This game goes back to the Sondheim listserv in the 1990s, where it was a running joke that people would justify off-topic discussions by showing that there was some obscure Sondheim connection. Eventually we made a formal game out of it.
The rules are the same as the Kevin Bacon game. You start with a person and connect them to Sondheim, either through appearances in his shows or being married to someone who was in one of his shows. (More inventive connections are also allowed, even encouraged.)
Here's an example. Start with the name Buddy Hackett. Hackett was in the movie The Love Bug with Dean Jones. Jones, of course, was the original star of Company. That puts Hackett two degrees from Sondheim. (If Hackett was ever in a Sondheim show, that puts him closer, but I don't know if he ever was.)
You don't have to know in advance if someone has a connection, because there's always going to be a connection (at least if you name an actor or other theatrical persona), no matter how obscure. With people from outside theater (Donald Trump, for instance), you might want to have a connection in mind before you play their name. You may use the IMDB, IBDB or Wikipedia or any other resource as a reference.
I'll start with one that should be easy:
John Lithgow
Oooh, fun!
John Lithgow was in the original M. Butterfly cast with B.D. Wong who was in the Pacific Overture revival in 2004.
Okay. Just for laughs...
Donald Trump
Donald Trump hosted The Apprentice, where guests included James Lipton, who interviewed Sondheim on Inside the Actors Studio. (Great interview!)
Senator Chuck Schumer
Quote from: Chris L on Jul 20, 2017, 01:13 PMSen. Chuck Schumer
I have no idea who this is. Do the rules of the game allow us to look the subject up, or do we have to rely on our little grey cells?
Quote from: Vera Charles on Jul 20, 2017, 01:29 PMQuote from: Chris L on Jul 20, 2017, 01:13 PMSen. Chuck Schumer
I have no idea who this is. Do the rules of the game allow us to look the subject up, or do we have to rely on our little grey cells?
Oh, by all means look things up! I don't think this game would be playable without references.
(A hint on Schumer: Think about his last name.)
I want to emphasize that this game is meant to be playful and inventive. There are no rigid rules as to what kind of connection you can use, as long as it can be plausibly argued that it's a connection. Certainly blood relatives/in-laws are as valid as costarring connections. Think outside the box and have fun. Play to enjoy as much as you play to win. Just remember to leave another name after you make your connection.
Okay, I'll give out a possible first connection because it seems to be a difficult one to research. Senator Chuck Schumer's cousin is actress/comedian Amy Schumer.
Senator Chuck Schumer
Chuck Schumer is in the Senate with Al Franken
Al Franken worked with Eddie Murphy in Trading Places
Eddie Murphy worked with Anika Noni Rose in Dreamgirls
Anika Noni Rose worked with Tonya Pinkins in Caroline, or Change
Tonya Pinkins worked with Anna Francolini in the London production of Caroline, or Change
Anna Francolini was in Company at the Donmar
(That's fairly convoluted!)
Oh! Um ...
Victoria Wood
Quote from: Leighton on Jul 20, 2017, 03:02 PMChuck Schumer is in the Senate with Al Franken
Al Franken worked with Eddie Murphy in Trading Places
Eddie Murphy worked with Anika Noni Rose in Dreamgirls
Anika Noni Rose worked with Tonya Pinkins in Caroline, or Change
Tonya Pinkins worked with Anna Francolini in the London production of Caroline, or Change
Anna Francolini was in Company at the Donmar
(That's fairly convoluted!)
Convoluted is fine as long as you stay within six degrees. (And I'm happy that you avoided the Amy Schumer route. Stay creative, folks!)
Victoria Wood
Not too baffling, thank goodness :) , thanks
@Leighton.
Victoria Wood's friend and frequent co-star was
Julie Walters.
Julie Walters appeared with
Meryl Streep in
Mamma Mia!Meryl was the witch in the
Into The Woods film.
Barry Gibb
Off the top of my head:
Barry Gibb and his brethren supplied the songs for Saturday Night Fever, starring John Travolta.
John Travolta is a scientologist, as is Tom Cruise.
Tom Cruise starred in Edge of Tomorrow with Emily Blunt.
Emily Blunt played the Baker's Wife in the movie of Into the Woods.
Cary Grant
Cary Grant starred in The Philadelphia Story with James Stewart.
James Stewart starred in Anatomy of a Murder with Lee Remick.
Lee Remick was the original Nurse Fay Apple in Anyone Can Whistle and was also Phyllis in Follies in Concert.
Melinda Gates
Quote from: KathyB on Jul 20, 2017, 04:45 PMMelinda Gates
Melinda Gates is married to Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft.
Microsoft has the naming rights to the Microsoft Theater in LA.
The Microsoft Theater hosted the 58th Annual Grammy Awards.
At the 58th Annual Grammys,
Hamilton won Best Musical Theater Album.
Hamilton was written by and stars Lin-Manuel Miranda, who played Charley Kringas in the Encores production of Sondheim's
Merrily We Roll Along.
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford was depicted in Feud.
Catherine Zeta-Jones played Olivia de Havilland in Feud.
Zeta-Jones played Desiree Armfeldt in the 2009 revival of A Little Night Music.
Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley was in the movie The Trouble With Girls, with Vincent Price.
Vincent Price was in Edward Scissorhands, which was directed by Tim Burton.
Burton directed the film version of Sweeney Todd.
Robert Redford
Robert Redford was in The Great Gatsby with Karen Black (thought I was going to use Barbra, didn't ya?).
Karen Black was Philia out of town in A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum until she was fired.
Kim Novak
Kim Novak was in The Mirror Crack'd with Angela Lansbury
Angela Lansbury was in Sweeney Todd
Mabel Normand
Mabel Normand was played by Janie Dee in the 2006 production of Mack and Mabel.
Janie Dee is playing Phyllis in the National Theatre's production of Follies.
Boris Johnson
Quote from: Leighton on Jul 20, 2017, 03:02 PMChuck Schumer is in the Senate with Al Franken
Al Franken worked with Eddie Murphy in Trading Places
Eddie Murphy worked with Anika Noni Rose in Dreamgirls
Anika Noni Rose worked with Tonya Pinkins in Caroline, or Change
Tonya Pinkins worked with Anna Francolini in the London production of Caroline, or Change
Anna Francolini was in Company at the Donmar
(That's fairly convoluted!)
You could knock two steps off of this: Tonya Pinkins was in the original cast of
Merrily We Roll Along. :) :-*
Latest person is
Boris Johnson
This could probably be shortened a few steps, but here goes:
Boris Johnson was mayor of London during the 2012 Olympics...
...Whose opening ceremony was directed by Danny Boyle
...Who directed Trainspotting with Jonny Lee Miller
...Who was also in Melinda and Melinda, directed by Woody Allen
...Who directed Elaine Stritch in September
...who has too many Sondheim connections to name. :)
Quote from: KathyB on Jul 21, 2017, 10:44 AMThis could probably be shortened a few steps, but here goes:
Boris Johnson was mayor of London during the 2012 Olympics...
...Whose opening ceremony was directed by Danny Boyle
...Who directed Trainspotting with Jonny Lee Miller
...Who was also in Melinda and Melinda, directed by Woody Allen
...Who directed Elaine Stritch in September
...who has too many Sondheim connections to name. :)
This is brilliant, Kathy! My thoughts had gone down the more banal route of a play about Boris Johnson that was produced at the Trafalgar Studios.
Oh! Next name.
Miley Cyrus
Miley Cyrus played Hannah Montana
Montana Chem is a song in Saturday Night.
(Does this count if the link is not actually a person?)
Quote from: Vera Charles on Jul 21, 2017, 11:36 AMMiley Cyrus played Hannah Montana
Montana Chem is a song in Saturday Night.
(Does this count if the link is not actually a person?)
Hmm, that's stretching it a bit. How about this?
Miley Cyrus starred in the show Hannah Montana.
Hannah Montana ran on the Disney Channel.
Disney produced the movie version of Into the Woods.
Mairi played first, though, so I'll let her pick the next name.
Quote from: Chris L on Jul 21, 2017, 11:49 AMMairi played first, though, so I'll let her pick the next name.
