Caroline - so glad you posted this. Sanderson's report of the panel is the most detailed yet. Joss' comments regarding OMWF and the Sondheim influence were interesting and, I hope, piqued Sondheim's interest enough that he'll watch the episode.

Sanderson's remarks, regarding the discussion of musical theatre as becoming more of a marginalized art form, and how that marginalization is much like the place of the comic book community was enlightening.

Znachki | March 27, 22:41 CET

Comics in Context is one of my favourite columns and this with out doubt was one of the best I have read in ages. Certainly a lot of food for thought.

Simon | March 28, 00:06 CET

Yes, thanks Caroline. I'm so glad someone was taking notes. It is funny though to read an almost exact account of your own day being lived by someone else. I got there an hour earlier, did not go to Dunkin' Donuts and camped out in front of the speaker facing the other line for the panel, but those are about the only differences.

newcj | March 28, 00:08 CET

A pretty great piece. Nice to know I'm not the only genre geek who thinks about musicals.

bobster | March 28, 03:43 CET

Caroline - also great to see Whedonesque mentioned twice (or was it 3 times?)! All 3 parts were interesting too:
1.)The Joss bits (not to be confused, of course, with Joss' bits!)

2.)Sondheim's comments about his genre and its use in pop culture were also interesting - very gentle in how he phrased but I don't think he is impressed overall and I get the feeling he sees the genre (in its classical version) as nearly gone and

3.) the interesting parallel between that musical genre's probable fate and that of classical comics(I know, Golden Age isn't it?). This quote: "The big screen has already exhausted the most important characters from the Marvel stable - and a few of the minor ones as well - and is most likely to consume the rest within a relatively short time" is also a telling one. With WW to come (I know DC, but the point is equally telling for them too) I suspect that the new iconic figures are coming to a halt. Well-known and beloved they may be to fans but many of those characters yet to appear are just unkown to the wider public or too specialised in their appeal.

Thought provoking for sure - good find!

catalyst2 | March 28, 06:52 CET

Very interesting report by someone who, like many of us here on Whedonesque, is able to appreciate a variety of art forms without denigrating the ones he is less knowledgable about.
Just to nit-pick - WalltoWall isn't always about composers. Last year's subject was the choreographer, George Balanchine. BTW Balanchine is another example of a wonderful artist (a real genius, as Joss called Sondheim) whose classical ballets were informed by his appreciation of commercial theatre and pop culture.

WWBD | March 28, 19:50 CET

Mr. Sanderson took better notes than I did.

I would have liked a more direct acknowledgement, but appreciate how he integrated my descriptions.

cjl | March 28, 20:18 CET