sardonic

There was Baron Hoover and his wife, the baroness, and the Earl of Maytag, who looked sardonic as ever.

What “The Trouble With Harry” needed, Herrmann wrote, was “a musical portrait of Hitchcock . . . gay, funny, macabre, tender and with an abundance of his sardonic wit.”

Folds’ best-known songs, such as “Brick,” “Song for the Dumped,” “Army,” “Rockin’ the Suburbs” and “Zak and Sara,” may seem too sardonic or dark for the sweet world of Snoopy and company.

“Hannah read it in a way that was dry, sardonic, the way that a comedy writer would say it, and she just had this toughness about her.”

And when they do, the show presents a view of Los Angeles that’s both sardonic and affectionate, portraying a place where dreams can come true, provided you’re not stuck on the 405 at rush hour.