Thanks, Chris. (I did think about the Disney link, but liked the brevity of Montana Chem!)
Florence Foster Jenkins
I'm tempted to go the obvious route through Meryl Streep (who played her on film), but we've already used Streep. How about this?
Cole Porter was a dedicated, if amused, fan of Jenkins' work.
Cole Porter loved Sondheim's choice of rhyming "egos" with "amigos."
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Quote from: KathyB on Jul 21, 2017, 10:00 AMQuote from: Leighton on Jul 20, 2017, 03:02 PMChuck Schumer is in the Senate with Al Franken
Al Franken worked with Eddie Murphy in Trading Places
Eddie Murphy worked with Anika Noni Rose in Dreamgirls
Anika Noni Rose worked with Tonya Pinkins in Caroline, or Change
Tonya Pinkins worked with Anna Francolini in the London production of Caroline, or Change
Anna Francolini was in Company at the Donmar
(That's fairly convoluted!)
You could knock two steps off of this: Tonya Pinkins was in the original cast of Merrily We Roll Along. :) :-*
Latest person is Boris Johnson
Oh yes! Also, Anika Noni Rose worked with Christine Baranski in The Good Wife, and Baranski was in Sweeney Todd.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D Eisenhower was succeeded as President by JFK
JFK was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald is a character in Assassins
Salvador Dali
Salvador Dalí appeared in and cowrote the film Un Chien Andalou (An Andalusian Dog) by Luis Buñuel.
Sondheim is currently working on a musical based on two films by Luis Buñuel.
Kim Kardashian
Kim Kardashian has a kid named North West.
James Mason was in North by Northwest
James Mason was also in Heaven Can Wait with Warren Beatty
...who starred in Dick Tracy
Babe Ruth
This might be tenuous ... feel free to refuse it (or tell me if you had a better link!)!
Babe Ruth was a baseball player ...
There's a song about baseball in Ragtime ...
Ragtime starred Marin Mazzie ...
Marin Mazzie was in Passion
Mary Berry
Quote from: Leighton on Jul 22, 2017, 02:39 AMThis might be tenuous ... feel free to refuse it (or tell me if you had a better link!)!
Babe Ruth was a baseball player ...
There's a song about baseball in Ragtime ...
Ragtime starred Marin Mazzie ...
Marin Mazzie was in Passion
Mary Berry
Well it seems a mite fragile (heh heh!), so I was going to say -
Babe Ruth was played in
The Babe by...
John Goodman, who appeared at Studio 54 in
Waiting For Godot with...
Nathan Lane who has appeared in
Forum,
Frogs, et al.
I'm quite intrigued by the potential
Mary Berry connection though, so happy to stick with that :) OK by you
@Chris L?
(I have been naughty and not actually worked out if there is a connection in six, but quite excited to see how it gets there ;) )
Mary Berry
Yes, I think we're officially on Mary Berry.
Quote from: Leighton on Jul 22, 2017, 01:11 PM(I have been naughty and not actually worked out if there is a connection in six, but quite excited to see how it gets there ;) )
Mary Berry
Unlike the lyrics chain, you don't have to know if there's a connection, because there's always going to be one. Trust me. ;)
Quote from: Leighton on Jul 22, 2017, 01:11 PM(I have been naughty and not actually worked out if there is a connection in six, but quite excited to see how it gets there ;) )
Mary Berry
Ooh, mochyn budr! 😃😆
OK,
Mary Berry appeared on
Bake-Off with...
Mel Giedroyc, who played Frau Schmidt in the live broadcast of
The Sound of Music with...
Maria Friedman whose many Sondheim involvement include the West End
Passion.
King Zog of Albania ;)
Okay, this one took some research, but:
King Zog of Albania died in exile in Suresnes, France, in 1961.
Suresnes is the birthplace of singer Catherine Ringer.
Ringer's 2011 album Ring'n'Roll contains a song called "Mahler."
Mahler gets a shout-out in "The Ladies Who Lunch" from Sondheim's Company.
Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon
Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon had a big hit with "Palisades Park".
"Palisades Park" was written by Chuck Barris.
Chuck Barris hosted the Gong Show.
Carol Burnett's recurring character Eunice Higgins went on the Gong Show in a sketch and got gonged.
Carol Burnett of course has numerous Sondheim including playing Carlotta Campion in the 1985 concert performance of Follies.
Eminem
Eminem starred in 8 Mile with...
Kim Basinger who was in Batman directed by...
Tim Burton who also directed Sweeney Todd.
Groucho Marx
Did you call me a dirty pig?! ;)
Groucho Marx's daughter is Melinda Marx
Melinda Marx was in the film version of Bye Bye Birdie with Dick Van Dyke
Dick Van Dyke starred alongside Chita Rivera in the original Broadway cast of Bye Bye Birdie
Chita Rivera was in the original cats of West Side Story
Sharon Osbourne
Quote from: Leighton on Jul 26, 2017, 03:17 PMDid you call me a dirty pig?! ;)
Sharon Osbourne
Affectionately, wrth gwrs! :D :-*
Sharon Osborne's daughter...
Kelly Osbourne was on
Dancing With The Stars competing with...
Aaron Carter who appeared off-Broadway in...
The Fantasticks, in the 1964 US national tour of which appeared...
Liza Minelli, who recorded
Losing My Mind.
@Leighton see if you can pip me to 100 posts...
Bradley Wiggins
Bradley Wiggans was born on 28 April, as was Harper Lee.
Harper Lee's childhood friend was Truman Capote
Infamous (film about Truman Capote) featured Juliet Stevenson (as Diana Vreeland)
Juliet Stevenson played Arkadina in The Seagull at the National in the 1990s - a role played there a decade earlier by Judi Dench
Judi Dench played Desiree in the NT production of A Little Night Music.
E.F. Benson
E.F. Benson's Mapp and Lucia was adapted for BBC Radio 4 by..
Ned Sherrin, who not only produced and directed SBSBS, but was also a patron of the Stephen Sondheim Society of Singapore.
Mother Theresa of Calcutta
Quote from: MartinG on Jul 27, 2017, 11:15 AME.F. Benson's Mapp and Lucia was adapted for BBC Radio 4 by..
Ned Sherrin
The one with Barbara Jefford, that's on Radio 4 Extra this week? That's what put Benson in my mind.
And, welcome to the 100 Club,
@MartinG!
As you were:
Quote from: MartinG on Jul 27, 2017, 11:15 AMMother Theresa of Calcutta
Quote from: Vera Charles on Jul 27, 2017, 12:01 PMQuote from: MartinG on Jul 27, 2017, 11:15 AME.F. Benson's Mapp and Lucia was adapted for BBC Radio 4 by..
Ned Sherrin
The one with Barbara Jefford, that's on Radio 4 Extra this week? That's what put Benson in my mind.
And, welcome to the 100 Club, @MartinG!
As you were:
Quote from: MartinG on Jul 27, 2017, 11:15 AMMother Theresa of Calcutta
No, this was broadcast in 2007.
..and thanks! ;D
Mother Teresa was played by Geraldine Chaplin in Mother Teresa: In the Name of God's Poor
Geraldine Chaplin appeared in Chaplin with Kevin Kline
Kevin Kline won a Tony for On The Twentieth Century
OTTC was directed by Hal Prince
Hulk Hogan
Quote from: Vera Charles on Jul 27, 2017, 12:01 PMAnd, welcome to the 100 Club, @MartinG!
@Leighton and I just joined the 100 club too! Back to...
Hulk Hogan
*sigh* Soon...
:bunny: :dog: :cat:
Very soon!
Hulk Hogan appeared in the video for Headlock on My Heart by...
Dolly Parton whose stage version of 9 to 5 was presented to industry luminaries in 2007 with a cast including...
Bebe Neuwirth whose cabaret show Stories With Piano included Another Hundred People.
Napoleon Bonaparte
Quote from: MartinG on Jul 30, 2017, 08:05 AMNapoleon Bonaparte
Actor René Auberjonois is a descendant of Napoleon Bonaparte's sister.
Auberjonois was in the original production of the musical
City of Angels.
The book for
City of Angels was written by Larry Gelbart.
