A Tune for the Times 0

From the Youtube page:

“Agony” is one of the many extraordinary and hilarious songs from Stephen Sondheim’s magnificent “Into the Woods” (1986) which has long been a family favourite. The original involves two fairytale princes reflecting on their painful pursuit of maidens within the intertwined plots of Brothers Grimm tales. Chris Pine and Billy Magnussen did a great job in the 2014 movie but we think the most perfect take was sung by Robert Westenburg and Chuck Wagner in the original Broadway production.

It would naturally have been better to cast Alfie as the Second Prince … but needs must with topical parodies, and he was off playing cricket for Faversham today. So this is Ben and Tom (with help and some giggling behind the scenes from Danielle and Tess) using the song to reflect on the unamicable breakup – playing out on all our social media feeds around the world – between the two powerful but petulant men at the centre of the American government, Elon Musk and Donald Trump. It’s hard not to get the popcorn out and wait for the next move in their toddler antics, especially if you are not a fan of the administration and its manic instability. It was tempting to try to shoehorn more references in (to bills, lawns, karma, tariffs, and pork), but we mostly gravitated to Sondheim’s original framework because it’s so strong. Plus, there’s a reprise of “Agony” in Act II so this may end up as a Suella Braverman-style refrain.