Three years after Stephen Sondheim’s death, his works and his craft continue to be loved and admired. In the midst of the holidays, his constant presence feels like a kind of gift that keeps on giving. Here are some examples.
In a May 2022 online article writer James Inverne offered seven reasons that he believes demonstrate how Sondheim was one of the world’s greatest composers. He explores how so much of what Sondheim created was ahead of its time and how he had an incredible ear for human emotion and heartbreak. There’s much more as Inverne employs video links and astute commentary to touch on a variety of moments, especially Sondheim teaching his songs to young performers.
For another set of perspectives on Sondheim’s greatness, check out Richard Schoch’s new study, How Sondheim Can Change Your Life ($28.99, Atria Books, 2024). In 11 essays he offers a show-by-show analysis that points out learnings derived from Sondheim’s shows, including Gypsy, Sweeney Todd, Merrily We Roll Along, Into the Woods and more. He includes stories about productions and memorable performers as well as deep insights into Sondheim’s music, lyrics and creative process. Schoch is a professor of drama at Queen’s University in Belfast; in the past he directed plays in New York City and worked for the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. His book would be a great holiday gift for any musical theater fan.
Another holiday book recommendation: Recording Broadway: A Life in Cast Albums ($45, Rowman & Littlefield, 2024) by veteran recording producer Thomas Z. Shepard. It’s his recently published first-person account of producing musical theater cast recordings for more than a half-century. His book features up-close-and-personal stories about working with pretty much everyone who was anyone on Broadway, especially Stephen Sondheim. He oversaw cast recordings for Company (Grammy winner), A Little Night Music (London production), Pacific Overtures, Side by Side by Sondheim, Sweeney Todd (Grammy winner), Merrily We Roll Along, Sunday in the Park with George (Grammy winner) and Follies in Concert (Grammy winner). He also worked with Julie Andrews, Barbra Streisand, Leonard Bernstein, Sheldon Harnick, John Kander and Fred Ebb, Barbara Cook and Andrew Lloyd Webber. They’re all in this book.
The current Broadway production of Gypsy — with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim — opened at the newly restored Majestic Theatre recently with Audra McDonald playing the iconic and demanding role of Rose, “a monster of a mother,” according to book writer Arthur Laurents. Playbill whetted everyone’s appetite for this, the fifth revival of one of the greatest of all musicals with a photo essay portraying previous stars in this gargantuan role. McDonald is in great company, but the odds are that the six-time Tony Award winner will be every bit as memorable as her predecessors.
We often consider A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum to be a frothy, joyous farce. But Anika Chapin’s November 2024 explication of the show’s song “Free” in conjunction with the show’s production at Arlington, Virginia’s Signature Theatre digs into why this was a challenging lyric for Sondheim to write — and why it’s truly profound. Sondheim’s songs often call for deeper understanding, and Chapin does a fine job of leading us down that path.
In 2022 Encores!, the much admired New York City Center’s annual series of revivals, assembled a concert staging of Sondheim’s Into the Woods. Here’s a video montage from a rehearsal of the production. It moved on to a hit Broadway production in 2022-2023. The Encores! cast included Neil Patrick Harris as the Baker; on Broadway Brian d’Arcy James stepped into the role. Singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles was the Baker’s wife for both Encores! and Broadway. Tragically, the wonderful actor Gavin Creel, who played the Wolf (photo above) and Cinderella’s Prince, died of cancer this past September.
Speaking of Into the Woods, it had a novel staging in Chicago during December by Kokandy Productions in Wicker Park’s Chopin Theatre. The show’s orchestrations were reimagined for a pair of onstage grand pianos. This exciting video shows how it worked. Chicago Tribune reviewer Chris Jones credited the audience’s strong reaction to the emotionally invested pianists. He wrote, “This isn’t a concert-style staging and nor is it a copy of the Broadway revival; it’s quite different. But it’s still a very intimate experience that comes with a full appreciation of how the stakes in a good Into the Woods have to be life and death. We all know our giants in the sky and all worry about them.
As a Sondheim fan, you might enjoy digging deeper into his shows with an online course led by Gail Leondar-Wright, a scholar and devotée of his works (Learn more about her via her website (http://talkingsondheim.com). On January 6, 13 and 27 at 7 p.m. she will offer a series of classes (80-100 minutes) that she’s titled Tick Tock: Explorations of Time in Sondheim Shows. She promises that this will be a fast-paced exploration of Sondheim’s inventive solutions to problems of the passage of time in his mid- to late-career shows – Company, Follies, Pacific Overtures, Merrily We Roll Along, Assassins and Sunday in the Park with George. Based on Gail’s past, well-received offerings, these classes will be full of things to watch, listen to, think about and discuss. No preparation required, but this is not an introductory class — so if you don’t know one of the shows, Leondar-Wright recommends watching a YouTube video in advance. (She’ll provide links for registrants.) The fee is $45 for the series; a Zoom link will be sent prior to the first class. To sign up, go to this Eventbrite link.
Best wishes to you and yours during this holiday season and for another year of great musical theater — especially more Sondheim productions! If you have news or suggestions to share, please email me: pender.rick@gmail.com