Gelbart also wrote the book for
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.
Prince Rainier III
Prince Rainier III
Prince Rainier was married to Grace Kelly
Grace Kelly was in To Catch a Thief with Cary Grant
Cary Grant was in His Girl Friday with Rosalind Russell
Rosalind Russell played Rose in the original movie of Gypsy
Queen Victoria
Queen Victoria was played by Emily Blunt in The Young Victoria.
Emily Blunt played The Baker's Wife in the Walt Disney film version of Into the Woods.
Clive of India
Clive of India was portrayed in the 1935 film by...
Ronald Colman, who starred in the 1944 film of...
Kismet, the 1985 New York City Opera revival of which starred...
George Hearn!
Dmitri Mendeleev
Quote from: MartinG on Aug 05, 2017, 12:40 AMDmitri Mendeleev
This is really lame, but the game seems to be stalled....
Mendeleev was a chemist...
Chemist is the term used in England for...
What is called in the US a drug store...
Which is where Tony worked in West Side Story
Woodrow Wilson
Quote from: Bookman George on Aug 27, 2017, 10:25 AMQuote from: MartinG on Aug 05, 2017, 12:40 AMDmitri Mendeleev
This is really lame, but...
Well how about - he invented the Periodic Table which was turned into a song by...
Tom Lehrer who apparently attended Summer Camp with
SJS!...???
Woodrow Wilson was played by Frank Forsyth in the film version of
Oh! What a Lovely War alongside...
Corin, Michael and
Vanessa Redgrave, all of whom are related to...
Lynn Redgrave who played Joanne in the 2002 Kennedy Centre production of
Company as part of the Sondheim Celebration festival.
Stan Laurel
Stan Laurel directed a movie called Yes, Yes, Nanette...
Which starred, among others, Pete the Pup,
Who was in the Our Gang comedies with Jackie Cooper.
Whose final film role was in Surrender with Michael Caine,
Who starred in Hannah and Her Sisters for/with Woody Allen,
And we're back to Stritch again (Elaine Stritch in September)
Rudolf Nureyev
A slighty tenuous and somewhat macabre route, but -
Nureyev allegedly once had a yen to father a child with...
Nastassja Kinski who starred in Tess directed by...
Roman Polanski, whose wife,...
Sharon Tate was murdered by members of the...
Manson Family, which included...
Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme who appears in Assassins.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Desmond Tutu won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Barack Obama also won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Barack Obama presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Stephen Sondheim.
Walter Becker
(It's okay to look him up if you don't know who he was.)
OK. This is lame, but it's creative. :)
Walter Becker was a member of Steely Dan.
The movie Me, Myself and Irene has a soundtrack made up mostly of Steely Dan covers.
The movie Me, Myself and Irene starred Jim Carrey and Renee Zellweger.
Renee Zellweger was in Chicago (the movie) with Catherine Zeta-Jones...
Who was Desiree in the most recent Broadway revival of A Little Night Music.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar appeared in Airplane! along with...
Ethel Merman who created the role of Mama Rose in Gypsy.
Barry Humphries
Quote from: MartinG on Sep 20, 2017, 01:23 PMKareem Abdul-Jabbar appeared in Airplane! along with...
Ethel Merman who created the role of Mama Rose in Gypsy.
Gads, that's too easy. ;) If I had remembered that (and I should have), I would have picked a different athlete.
Barry Humphries
Quote from: KathyB on Sep 20, 2017, 02:02 PMQuote from: MartinG on Sep 20, 2017, 01:23 PMKareem Abdul-Jabbar appeared in Airplane! along with...
Ethel Merman who created the role of Mama Rose in Gypsy.
Gads, that's too easy. ;) If I had remembered that (and I should have), I would have picked a different athlete.
Barry Humphries
Names with clever but non-obvious solutions are encouraged. ;)
How about one degree? ;D
Barry Humphries, in his persona of Dame Edna Everidge, recorded "Losing My Mind" for the compilation album Sondheim: The Stephen Sondheim Album (https://www.amazon.com/Sondheim-Stephen-Album-Various-Artists/dp/B0000584Y1/ref=sr_1_42?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1506019223&sr=1-42&keywords=sondheim) (which I have, but I didn't realize it would be so difficult to find on Amazon sixteen years after it came out).
J.R.R. Tolkein
Quote from: KathyB on Sep 21, 2017, 11:44 AMJ.R.R. Tolkein
J.R.R. Tolkien wrote
The Lord of the Rings.
Cate Blanchett played Galadriel in Peter Jackson's film versions of the trilogy.
Blanchett played
Katharine Hepburn in the movie
The Aviator.
Katharine Hepburn used to live next door to
Stephen Sondheim.
Diana Ross
Diana Ross was the inspiration for Deena Jones in Dreamgirls
Audra McDonald played Deena in a concert version of Dreamgirls
Audra has done Passion (and probably others?!)
Peter Sissons
Quote from: KathyB on Sep 21, 2017, 11:44 AMHow about one degree? ;D
Barry Humphries, in his persona of Dame Edna Everidge, recorded "Losing My Mind" for the compilation album Sondheim: The Stephen Sondheim Album (https://www.amazon.com/Sondheim-Stephen-Album-Various-Artists/dp/B0000584Y1/ref=sr_1_42?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1506019223&sr=1-42&keywords=sondheim) (which I have, but I didn't realize it would be so difficult to find on Amazon sixteen years after it came out).
:o ::) Well I'll go to the foot of our stairs! ;D If I ever knew that, it had entirely slipped my mind. Or maybe it was wallowing in the sludge of my subconscious somewhere.
Masterly work, Kathy.
A mere two degrees...
Peter Sissons went to school with John Lennon, Paul McCartney and...
Bill Kenwright, who produced the UK premiere of
Passion.
Joey Ramone
Joey Ramone recorded "What a Wonderful World"...
As did Louis Armstrong, whose version is in the Grammy Hall of Fame...
As is Leonard Bernstein's (with the NY Philharmonic) version of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5.
Upon further perusal of the list of Grammy Hall of Famers:
As is the original cast recording (and also the soundtrack) of West Side Story (and also the OCR of Company)
(Thanks, Wikipedia!)
Rin Tin Tin
Rin Tin Tin is mentioned in the song "Drop That Name" in Bells are Ringing, which had music by
Jule Styne who also wrote the music for
Gypsy, the lyrics to which were written by a young lyricist named
STEPHEN SONDHEIM
Albert Finney
Albert Finney was in the movie Annie with Carol Burnett and Bernadette Peters.
...and need I say more?
Gene Roddenberry
Gene Roddenberry produced/created Star Trek
Which featured George Takei (sp?)
Who recently was in Pacific Overtures.
Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie wrote Miss Marple
Who has recently been played by Julia McKenzie
Who was in Follies, Into the Woods, and Side by Side in London
Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney appeared as himself in the short film Americans with...
Sean Penn who was married to...
Madonna who appeared (with Mandy Patinkin) in Dick Tracy which features five songs by SJS.
Julian Assange
Julian Assange had many secrets found out by Chelsea Manning
Who was a member of the U.S. Army
As was fictional character Sgt. Bilko, played by Phil Silvers
Who was Pseudolus in one of the revivals of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Marcus Lycus in the movie.
Paula Abdul
Among the celebrity guests in Series 3 of the BBC drama Hotel Babylon were Paula Abdul and John Barrowman, who appeared on Broadway in Putting It Together and as Bobby in Company at the Kennedy Centre.
Lizzie Borden
Besides being a bobblehead that Aileen sent me for Secret Sondheim one year (I'm not sure how many degrees of separation that counts as being), Lizzie Borden...
was from Fall River, Massachusetts,
Also the hometown of Emeril Lagasse,
Who voiced Marlon the Gator in The Princess and the Frog,
Which also featured the voice of Anika Noni Rose,
Who was Marta in Company with Neil Patrick Harris (NY Philharmonic concert).
