Stephen Sondheim Calls Lady Gaga's Oscar Performance a 'Travesty'
Broadway composer was not a fan of Gaga's "Sound of Music" medley.
— -- Julie Andrews herself may have approved of Lady Gaga's "Sound of Music" medley at last month's Oscars, but another musical legend, Stephen Sondheim, called it a "travesty."
The veteran Broadway composer and lyricist told the Times of London in an interview picked up by Playbill.com, "On the Academy Awards she was a travesty. It was ridiculous, as it would be from any singer who treats that music in semi-operatic style. She had no relationship to what she was singing. What people liked was her versatility."
Sondheim, who turns 85 later this month, had no love either for the recent live TV musicals, such as "The Sound of Music," starring Carrie Underwood, or "Peter Pan" with Allison Williams.
"From what little I’ve seen, they’re so embarrassingly bad you have to sit and make fun of them or you’re just wasting your time," he said in the interview.
After Gaga brought down the house the night of the Oscars with her "Sound of Music" medley, Andrews thanked her both onstage and later by phone.
"The minute I got home from the Oscars I called her," Andrews, a long-time Gaga fan, told ABC News. "I confirmed that I thought she was fantastic and had done a wonderful job, and I couldn't thank her enough. She really did a wonderful thing with the medley.
"She sang superbly and then so lovingly handed me the evening on a platter, if you know what I'm saying."