The American composer celebrates his 22th birthday today, March 2020nd, 90.
Let's retrace together the incredible career of Stephen Sondheim to whom we owe some of the most beautiful musicals of the XNUMXth century.
The beginnings
Stephen Joshua Sondheim starts playing the piano and the organ at a young age and shows a great musical aptitude. When his parents divorce, he is quickly taken under the tutelage of the father of a friend who is none other than Oscar Hammerstein II. The playwright and lyricist is half of the Rodgers & Hammerstein duo to whom we owe The Sound of Music, The King and I, South Pacific and many others.
The lyricist introduced young Stephen to musical theatre. Sondheim, aged 15, writes his first show, By George, for his school. Hammerstein II will say of the work that it is "the worst thing I have ever seen. But if you want to know why it's horrible, I'll tell you ”. They spent the afternoon dissecting the work. Sondheim will say: “In one afternoon I learned more about songwriting and musical comedy that most people learn in their life. "
First steps on Broadway as lyricist
Sondheim is invited to an party and recognizes Arthur Laurents. The latter had seen one of the auditions for his show Saturday Night, supposed to open on Broadway in 1954. Laurents informs him that Leonard Bernstein is looking for a lyricist for an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents write West Side Story which was a success on Broadway.
Sondheim expressed that he was not satisfied with his words on West Side Story!
In 1959, he was approached by Arthur Laurents and Jerome Robbins to work on what would become Gypsy, with a score by Jule Styne.
Sondheim established himself as a composer and lyricist despite some failures.
In 1962, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum opens on Broadway. Inspired by the farces of Plautus, the show won 6 Tony Awards including Best Musical.
In 1964, Anyone Can Whistle flops and closes after 9 performances. After the death of Oscar Hammerstein II in 1960, Sondheim collaborated with Richard Rodgers on Do I Hear A Waltz?In 1965.
Sondheim teams up with James Goldman and together, they work on The Girls Upstairs who will become Follies but they find themselves in an artistic impasse.
They create Evening Primrose for the ABC television channel. This musical includes the title "I Remember", one of Sondheim's most beautiful songs:
Collaboration with Hal Prince
From 1970, Sondheim decides to devote himself entirely to the stage. He begins his collaboration with the producer and director Hal Prince, a collaboration that marked the theatrical world.
Their first project is Company, a "musical concept" means that the work is centered on a theme or a message rather than a plot.
The show won 6 Tony Awards including Best Music and Best Lyrics.
The next year, Follies opens on Broadway and wins 7 Tony Awards.
Then, in 1973, A Little Night Music, based on the film Smiles of a Summer Night by Ingmar Bergman, wins 6 Tony Awards.
(In 1974, Sondheim presents The Frogs, freely inspired by an Aristophnae comedy. The show is presented in Yale University's swimming pool. Fun fact, Meryl Streep was in the ensemble of the show!)
In 1976, Sondheim presents Pacific Overtures, staged in Kabuki style. The musical contains one of the most beautiful songs called " Someone in a Tree"
Sweeney Todd, a bloody operatic musical, prevails at the 1979 Tony Awards.
The Sondheim & Prince duo now has an undeniable place on Broadway.
In 1981, Merrily We Roll Along faces very bad reviews after chaotic previews. The show closes after 16 performances. It affected Sondheim a lot and merrily marks the end of the collaboration between Sondheim and Prince.
The after Merrily We Roll Along with new partnerships
Sondheim, overwhelmed by the failure of merrily plans to leave the theatre. Fortunately, he discovers the work of James Lapine. The two collaborate first on Sunday in the Park with George, based on the pointillist painter George Seurat and the painting “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”.
The show opened in 1984 with Mandy Patinkin as Seurat and Bernadette Peters as Dot. The show won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
You can check out the song “Move On”, my favorite Sondheim song !:
They then worked on the adaptation of several tales by the Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault. This gives Into the Woods, which brings together Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Jack and the Magic Bean and many others. The musical was a success and carries a wonderful message through its songs such as "No One Is Alone" and "Children Will Listen".
The last work of James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim is PASSION, inspired by the film Passione d'Amore by Ettore Scola. Although the show closed after 240 performances in 1994, it won 4 Tony Awards including Best Musical.
In 1990, John Weidman and Sondheim write Assassins, which brings together all the people who have tried (with or without success) to assassinate American presidents.
"Old Friends"
In 2000, Saturday Night, which he wrote at the age of 23 finally sees the light Off-Broadway.
In 2003, Harold Prince and Stephen Sondheim reunite to work on Bounce (previously called Wise Guys). It's a flop but a new version called Road Show is created in 2008.
A journal celebrating the work of the composer, entitled Sondheim on sondheim, opened in 2010.
Find "Franklin Shepard, Inc" from Merrily We Roll Along, which is part of the review Sondheim on sondheim. This version is interpreted by Lonny Price who created the role on Broadway, then 22 years old.
Throughout his career, several revues celebrating his works were presented. For example, we have Side by Side by Sondheim and in 1976 Marry me a little and in that 1980 Putting it Together in 1992.
On the screen
Sondheim is no stranger to the big screen.
In 1953, he co-wrote 11 episode of the sitcom Top location. With Anthony Perkins, he writes the detective film The Last of Sheila in 1973.
Sondheim composes five songs for the film Dick Tracy including “Sooner or Later”. He won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1990.
But if he knows it well, it is also because many of his musicals have been adapted into film. We count West Side Story, Gypsy, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way To the Forum, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, and Into the Woods.
The new film adaptation of West Side Story hits theaters in 2020.
I recommend several documentaries to find out more about Stephen Sondheim's work:
- First of all Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened, directed by Lonny Price, who played Charlie in the original production of Merrily We Roll Along. The documentary brings together the actors and retraces the journey of the work for the actors, in the memories and its importance in the repertoire of the musical. The documentary is available on Netflix. A must see.
- Six by Sondheim, the NBC documentary, is also excellent and features performances by Audra McDonald, Jeremy Jordan and Darren Criss.
- The revue Putting it Together, is also available on Broadway HD!
Inheritance
The composer changed musical theatre history thanks to his compositions and his words of genius.
His works are constantly revived, reproduced on stages around the world. His work has marked the American and musical culture. In 2015, President Barack Obama presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Over the past 20 years, many artists have come together for charity concerts, birthdays and galas in honor of Sondheim.
He has also created several programs to introduce young people to dramaturgy and awards grants to many young artists.
To finish in style, listen to "Losing My Mind" by Follies, performed by Marin Mazzie, who left us in 2018:
Above all, Stephen Sondheim brought us the most beautiful works of the XNUMXth century and changed the history of the musical. He touched on serious and moving gender topics. It has allowed the genre of entertainment to evolve towards more musical, emotional and intellectual curiosity.
What's great is that he inspires and influences a whole generation of new playwrights and composers.
All his works show us that the musical is a rich and wonderful genre.
Thank you Mr. Sondheim!