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso lived in Paris and was a regular at the Salon hosted by Gertrude Stein ...
who was portrayed (in the world premiere of the opera 27 by Ricky Ian Gordon) by Stephanie Blythe ...
who played Mrs. Lovett in a production of Sweeney Todd at San Francisco Opera
Howard Keel
Howard Keel was in the Movie version of Show Boat whose lyrics were written by Oscar Hammerstein and we all know his relation to Sondheim! ;)
Iggy Pop
Very good, Connie. I was thinking that Howard Keel was in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, which also starred Russ Tamblyn, who played Riff in the movie of West Side Story.
I'll have to think about
Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop and David Bowie worked together on Raw Power
Bowie wrote the music and lyrics for Lazarus, which starred Alan Cumming in a video insert
Cumming starred alongside Michele Pawk in Cabaret
Pawk has starred in Merrily and Bounce
Terry Wogan
Terry Wogan was born in Limerick, Ireland, also home to Frank McCourt,
Who wrote Angela's Ashes, the movie version of which starred Emily Watson,
Who was in Gosford Park with Maggie Smith,
Who was in the Harry Potter movies with Helena Bonham Carter,
Who was Mrs. Lovett in the movie version of Sweeney Todd.
Alexander Graham Bell
Bell invented the telephone which plays a part of Company.
Henry James
Henry James wrote the novel The Europeans
Which was made into a movie starrting Lee Remick
Who starred in the original cast of Anyone Can Whistle
Jonas Salk
Jonas Salk invented a polio vaccine.
FDR had polio.
An attempted assassination of FDR is in Assassins!
John Muir
Quote from: Hester Jean on Oct 18, 2017, 07:54 PMJohn Muir
Assuming that this is the John Muir who founded the Sierra Club...
John Muir traveled to Yosemite National Park with
Theodore Roosevelt...
...who was a distant cousin of
Franklin Delano Roosevelt...
...who was almost assassinated by
Giuseppe Zangara...
...as described in
Stephen Sondheim's Assassins.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk used Tesla solar panels on San Juan's Children Hospital for power after Maria. (Thank you random Facebook post!)
Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote a song for Maria's survivors based on Sondheim's Maria.
Big Head Todd
Big Head Todd and the Monsters were formed at the University of Colorado in 1986.
CU is the alma mater of former Supreme Court Justice Byron ("Whizzer") White.
White was appointed to the Supreme Court by John F. Kennedy.
Kennedy's assassination is a pivotal scene in Assassins.
Bob Barker
This is a bit lazy, but...
Bob Barker hosted television game shows.
Monty Hall also hosted television game shows.
Monty Hall's daughter is Joanna Gleason...
...who starred in the original Broadway production of Sondheim's Into the Woods.
Walter Cronkite
Walter Cronkite was one of the first to break the news of Kennedy's assassination.
'Nuf said.
Aaron Rodgers
Aaron Rodgers used to date Olivia Munn
Who starred in The Newsroom with Grace Gummer
Who is Meryl Streep's daughter
Who was in Into the Woods
Tim Henman
Tim Henman went to the Dragon School in Oxford, whose alumni also include...
Tom Hollander, who was at Cambridge with...
Sam Mendes, who directed Assassins at the Donmar, the 1995 revival of Company and the 2003 Gypsy Broadway revival.
Tenzing Norgay
Tenzing Norgay was named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of the 20th Century.
Another person on the list (one of the runners-up for Person of the Century, in fact) was Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The attempted assassination of Roosevelt is a scene and song in Assassins.
Charlotte Bronte
Quote from: KathyB on Nov 03, 2017, 09:06 AMTenzing Norgay was named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of the 20th Century.
Another person on the list (one of the runners-up for Person of the Century, in fact) was Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The attempted assassination of Roosevelt is a scene and song in Assassins.
Charlotte Bronte
Ha! I thought about taking that path!
Charlotte Bronte wrote "Jane Eyre" which was turned into a musical starring James Barbour as Rochester and Barbour also played Leon Czolgosz is
Assassins!
Andy Griffith
Andy Griffith starred in Matlock.
One of the other actors on Matlock was Kari Lizer.
Lizer created the sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine, which starred Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
Louis-Dreyfus was in Seinfeld with Jason Alexander.
Alexander was in the original cast of Merrily We Roll Along.
David Beckham
David Beckham made a cameo in King Arthur: Legend of the Sword
Which starred Charlie Hunnam, who was also in Nicholas Nickleby
With Nathan Lane, who was in Forum
New name, Leighton?
:)
Oh bloody hell!
Um .... Guy Fieri!
Guy Fieri and Rachael Ray both work for the Food Network.
Rachael Ray has a pit bull.
Theodore Roosevelt also had a pit bull.
Theodore Roosevelt succeeded William McKinley as president.
McKinley's assassination by Leon Czolgosz is a scene (and song) in Assassins.
Lupita Nyong'o
Lupita Nyong'o was in 12 Years a Slave with Bryan Batt
Who was in La Cage with Daniel Davis
Who was in The Frogs (and Gary Beach, who was in Forum)
Guy Fawkes
Guy Fawkes converted to Catholicism.
The leader of the Catholics is the pope.
The current pope, Francis, was born in Buenos Aires.
Buenos Aires is the setting for much of Evita.
The original Broadway production of Evita was directed by Harold Prince.
Who has so many Sondheim connections that they'd go down to the middle of the next page if I were to list them. ;)
Mel Tormé
Mel Torme does a great version of "I Wish I Were in Love Again"...
...which has lyrics by Lorenz Hart...
...whose lyrics Stephen Sondheim can't stand. ;)
Louis C.K. :o
I was hoping somebody else would run with this one so I wouldn't have to rely on my poor Googling skills.
Louis C.K. was a contestant on Celebrity Jeopardy! (** Unfortunately I can't find any proof of this other than my own memory, but I definitely do remember him being on.)
Cheech Marin was also a contestant on Celebrity Jeopardy (and Wikipedia backs me up on this one).
Marin voiced a character in The Lion King (movie), along with Matthew Broderick.
Broderick was in the original Broadway cast of The Producers, along with Cady Huffman.
Huffman was in the original Broadway cast of The Will Rogers Follies, which had lyrics by Betty Comden and Adoph Green.
Comden and Green played the Whitmans in Follies in Concert.
Johannes Gutenberg
Johannes Gutenberg was born in Mainz, Germany, home town of...
Ferdy Mayne, who appeared in Revenge of the Pink Panther with...
Valerie Leon, who appeared in Up Pompeii! with...
Frankie Howerd, who starred in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.
Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Russell is mentioned in Tom Stoppard's Jumpers
Diana Rigg played Dotty in Jumpers
And Diana Rigg was Phyllis in London's Follies
Ray Davies
Ray Davies wrote the musical 80 Days, directed by Des McAnuff
McAnuff directed Forum for La Jolla
Florence Foster-Jenkins
Florence Foster-Jenkins was the subject of the musical Souvenir.
Souvenir started Judy Kaye.
Judy Kaye played Mrs. Lovett in the 2006 revival of Sweeney Todd.
Elizabeth Warren
Elizabeth Warren won a Senate seat previously occupied by...
Ted Kennedy, who was the brother of...
John F. Kennedy, whose assassination was vividly documented in...
Assassins, by Stephen Sondheim.
John Legend
John Legend appeared in Soul Men with...
Samuel L. Jackson, who appeared in Jungle Fever with...
Queen Latifah, who appeared in Cabaret with...
Catherine Zeta-Jones, who won a Tony award for playing Desirée in ALNM on Broadway.
John Coltrane
John Coltrane was on Miles Davis' Kind of Blue album which was recorded at Columbia's 30th Street Studio as was the OBC of Company.
Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Vivaldi's most famous work is a set of four violin concertos known as "The Four Seasons," which is also the title of a 1981 movie starring Len Cariou, who has a couple of Sondheim credits on his resume.
William Butler Yeats
Yeats was an acquaintance (at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin and elsewhere) of...
George Bernard Shaw, who appears in The Frogs.
Beatrix Potter
Beatrix Potter wrote Peter Rabbit
Peter Rabbit is being voiced by (my least favourite actor) James Corden in an upcoming film
Corden was in Into the Woods
David Dimbleby
David Dimbleby's daughter Kate appeared in a show about...
