In honor of legendary Broadway composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim turning 90 on March 22, 2020, I set out to steer my Instagram “A BroadWAY WITH WORDS” venture into a celebration of Sondheim’s work, particularly HIS words. So I chose a show or theme to represent on each of the twelve days leading up to the big day.
Here is a show-and-tell of the lineup:
Follies (1971) In the ruins of a once thriving follies theater, former performers and stage door Johnnies reunite one last time and see the ghosts of their former selves through a thin veil.
I’m Still Here. Yvonne DeCarlo as Carlotta Campion sang this paean to perseverance which offered a glimpse into pop culture and socio-politics of the early part of the twentieth century.
Broadway Baby. Ethel Shutta as Hattie Walker told of an actor’s quest for that moment in the spotlight.
A Little Night Music (1973) Bergman’s Smiles of a Summer Night inspired this waltz-laden romp of missed opportunities and hope for connection.
The Glamorous Life. The repetition in a working actor’s life is mused upon by the cast, particularly by Desiree Armfeldt, originated by Glynis Johns.
The Miller’s Son. Handmaid Petra, originally played by D’Jamin Bartlett, latches onto all that life can offer.
Songs written for the screen.
Little Dream from The Birdcage (1996). Nathan Lane as Albert rehearses “a complex number, full of mythical themes” in this box office hit co-starring Robin Williams and based on La Cage aux Folles.
I Remember Sky from Evening Primrose (1967). Young Ella, played by Charmian Carr, who has been held since childhood by a nocturnal society in a department store grasps onto her memories of the outside world through the language of her familiar surroundings.
Into the Woods (1987) Taking several well-known fairy tales and inspired by breakdowns by Bruno Bettelheim, Sondheim and James Lapine create a masterfully woven tapestry of familiar characters that come together and ultimately unravel, leaving crumbs of wisdom along the path.
No One Is Alone. The Baker (Chip Zien), Jack (Ben Wright), Cinderella (Kim Crosby), and Little Red (Danielle Ferland) grapple with loss and finding new connections.
Children Will Listen. The Witch wraps up a series of the very grown-up twists and turns in children’s fairy tales.
Anyone Can Whistle (1964) This "a satire on conformity and the insanity of the so-called sane" ran only nine performances, but has given us a thrilling score and so many gems.
A Parade in Town. Mayor Cora Hoover Hoople (Angela Lansbury), sees the party going on without her as her cherished yet coerced limelight has been stolen.
Everybody Says Don’t. Dr. J. Bowden Hapgood (Harry Guardino) lays out his bold and idealistic thoughts on life.
Pacific Overtures (1976) How amazing that Sondheim, John Weidman, and Hal Prince would stage an epic indictment of capitalistic cultural exploitation in the year of the U.S.’ bicentennial.
Someone in a Tree. Likely my favorite Sondheim song (and, at least at one time, Mr. S’ as well), the Reciter (Mako) gets three versions – Old Man (James Dybas), Boy (Gedde Watanabe), Samurai (Mark Hsu Syers) – of an eye-witness account of what happened in the treaty house as Japan signed a trade agreement with the U.S,’ Commodore Perry, which cracked open Japanese culture to outside exploitation.
Poems. Passing time on a long journey two men trade poems about their true love: Kayama (Isao Sato) and his wife, Manjiro (Sab Shimono) and America.
Sweeney Todd (1979) This epic grand guignol of a tale packs a whirlwind of revenge and reckoning for power abuse around a memory of a love story in industrial Victorian London.
My Friends. Now reunited with his precious razors, barber Benjamin Barker, now Sweeney Todd, will get revenge on those who have wronged him and his family. (Note: The lyric “At last, my RIGHT arm is complete again!” was adjusted by original Sweeney Len Cariou because he thought of Todd as a lefty.)
A Little Priest. In a sprightly dance of lyrical wordplay, Sondheim leads Todd and Mrs. Lovett (Angela Lansbury) through the possibilities of who fills the meat pies.
Not While I’m Around. Mrs. Lovett receives the gift of comfort from urchin Tobias Ragg (Ken Jennings) even as she knows he’ll need to be silenced for what he knows.
