good. Dorothy Stickney plays Mrs. Monday, the leader of the group who's been there for decades. Larry Gates is Roscoe and Margaretta Warwick is Bilby. Other old ladies include Margaret Bannerman, Dorothy Sands, and Margaret Barker.
Filmed at the Stern Brothers department store in New York City. This was originally shown on ABC's "Stage 67" series. The ending is quite chilling.
Several haunting songs highlight this outing with Perkins and Carr in good voice. The plaintive songs accent their new-found love and desire to leave the group and go outside. But no one is allowed to leave for fear of exposing the group and casting them all outside. Anyone suspected of leaving is gathered up by the "darkmen," another group that lives at a funeral home.
Perkins is a major surprise, showcasing a wonderful singing voice. Carr is also excellent as the maid held by the group against her will. Her "I Remember Sky" is especially good. Dorothy Stickney plays Mrs. Monday, the leader of the group who's been there for decades. Larry Gates is Roscoe and Margaretta Warwick is Bilby. Other old ladies include Margaret Bannerman, Dorothy Sands, and Margaret Barker.
Filmed at the Stern Brothers department store in New York City. This was originally shown on ABC's "Stage 67" series. The ending is quite chilling.
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