Peggy Lee, who recorded (or at least performed in cabaret) The Boy From..., Losing My Mind, Send In The Clowns, Do I Hear A Waltz and Together, Wherever We Go. Possibly more?
Alma Schindler
Alma Schindler was married to, among several others, Gustav Mahler, who is well-known to "The Ladies Who Lunch."
Doris Day
One degree:
The seat was throwing my back out,
But there I was with a book,
When suddenly there's a blackout
And everywhere I look
Is a close-up of Doris Day,
Ninety minutes of Doris Day,
There was nothing to do but pray,
And how do we go? We fly!
Why?
How do we go? We fly!
Ty Cobb (either one of them, although I was thinking about the baseball player)
Ty Cobb ( the baseball player, I don't know another) played Baseball.
There is a song about Baseball in Ragtime.
Donna Migliaccio was Emma Goldman on Broadway.
Mrs. Mig has played in many Sondheim shows.
W. Somerset Maugham
Quote from: Hester Jean on Dec 24, 2017, 06:29 PMTy Cobb ( the baseball player, I don't know another) played Baseball.
The other one is the president's special counsel, or at least one of his lawyers.
W. Somerset Maugham
W. Somerset Maughan wrote
Of Human Bondage, a film adaptation of which starred
Kim Novak, who appeared in The Mirror Crack'd with
Angela Lansbury, whose SJS connections go all the way back to Anyone Can Whistle.
Galileo
No one has replied for a week, so I thought I would bring this game back into the foreground. I do have a connection, if no one else can think of one.
Galileo was the subject of a song by Indigo Girls,
Who were featured in the documentary Wordplay, along with Will Shortz,
(And while I'm sure there are several links from Shortz to Sondheim using obscure names known only to rabid puzzlers, I'm going to go the easy route:)
Who is the crossword puzzle editor of the New York Times,
Which has reviewed many a Sondheim production.
Karen Carpenter
The music of Karen Carpenter's group The Carpenters is frequently cited as an influence on...
"Unworthy of Your Love" from Sondheim's Assassins.
(I can't recall if Sondheim has said this himself.)
Billy Crystal
Billy Crystal starred in Forget Paris with Debra Winger
who starred in Terms of Endearment with Shirley MacLaine
who sang a version of "I'm Still Here" in Postcards from the Edge.
Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren appeared in Desire Under the Elms with...
Anthony Perkins, who starred in Evening Primrose.
Christopher Crowfield
Christopher Crowfield is a sometimes pseudonym of Harriet Beecher Stowe, who wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Which was featured in The King and I by Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II as a the ballet "The Small House of Uncle Thomas".
Of course there are ties for both of these guys but I'll just say Oscar Hammerstein II was Sondheim's mentor.
Alexander Hamilton
Hamilton was the inspiration for, well Hamilton, written by Lin Manuel Miranda
Miranda was in Merrily
Dave Benson Phillips
Dave Benson Phillips appeared in the film The National Union of Space People with...
Brian Capron, who was in the 1996 film of Emma with...
Sophie Thompson who appeared in Company and Into The Woods at the Donmar.
Gerald Scarfe
Time to resurrect this game!
British cartoonist Gerald Scarfe drew a cartoon of a JFK surrounded by a bevy of faceless breasts.
Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald, a major character in Assassins.
Isaac Stern
Isaac Stern provided the violin soundtrack for Fiddler On The Roof, which is mentioned obliquely in "It's A Hit!" from MWRA.
Carla Bruni
Carla Bruni had a small role in Midnight in Paris, which was directed by Woody Allen.
Allen had previously directed Blue Jasmine, the cast of which included Peter Sarsgaard, who is married to Maggie Gyllenhaal, whose brother Jake recently starred in the NY revival of Sunday in the Park.
John Adams (the president, not the current composer).
Quote from: Bookman George on Mar 14, 2018, 11:59 AMJohn Adams (the president, not the current composer).
In the original production (and movie) of
1776, Adams was played by
William Daniels.
Daniels was in the movie
Reds...
...which contains music written by
Stephen Sondheim.
Ivanka Trump
Ivanka's father is Donald Trump
Trump was in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, as was Dana Ivey, who was in SITPWG
Gary Barlow
Gary Barlow wrote songs for the musical of Finding Neverland, the Broadway premiere of which starred...
Laura Michelle Kelly, who played Lucy in the film of Sweeney Todd.
Frank Lloyd Wright
Meryle Secrest wrote biographies of both Frank Lloyd Wright and SJS
Michael Owen
Michael Owen was born in Chester.
So was Daniel Craig.
Daniel Craig made several James Bond films with Judi Dench.
...who played Desiree in the 1995 revival of A Little Night Music.
Theresa May
From Sweeney:
There's a hole in the world like a great black pit
and the vermin of the world inhabit it
and its morals aren't worth what a pig could spit
and it goes by the name of London.
At the top of the hole sit the privileged few
Making mock of the vermin in the lonely zoo
turning beauty to filth and greed...
...but seriously, folks...
Theresa May attended St Hugh's College, Oxford, whose alumni also include...
Suzy Klein, who in 2016 co-presented a BBC2 documentary on West Side Story.
Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Sartre was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1964, but declined it.
T.S. Eliot is another Nobel laureate in literature.
Andrew Lloyd Webber adapted Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats into the musical Cats.
Lloyd Webber shares a birthday with Stephen Sondheim.
Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan starred in a Nike commercial with...
Spike Lee, whose films He Got Game, Summer of Sam and Bamboozled starred...
Kim Director, who played April in Company at the Kennedy Centre.
Noddy Holder
Noddy Holder has a star on Birmingham's Walk of Fame, as does Julie Walters.
Julie Walters was in Billy Elliott with Jamie Bell.
Bell is married to Kate Mara.
Mara was in Brokeback Mountain with Jake Gyllenhaal...
Who was George in last year's revival of Sunday in the Park with George.
Frances McDormand
Frances McDormand appeared in the 1984 Broadway revival of Awake and Sing, which was presented on PBS in 1972 starring...
Walter Matthau, who appeared in the film Charade with...
Audrey Hepburn, who was voiced in My Fair Lady by...
Marni Nixon, whose magical voice is heard for Natalie Wood in the film of West Side Story.
Aphra Behn
Aphra Behn was mentioned in A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf.
Woolf also wrote Orlando, a film version of which starred Tilda Swinton.
Swinton starred in Michael Clayton with Tom Wilkinson.
Wilkinson was in In the Bedroom with Marisa Tomei.
Tomei guest-starred on Seinfeld, playing George's (Jason Alexander's) would-be love-interest (if only George weren't engaged to Susan!)
Alexander was the original Joe Josephson in Merrily We Roll Along.
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov wrote a collection of stories and essays called I Robot that was the basis of movie of the same name which starred
Will Smith, who starred in Men in Black with
Tommy Lee Jones, who played Brick in a TV movie version of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof which featured, as Mae,
Penny Fuller, who played Eve in Applause, in which Bill Sampson was played by
Len Cariou , whose Sondheim connections are well-known.
D. H. Lawrence
D. H. Lawrence's play The Daughter-in-Law premiered in March 1967 starring...
Judy Parfitt, who appeared in an episode of Murder, She Wrote called "From Russia...with Blood" with...
Angela Lansbury, on whom I need not elaborate.
Barbara Bush
Barbara Bush's husband was VP under
Ronald Reagan, who earlier had starred in King's Road with
Judith Anderson, who played Mrs. Danvers in the Hitchcock version of Rebecca, which starred
Laurence Olivier, at whose wedding to Vivien Leigh one of the witnesses was
Katharine Hepburn, who was for many years the Turtle Bay neighbor of ...
Stephen Sondheim.
Mia Farrow
Mia Farrow appeared in Radio Days with...
Josh Mostel, whose father...
Zero Mostel appeared on stage and screen in Forum.
Mel Blanc
Mel Blanc appeared in Who Framed Roger Rabbit with Bob Hoskins
Who appeared in Guys and Dolls with Julia McKenzie
Who has appeared in a range of Sondheim-productions (Follies, ITW, Side by Side by Sondheim etc.)
