“If people have split
views about your work, I think it's flattering. I'd rather have them feel
something about it than dismiss it.”
Stephen
Sondheim
For
many people, Broadway musicals have a reputation as being somewhat facile,
fulfilling their role as accessible “feel-good” entertainment. Composer, writer, lyricist, and producer
Stephen Sondheim has made a career out of both identifying and challenging this
notion, notably claiming that "the dumbing down of the country reflects
itself on Broadway. The shows get dumber, and the public gets used to
them." This comes from the man
whose name has become practically synonymous with musical theatre.
Even
those who have never attended a Sondheim show are likely familiar with his
work. Early in his career, Sondheim wrote the lyrics for such beloved and
frequently-revived musicals as West Side
Story and Gypsy, which gave him
the opportunity to earn further recognition with the music and lyrics of such
award-winning shows as A Funny Thing
Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962), Company (1970), Follies (1971),
A Little Night Music (1973), Sweeney Todd (1979), Sunday in the Park with George (1984), Into The Woods (1987), and Passion (1994). In 2008, Sondheim won a Special Tony Award
for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, and there have been a number of revues
and anthologies produced for the sole purpose of featuring his music, including
Marry Me a Little, You’re Gonna Love
Tomorrow, Side by Side by Sondheim, and Putting
it Together.
Despite
this popularity and acclaim, Sondheim’s songs are notorious for their
complexity. One of the most persistent
criticisms of his work over the past thirty years has been that Sondheim
doesn’t write “hummable” tunes that stick with the audience like some catchy
musical standards. Sondheim himself
acknowledged this in his song “Opening Doors,” part of his 2010 revue Sondheim on Sondheim, with the lyrics, “It
isn't every day I hear a score this strong. But fellas, if I may there’s only
one thing wrong. There's not a tune you can hum. There's not a tune you go bum,
bum, bum, di, dum. You need a tune you can bum, bum, bum, di, dum. Give me a
melody.” Many people are surprised to
learn that Oscar Hammerstein, who gained his fame writing such hummable
melodies as “Oklahoma!,” was an early mentor of young Sondheim. The complexity and technical difficulty of
Sondheim’s music reflects the challenging nature of much of his lyrical
material, which often explores darker themes such as loneliness and the search
for human connection.
Sondheim’s
work gained new audiences with the 2007 film version of Sweeny Todd, starring Johnny Depp.
In December 2014, Depp is bringing the Wolf to the big screen with the Into the Woods film. Perhaps we are finally learning to appreciate
what Sondheim has been telling us with his music all along: “It’s complicated.”
Further Reading:
Academy of Achievement interview
Art Isn't Easy: The Theater of Stephen Sondheim by Joanne L. Gordon
Art Isn't Easy: The Theater of Stephen Sondheim by Joanne L. Gordon
Finishing the Hat: Collected Lyrics (1954-1981) with Attendant Comments,
Principles, Heresies, Grudges, Whines and Anecdotes by
Stephen Sondheim
The Oxford Handbook of
Sondheim Studies by Robert Gordon
Sondheim on Music:
Minor Details and Major Decisions
by Mark E. Horowitz and Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim: A
Casebook by Joanne
L. Gordon
Stephen Sondheim: A
Life by Meryle Secrest
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