Passion (1994) Based on Italian film Passione D’Amore, a young soldier is torn between his tryst with beautiful Clara and Fosca, the sickly, obsessive cousin of the Colonel.
Loving You. Fosca (the wonderful Donna Murphy) exposes her soul and the laser-focused desires at the core of her being.
Happiness. Clara and Giorgio (the amazing Marin Mazzie and Jere Shea) open the story in an earth-shaking dalliance.
A Sondheim sampler. Thoughts from across the canon.
Invocation and Instructions to the Audience from The Frogs. First performed in Yale University’s swimming pool with a Greek chorus that included Sigourney Weaver and Christopher Durang, The Frogs was freely adapted from the Aristophanes comedy. Dionysus (Larry Blyden) fills the audience in on what is to come.
Do I Hear a Waltz from Do I Hear a Waltz. Leona Samish (Elizabeth Allen) hears music in Venice.
Pretty Little Picture from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Slave Pseudolus (Zero Mostel) lays out the plan for Hero (Brian Davies) and his love, virginal courtesan Philia (Preshy Marker), to float away to happiness.
Merrily We Roll Along (1981) In this infamously misunderstood show, – and one of my favorite scores – we witness three friends and collaborators’ relationships devolve, but we see it in reverse time. So the hope of songs that come later in the show are tinged with the knowledge of what we already know happens.
Our Time. The thrill of being at the headwaters of life of following one’s dreams! We find three new friends – Frank (Jim Walton), Charley (Lonny Price), and Mary (Ann Morrison) – on a NYC rooftop seeing Sputnik race across the sky.
Now You Know. Facing crumbling hopes, realist Mary lays out the truth.
Company (1970) An early “concept musical”, we see bachelor Bobby surrounded by the whirlwind of advice and nurture from his married friends and the potential of romantic connection on the occasion of his 35th birthday. The 2020 revival recasts Bobby as Bobbie, flipping the gender and focus of this legendary Broadway tale.
Getting Married Today (1970). Crazy Amy (Beth Howland), feeling all the pressure on the day she is supposed to wed Paul (Steve Elmore), attempts to claw her way out.
Getting Married Today (2020). In the revival, Amy has now become Jamie (Matt Doyle) marrying Paul (Etai Benson).
Being Alive. This anthem to letting down one’s guard and letting love in has been heard countless times in the last 50 years, including in four Broadway productions by Dean Jones (1970, Larry Kert (1970), Boyd Gaines (1995), Raul Esparza (2006), and in 2020, Katrina Lenk.
Sunday in the Park with George (1984) Perhaps my favorite Sondheim show because of its connection of visual arts with the performing arts as well as the need of artists to create. Act one follows a fictionalized version of French pointillist painter Georges Seurat and his drive to create something new. Act Two finds his great-grandson struggling with the same thing.
Move On. Truth bomb dropped by Sondheim by way of Dot (Bernadette Peters) to George (Mandy Patinkin) urges that one needs just to draw from one’s self to bring something new and special to the world.
Sondheim in Words
I wrapped up the twelve days with a video version of a piece I created for the 92nd Street Y’s Lyrics and Lyricists concert honoring Sondheim in 2019. Sondheim with his Blackwing pencil and yellow pad emerge from a cavalcade of words he has brought to us over the years.
Surprise! Twelve Days of Sondheim turned into a baker’s dozen, fittingly starting with:
Prologue from Into the Woods. Sondheim’s classic yeasty request.
Finishing the Hat from Sunday in the Park with George. As I said, there are so many gems in this show, and this is one of my favorites. The core of an artist’s life: making something where there was previously nothing.
The Ladies Who Lunch from Company. Speaking of hats, Elaine Stritch as Joanne sunk her teeth into this acidic musing. Patti LuPone in the 2020 revival knocks it out of the park too.
Happy happy birthday, Mr. Sondheim!
And thank you all so much for joining me on this journey! More “A BroadWAY WITH WORDS” will be coming your way on Instagram every Monday!