Wolf Blitzer
Wolf Blitzer was among a number of notable figures born in Augsburg, Bavaria, including Hans Holbein, Leopold Mozart and...
Bertolt Brecht, a figure famously not admired by SJS, but whose The Threepenny Opera was revived on Broadway in 1989 with a cast including...
Kim Criswell, who has appeared in Side By Side By Sondheim and Into The Woods.
Betsi Cadwaladr
I can get somewhere with three degrees from Betsi Cadwaladr, and then I get stuck, hoping that it's going to lead me to Georges Seurat, but not able to make the right connections. :(
Betsi Cadwaladr served as a nurse during the Crimean War at a hospital run by
Florence Nightingale (who apparently did not cotton to Ms. Cadwaladr, but that's another story) who was the subject of the 1952 biographical film The Lady with the Lamp, which featured
Michael Wilding, who was soon to marry
Elizabeth Taylor, who many years later played Desiree in the film version of A Little Night Music, music and lyrics by.....
Stephen Sondheim
Susan B Anthony
Susan B. Anthony was invited to the White House to celebrate her 80th birthday with...
President William McKinley who is shot in...
Stephen Sondheim's show Assassins.
H.P. Lovecraft
(Believe it or not, there's a remarkably direct connection, but it's obscure and I've only seen it in a single, authoritative source. You don't have to use it, but bonus points if you do.)
Quote from: Chris L on May 25, 2018, 12:33 AMH.P. Lovecraft
(Believe it or not, there's a remarkably direct connection, but it's obscure and I've only seen it in a single, authoritative source. You don't have to use it, but bonus points if you do.)
If you're holding out for the direct connection, you have my official permission to Google it. I did, just to verify that I was remembering correctly, and I found it.
Did SJS begin work/consider working on an HP Lovecraft musical? I haven't checked, it's just a blind guess.
If I am right - Justin Fletcher
If I am wrong - ignore this and carry on!
Quote from: Leighton on May 30, 2018, 08:34 AMDid SJS begin work/consider working on an HP Lovecraft musical? I haven't checked, it's just a blind guess.
If I am right - Justin Fletcher
If I am wrong - ignore this and carry on!
I've seen speculation on maybe Reddit about a Lovecraft musical, but that's not it. This, to give you a hint, is about something he actually did write, but you've probably never heard of it.
Quote from: Chris L on May 30, 2018, 10:43 AMQuote from: Leighton on May 30, 2018, 08:34 AMDid SJS begin work/consider working on an HP Lovecraft musical? I haven't checked, it's just a blind guess.
If I am right - Justin Fletcher
If I am wrong - ignore this and carry on!
I've seen speculation on maybe Reddit about a Lovecraft musical, but that's not it. This, to give you a hint, is about something he actually did write, but you've probably never heard of it.
To me, Lovecraft sounds like something that's in "Ten Years Old." That probably doesn't fall under the category of "probably never heard of it," though, and I don't have the lyrics. (Yes, I know I can Google them.)
I'm going to look for a longer connection than one degree because I'm bored.
H.P. Lovecraft was born in Providence, RI, the home of Brown University (which is also where one of the characters in "The Call of Cthulhu" is a professor)
Brown University has an acclaimed playwriting program. Its graduates have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama four times.
SJS has also won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Edited to add that I'm having a hard time finding the lyrics to "Ten Years Old" online. I know my search engine skills leave a lot to be desired, though.
Let's keep this with
Justin Fletcher
Quote from: KathyB on May 30, 2018, 12:33 PMH.P. Lovecraft was born in Providence, RI, the home of Brown University (which is also where one of the characters in "The Call of Cthulhu" is a professor)
Brown University has an acclaimed playwriting program. Its graduates have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama four times.
SJS has also won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Let's keep this with
Justin Fletcher
That'll do. The more direct connection was that when Sondheim was in college he adapted Lovecraft's short story "The Rats in the Walls" as a radio play (from
Sondheim's Broadway Musicals by Stephen Banfield).
Justin Fletcher
Justin Fletcher provided one of the voices for Shaun the Sheep, created by...
Nick Park of Aardman Animations, whose films Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and A Matter of Loaf and Death featured...
Geraldine McEwan, who appeared as Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing at Stratford in 1961 with...
Christopher Plummer who was in The Sound of Music which of course has a number of Sondheim connections including...
Charmian Carr as Liesl, who also appeared as Ella in Evening Primrose.
Edith Cowan
Edith Cowan was educated at the school of Canon Sweeting, the former Headmaster of Bishop Hale's school
The Australian theatre director Andrew Lutton was also educated there, many years later
Lutton's theatre company, ThinIce, has co-produced with the Sydney Theatre Company
Toni Collette has also worked with STC, and she starred in The Wild Party with Mandy Patinkin
Patinkin has lots of Sondheim connections!
Henry VIII
Henry VIII was the titular subject of a collaborative play by William Shakespeare and John Fletcher
Shakespeare also wrote Romeo and Juliet...
...which was modernized into the musical West Side Story by, well, you know.
Aaron Sorkin
Aaron Sorkin created West Wing, which starred
Martin Sheen, who as a very young man starred in the movie The Subject Was Roses, which included a song called "Albatross," written and sung in the movie by
Judy Collins, who had a hit with "Send in the Clowns," which was written by someone whose name escapes me....
WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN
William Jennings Bryan was depicted in the play....
Inherit the Wind as Matthew Harrison Brady...
...who was played in a 1988 TV adaptation by Kirk Douglas...
...who cohosted the 1986 New York Philharmonic tribute to the Statue of Liberty with Angela Lansbury...
...who has many Sondheim connections.
Meghan Markle
Very good, Chris. I was thinking of going through Inherit the Wind to Spencer Tracy to Katharine Hepburn to SJS. Yours is more interesting.
Meghan Markle
Quote from: Bookman George on Jun 04, 2018, 02:30 PMVery good, Chris. I was thinking of going through Inherit the Wind to Spencer Tracy to Katharine Hepburn to SJS. Yours is more interesting.
Meghan Markle
Actually, I wish I'd thought of Tracy to Hepburn. I was determined to use Inherit the Wind somehow.
Meghan Markle starred in Suits, which was created by Aaron Korsh.
Korsh also wrote for Just Shoot Me, which starred George Segal.
Segal was in the movie version of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? starring Elizabeth Taylor.
Taylor was Desiree in the movie version of A Little Night Music.
Hal Holbrook
Well done, Kathy! You didn't even use the Queen.
The only other person on the board who might know the following bit of trivia is Connie, aka Hester Jean, since it involves theater in St. Louis. But I think it is legit:
Hal Holbrook's first movie was The Group, which also featured
Jessica Walter, who played Louise in Gypsy at the Muny in St. Louis in 1967.
Alicia Vikander
Alicia Vikander starred in the Man from UNCLE movie...
...which was based on the Man from UNCLE TV show...
...an episode of which ("The Deadly Toys Affair") guest starred Angela Lansbury
[Fill in the blank.]
Rudolf Nureyev
Quote from: KathyB on Sep 12, 2017, 09:23 AMStan Laurel directed a movie called Yes, Yes, Nanette...
Which starred, among others, Pete the Pup,
Who was in the Our Gang comedies with Jackie Cooper.
Whose final film role was in Surrender with Michael Caine,
Who starred in Hannah and Her Sisters for/with Woody Allen,
And we're back to Stritch again (Elaine Stritch in September)
Rudolf Nureyev
I'm not sure if you were aware Kathy had got there before you,
@Chris L - if you're happy to repeat we can look for another link, or you may want to think of an alternative :)
Quote from: MartinG on Jun 20, 2018, 01:01 AMQuote from: KathyB on Sep 12, 2017, 09:23 AMStan Laurel directed a movie called Yes, Yes, Nanette...
Which starred, among others, Pete the Pup,
Who was in the Our Gang comedies with Jackie Cooper.
