Love and Death and Stephen Sondheim

Normally I would start Holidailies with an introduction, but I’ve been working on writing this entry for a few days and wanted to get it posted.

In case somebody has been stuck on a desert island without news for the past several days, Stephen Sondheim died this past Friday. Hence, this special edition Celebrity Death Watch.

Why does Sondheim merit a special write-up? Well, anyone who knows me knows how much I love musical theatre. And nobody has influenced American musical theatre in my days as much as he did. He changed the emphasis of the songs and tackled subjects that had never been addressed in musicals before, paving the way for so much modern musical theatre.


Like many people my age, I first knew Sondheim as a lyricist. If I recall correctly, there was a production of West Side Story at my junior high and my brother was in the chorus. The songs that made the most impression on tween Miriam were "America" and "Gee, Officer Krupke," - in both cases because of the humor in their lyrics. Adult Miriam would probably name "Maria," but that is because of composer Leonard Bernstein’s unusual use of the tritone. I think I knew Gypsy only via the original cast album (and later the movie version) and, while I think "If Mama Was Married" is quite clever, I think the best aspect of the show is the orchestration of the score by Jule Styne.


I knew a lot of shows primarily through their cast recordings, because my father brought home records every few weeks and cast recordings were a big part of the rotation. (Many of the rest were comedy and novelty records, e.g. Allan Sherman and Tom Lehrer.) The Sondheim show whose cast album I remember getting hooked on the most was A Little Night Music. I am sure I saw the (badly miscast) movie at some point, but it was the album (actually, a cassette of it) that I played over and over when I was in college. There was the sheer cleverness of "Now / Later / Soon" and "You Must Meet My Wife." But in those undergraduate days, the song my suite mates and I repeated the most was "Every Day a Little Death," with the line, "men are stupid, men are vain, love’s disgusting, love’s insane." I should note that from a strictly musical standpoint, I liked "The Miller’s Son," quite a lot - and still do. Adult theatre geek Miriam remains impressed by the musical trick in the score, which is almost all in 3/4 time.


The first Sondheim show I saw on an actual stage was Sweeney Todd. My brother and I went to see it on Broadway in 1980, possibly as a college graduation gift from him or maybe as a going away gift before I left for grad school at Berkeley. I think we had dinner in the city with our parents, but they refused to see it because of the grotesque subject and went to see some other show. Anyway, the show captured me right from the beginning. "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" is one of the great opening numbers of a Broadway show, setting the mood perfectly. (Sondheim also wrote "Comedy Tonight," for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way too the Forum, which is another great opening number. But, sorry, Steve, Frank Loesser had you beat with "Fugue for Tinhorns" from Guys and Dolls, the perfection of which is unlikely to ever be surpassed.) Anyway, the song that had been mentioned in all of the reviews was "A Little Priest," which is, indeed, funny. So I was unprepared for the raw emotion of "There’s No Place Like London," "The Barber and His Wife," and "Epiphany." But the truly outstanding song in the score for me is "Johanna," in its various versions, starting with Anthony’s wide eyed early love song and progressing to the quartet in which Sweeney Todd laments his lack of connection to his daughter. There are some things in the score I don’t particularly care for, e.g. "The Contest"” though I understand why they’re there for things to make sense overall. The whole show straddled the line between musical and opera - not quite as revolutionary as Loesser’s Most Happy Fella in that, but unique in taking on such dark material and doing it so ably. I’ve sometimes said that Sondheim was at his best when confronting his most challenging subject matter and this is a great example.


Still, for some years, most of my exposure to Sondheim musicals was via recordings. In 1985, I moved to Los Angeles and over my time there, I did see a few live productions. In particular, there were the touring companies of Sunday in the Park With George and Into the Woods. I know I also saw a production of Do I Hear a Waltz in Pasadena. And I had lots of discussions about Sondheim (and other topics) in the usenet group rec.arts.musicals.


One of those brings me to a key point. I often hear people say they don’t like Sondheim’s work because it’s not hummable the way that, say, a Jerry Herman musical (think Hello, Dolly is. This is complete and utter nonsense. Any song that can be sung can be hummed. Much of Sondheim's music is, indeed, more complex and not going to get stuck in your head hearing three minutes of it briefly during a show. But repeated listening is rewarding and leads to greater appreciation. Anyway, I thought this criticism was particularly ridiculous when it comes to Into the Woods, the title song from which has all the earworm annoyingness of a commercial jingle.


As time has gone on, I’ve been able to see live performances of most of Sondheim's musicals. A particularly memorable evening was the premiere of Bounce, later renamed to Road Show, at the Goodman in Chicago. It’s decidedly an imperfect show, but the mere idea of seeing something new was so exciting. (Plus, I always love an excuse for getting all dressed up!) Another big night was seeing Sondheim on Sondheim on Broadway in 2010. And, of course, I’ve seen several productions here in D.C., particularly at Signature Theatre.


Anyway, here are my recommendations for 10 Sondheim songs I particularly love. Note that there are easily another couple of dozen songs I could name and, in a different moment, I could have chosen even more.

• "I’m Still Here" (from Follies). A showpiece for an older actress. "I’ve been through Herbert and J. Edgar Hoover…"
  
  
• "Another Hundred People"(from Company). To me, this song summarizes both the good and bad of New York - the excitement and the anonymity of the city.
  
  
  
• "The Miller’s Son" (from A Little Night Music). This is sung by a minor character (Petra, the maid) but is a good song for summarizing the point of the show. She considers her possible futures and concludes "There’s a lot I’ll have missed, But I’ll not have been dead when I die!"
  
  
• "Saturday Night" (from Saturday Night) I have spent many a Saturday night alone with the New York Times, sitting at home and fighting the urge to mingle.
  
  
  
• "Invocation and Instructions to the Audience" (from The Frogs). This is a witty summary of bad audience behavior. I can’t count how many times I’ve quoted the line that runs "And please don’t fart, there’s very little air and this is art."
  
  
  
• "The Boy From …" (from The Mad Show, music by Mary Rodgers). This bossa nova parody is very very funny. I am also impressed by anybody who can remember "Tacarembo la Tumba del Fuego Santa Malipas Zacatecas la Junta del Sol y Cruz."
  
  
  
• “Johanna” (from Sweeny Todd). There are actually three versions of this in the show, reflecting different character’s versions of their love for Johanna. The second version, originally sung by the Judge, is particularly creepy and, hence, usually omitted.
  
  
  
• "Gun Song" (from Assassins). This is more or less a summary of the thoughts and motivations of all of the characters. Czogolsz is thoughtful, Gauteau egotistical, Moore provides comic relief, etc.
  
  
  
• "A Bowler Hat" (from Pacific Overtures, which is my favorite Sondheim score). One thing that was revolutionary about Sondheim was his emphasis on using songs to illuminate character. And, as far as I’m concerned, this song, which shows the evolution of Kayama as he Westernizes his lifestyle. It’s beautiful and sad at the same time.
  
  
  
• "Someone in a Tree" (from Pacific Overtures) This was Sondheim’s favorite of his songs. It’s a great summary of how the whole is more than the sum of the parts.
  
  
  

Finally, it would be remiss of me not to mention Sondheim’s role in the world of puzzles. He is credited with popularizing American cryptic crosswords, for example. If you want just a minor taste of his puzzle making abilities, I think you would do well to start with the movie The Last of Sheila.


My life has been richer for his artistry. May his memory be for a blessing.