Whose final film role was in Surrender with Michael Caine,
Who starred in Hannah and Her Sisters for/with Woody Allen,
And we're back to Stritch again (Elaine Stritch in September)
Rudolf Nureyev
I'm not sure if you were aware Kathy had got there before you, @Chris L - if you're happy to repeat we can look for another link, or you may want to think of an alternative :)
I suppose it was inevitable that I'd eventually pick a name that'd been used before. I'll go with a name that it seems highly unlikely has ever been used before:
Spider-Man
Among the handful of eager young thesps charged with the Great Responsibility of portraying the friendly neighbourhood web-slinger on screen is...
Andrew Garfield, who appeared in Lions for Lambs with that 6DoS stalwart...
Meryl Streep, whose Witch in ITW earned her 19th Oscar and 29th Golden Globe nominations!
Raymond Blanc
Raymond Blanc was born in Besancon, France (actually, the "c" has the little cedilla on it, but I don't know how to type that on Windows.)
Which was also the birthplace of Victor Hugo, who wrote Les Miserables (same with accent marks).
The Broadway version of which starred Randy Graff as Fantine.
Graff was also a replacement for Trina in the original Broadway production of Falsettos.
With book and direction by James Lapine.
(Do I need to explain the connections between Sondheim and Lapine?)
Jack Dempsey (the Manassa Mauler)
In 1921 Jack Dempsey fought Georges Carpentier in a bout promoted by...
George Bernard Shaw, who appears in The Frogs.
(I was hunting for a Stanley Ketchel connection, but as a middleweight he never encountered Dempsey as far as I can see :) )
Shari Lewis
Shari Lewis won first prize in 1952 on the program Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts.
Among the other contestants on the show over the years was Ken Berry.
Berry appeared on Carol Burnett's show as a guest star numerous times, and appeared with her in Once Upon a Mattress on CBS.
Carol Burnett was Carlotta Campion in Follies in Concert.
Let's see how far we can go back and have a connection ;)
Moses
Moses was played by Val Kilmer not only in The Prince of Egypt, but also in The Ten Commandments: The Musical with...
Kevin Earley who appeared in Assassins in 1997 at the Apple Tree Theatre in Chicago.
Alexis Tsipras
This one's hard. :( I'm going to keep trying because I'm bored.
Alexis Tsipras went to the National Technical University of Athens
As did Paris Kallenakis, who went on to be a professor at Brown University
Daveed Diggs also went to Brown, and starred in Hamilton, which was written by
Lin Manuel Miranda, who was in Merrily
Ottessa Moshfegh
Thank you, Leighton!
I somehow ended up on the Mount Palomar Observatory when clicking links from the National Technical University of Athens, but then I got lost when trying to retrace my steps. Not that the Mount Palomar Observatory was getting me any closer to SJS.
Ottessa Moshfegh
(I always go for alumni of a person's uni when it's looking very difficult ;) )
Ottessa Moshfegh is another alumnus of Brown University, along with...
Emma Watson, who was in the 'live-action' Beauty and the Beast with...
Audra McDonald, who appeared in the 2000 concert version of Sweeney and the 2013 HBO documentary Six by Sondheim.
James Joyce
James Joyce went to University College Dublin, as did Gabriel Byrne
Byrne starred in In Treatment with Josh Charles.
Charles was in The Good Wife with Christine Baranski.
Baranski was Mrs. Lovett in the Kennedy Center's Sweeney Todd.
Marie Curie
If this is too hard, I can come up with another name.
How about Bob Ross?
Sorry Kathy, been sidetracked on a project.
Marie Curie was portrayed in Madame Curie by...
Greer Garson, who appeared in Mrs. Miniver with...
Reginald Owen, who appeared on Broadway in 1972, the year he died, in "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum".
Ric Ocasek
Ric Ocasek was married to Paulina Porizkova (actually, I believe they're still married, although separated).
Paulina Porizkova was in the movie Arizona Dream with Johnny Depp...
Who played Sweeney Todd and the Wolf in various Sondheim movies.
Because I'm curious:
Bob Ross
This is certainly a challenge...working on it... :-\
To inspire you:
http://mentalfloss.com/article/559157/facts-about-the-joy-of-painting-bob-ross
OK as you've kindly supplied a lead I'll go for it...
The 2011 documentary, Bob Ross: The Happy Painter included various notables paying tribute to the artist, including...
Jane Seymour, who appeared on Broadway in Amadeus, opposite...
Tim Curry, who was in My Favourite Year with...
Josh Mostel, whose old man Zero, as I've previously observed, appeared on stage and screen in Forum.
I'd just seen a clip of Bagpuss and was on the brink of proposing Oliver Postgate, but a quick check surprisingly confirmed it wouldn't have been much of a challenge!
so...
Simone de Beauvoir
Simone de Beauvoir was born in Paris, France...
As was Georges Seurat, inspiration for Sunday in the Park with George.
(I thought this one was going to be more difficult, and I suppose I could have made it more difficult.) :)
Justin Bieber
Justin Bieber's song "As Long as You Love Me" was used in Love, Simon, which starred
Jennifer Garner, who until quite recently was married to
Ben Affleck, who starred in Gone Girl with
Neil Patrick Harris, who played Lee Harvey Oswald in a production of Assassins.
Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo was the subject of the 1990 TNT documentary The Divine Garbo, narrated by Glenn Close.
Close played the Giant in the 2012 production of Into the Woods in Central Park.
Jimmy Buffett :)
If this makes it any easier...
Jimmy Buffett collaborated with Herman Wouk on a musical adapted from Wouk's novel Don't Stop the Carnival.
Well as it happens, Jimmy Buffet had a cameo role in Hook, in which Smee was played by...
Bob Hoskins, who played Nathan Detroit in the National Theatre's Guys and Dolls in 1996 alongside...
Julia McKenzie, who was Sally in the West End Follies and also appeared in Side By Side By...
Tommy Cooper
My first attempt at this ended up as Seven Degrees of Sondheim.
I went back and took a different connection and I'm now within six degrees.
Tommy Cooper worked with Eric Sykes on two Thames Television productions in 1982 (according to Cooper's Wikipedia page--it doesn't specify what they are)
Eric Sykes worked with Hattie Jacques on Sykes and a...
Hattie Jacques starred in Carry On, Doctor, which also featured Frankie Howerd
Who was Pseudolus in the original West End production of Forum.
Spike Milligan
Spike Milligan played the Gryphon in the 1972 film of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland alongside...
Michael Crawford, Michael Hordern & Roy Kinnear, who all appeared in the Forum film.
Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro was involved in the Cuban Missile Crisis with John F. Kennedy,
Who was one of the subjects of "Bobby and Jackie and Jack."
Don Ho
Don Ho's big hit Tiny Bubbles was briefly heard sung by...
Carol White in the film The Fabulous Baker Boys, which starred...
Michelle Pfeiffer, who appeared in the 2017 Murder On The Orient Express with...
Johnny Depp, who won a Golden Globe for his Sweeney and had fun with his Wolf in ITW.
Beryl Bainbridge
Beryl Bainbridge wrote the novel Sweet William, the movie of which starred Sam Waterston.
We can go at least two ways from here:
(A) Sam Waterston appeared in September with Elaine Stritch
(B) Sam Waterston starred in a 1973 television production of The Glass Menagerie with Katharine Hepburn.
Oh, what the heck--how about Kevin Bacon? :)
In the spirit of the original game I tried to find a path using all six degrees, but it proved pretty difficult as I kept stumbling across connections in unexpected places, so I'll just offer:
Kevin's appearance in She's Having a Baby with...
Elizabeth McGovern, who appeared as...
Evelyn Nesbit in the 1981 film of Ragtime, the musical of which has featured...
Marin Mazzie, Maria Friedman and Rosalie Craig in the role of Mother.
Seamus Heaney
My problem with this game is that I get distracted when I go off on tangents on Wikipedia, and it takes me forever to get back to where I was originally.
Seamus Heaney established the Field Day Theatre Company with, among other people, Stephen Rea,
Who was in Interview with the Vampire with Antonio Banderas,
Who starred in the 2003 revival of Nine with Chita Rivera,
Who was the original Anita in West Side Story
OK--one of those tangents that I found myself on:
Sylvia Plath
Ha! I got onto a Plath tangent (https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1993/08/23/the-silent-woman-i-ii-iii) a few weeks ago, too.
Sylvia Plath was portrayed, in the 2003 biopic Sylvia, by Gwyneth Paltrow,
the daughter of Blythe Banner who, two years previously,
had played Phyllis in the Roundabout revival of Follies.
Mohandas Gandhi
Gandhi's life inspired the opera Satyagraha by...
Philip Glass, who composed the score for the film of Bent, starring...
Clive Owen, who had a cameo role in the awful remake of The Pink Panther with...
Kristin Chenoweth, who (apart from an early appearance as June in Gypsy), played Cunegonde in the New York Phil revival of Candide, directed by...
Lonny Price, the protokringas.
William Randolph Hearst
The protokringas -- I love that!!
It sounds like some obscure mythological monster -- "release The Protokringas!"
Like Stranger Things's demogorgon, but much, much geekier.
;D
Hearst's castle (http://hearstcastle.org) at San Simeon inspired
John Napier's design (http://www.johnnapierstages.com/shows-plays/sunset-boulevard) for
Norma Desmond's mansion in Sunset Boulevard (the
Andrew Lloyd Webber musical), based on
Billy Wilder's film of the same name,
which Wilder had discouraged SJS from musicalizing thirty years prior when they met by chance at a cocktail party.
(Or you could reroute this chain from Desmond through Gloria Swanson to the photo (http://stargayzing.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/photoby-Eliot-elisofon_large792x1024.jpg) that inspired The Girls Upstairs's metamorphosis into Follies).
(Or get from Sir Andrew to SJS by way of Cameron Mackintosh instead of Billy Wilder).
Buzz Aldrin
Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon during the presidency of Richard Nixon.
When Nixon resigned the presidency, Gerald R. Ford became president.
Two of Ford's would-be assassins are featured in Assassins.
Because she was in a crossword puzzle I worked on today:
Aimee Mann
Aimee Mann scored parts of the soundtrack to the film Magnolia
Which featured Alfred Molina
Who was in Fiddler on Broadway with Randy Graff
Who has played Charlotte in A Little Night Music
Triple H
Paul Michael "Triple H" Levesque appeared in The Chaperone with voice-of-Lisa...
Yeardley Smith, who was in over 600 episodes of The Simpsons, including S18E14 "Yokel Chords" which featured...
Stephen J Sondheim as himself.
Robert Mapplethorpe
Robert Mapplethorpe is an alum of Pratt Institute.
Among other Pratt alums is Harvey Fierstein.
Anne Bancroft appeared with Fierstein in the movie version of Torch Song Trilogy.
Patty Duke starred with Bancroft in both the stage and film versions of The Miracle Worker.
Patty Duke was also in the 1992 film version of Prelude to a Kiss, along with...
Annie Golden, who was the original Squeaky Fromme in Assassins.
Justin Trudeau
I've been thinking of Ms. Golden lately because her new Off-B'way campfest (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDQ6NFmB6xs), penned by Joe Iconis, closed recently. Judging by the reviews, I think I made the right choice in staying away. But even executed poorly, there might have been a certain kick to Golden playing a 70s B-movie fantasy version of herself.
And speaking of Off-Broadway curiosities starring formidable women of a certain age: just a few weeks from now,
Trudeau's mother
Margaret is slated to bring her one-woman show (https://www.theatermania.com/off-broadway/news/justin-trudeau-mom-solo-play-margaret-trudeau_89563.html) to the Minetta Lane. It's being directed by
Kimberly Senior, best known for her work on
Ayad Akhtar's Disgraced several years ago. Akhtar's most recent work on Broadway, Junk, starred
Stephen Pasquale, fresh from playing Booth in the Encores! staging of Assassins a few months prior.
Awkwafina
Awkwafina appeared in Ocean's 8 with...
Helena Bonham Carter, who, believe it or not, received a Golden Globe Best Actress nomination for giving her Nellie in the Sweeney film.
Les Dawson
Les Dawson's final TV appearance was on Surprise, Surprise, hosted by Cilla Black
Cilla Black once performed You Gotta Get a Gimmick with Lily Savage and Barbara Windsor
Matthew Pinsent
Matthew Pinsent attended St Catherine's College, Oxford, whose notable alumni also include...
Emilia Fox, who appeared in The Wrong Mans with...
James Corden, the Baker of the Woods film.
Robert Moog
Robert Moog invented the Moog synthesizer, on which Wendy Carlos recorded a lot of music.
Carlos's main label was Columbia Masterworks...
Which released the original cast recordings of Gypsy and West Side Story.
Kristen Stewart
Kristen Stewart was in the Twilight series with Lisa Howard
Who was in It Shoulda Been You with Tyna Daly, Chip Zien, and Anne L Nathan, all of whom have been in Sondheim shows
Mark Chapman
Mark Chapman (aside from the tenuous connection of being an assassin), was born in Fort Worth, Texas, as was...
Betty Buckley, who sang 'Children Will Listen' at 1992's A Celebration at Carnegie Hall.
Aleister Crowley
(Haha - I meant this guy! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Chapman_(broadcaster) )
Ah, the infamous one! ;D
The other Mark Chapman attended Manchester Grammar School, whose notable alumni include...
Martin Sixsmith, who wrote the book which inspired Philomena, starring the philenomenal...
Judi Dench, arguably responsible for the definitive rendering of 'Send In The Clowns'.
Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley was an alum of Trinity College, Cambridge, as was Leonard Woolf.
Woolf was a part of the Bloomsbury Group. Another member was E.M. Forster.
Forster wrote the novel A Room with a View, the film of which starred Helena Bonham Carter.
Who was Mrs. Lovett in the film of Sweeney Todd.
Louis Prima
Louis Prima was the first husband of...
Keely Smith, who was given away on the occasion of her third marriage by...
Frank Sinatra, who famously recorded Send In The Clowns.
Frida Kahlo
The movie Frida, based on her life, featured Antonio Banderas
Banderas starred in Nine with Jane Krakowski, who was in Company on Broadway
MICHAELA STRACHAN
Michaela Strachan attended ArtsEd (Arts Educational Schools), along with...
Sally Ann Triplett, who played Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney at Barrow Street Theatre, NY in 2017.
Vladimir Nabokov
Nabokov wrote Lolita, which was adapted into a film starring Jeremy Irons
Irons has played Frederik in ALNM
Sarah Lancashire
Sarah Lancashire made her professional debut in Pacific Overtures at the Library Theatre Company, Manchester.
Karl Jenkins
Quote from: MartinG on Nov 19, 2019, 02:33 AMSarah Lancashire made her professional debut in Pacific Overtures at the Library Theatre Company, Manchester.
Karl Jenkins
Did she really? Bloody hell! Knew there was a chance she'd done some Sondheim
Quote from: Leighton on Nov 19, 2019, 12:22 PMQuote from: MartinG on Nov 19, 2019, 02:33 AMSarah Lancashire made her professional debut in Pacific Overtures at the Library Theatre Company, Manchester.
Karl Jenkins
Did she really? Bloody hell! Knew there was a chance she'd done some Sondheim
The Library had a notable association with his shows in the '80s, including the European premieres of
Merrily ,
Follies and
Pacific Overtures. Not that anyone would know as they weren't in That London ;D
Karl Jenkins studied at the Royal Academy of Music, as did Elton John.
Elton John wrote the music for Billy Elliot: The Musical, which starred Santino Fontana.
Santino Fontana was in the Studio 54 production of Sunday in the Park with George as Soldier, Alex, and the understudy to George.
David Hasselhoff
David Hasselhoff made his West End debut as Billy Flynn in Chicago alongside...
Rebecca Thornhill, who has recently appeared as Tessie Tura and understudied Rose in Gypsy at the Royal Exchange, Manchester.
Olga Tokarczuk
Olga Tokarczuk studied as a psychologist at the University of Warsaw.
Among other alumni of the University of Warsaw is Menachim Begin.
Begin won a Nobel Peace Prize.
Another winner of the Nobel Peace Prize was Theodore Roosevelt.
Theodore Roosevelt's fourth cousin, James Roosevelt I, was the father of Franklin Delano Roosevelt...
Who was heroically "saved" in Assassins.
Juliette Gordon Low (in honor of the cookies)