Photo: NY Times
I don’t even know how to write this. The fallout from being thoroughly exhausted is that words don’t come to me as quickly and easily as usual.
This man and his music and words meant everything to me. As most of you know, I started out in musical theater and it remained a major part of my life as an actress and performer for years. The American Musical – everything about it – is something I’ve studied over the years. There’s not much I don’t know about its growth over the decades or those composers who influenced and made their mark on American Musical Theater.
Stephen Sondheim’s influence cannot be understated – his work, the risks he took, the way he embraced and welcomed change. He wrote difficult rhymes, witty lyrics, heartbreakingly beautiful music – sometimes highly complex, sometimes simple and gut-wrenching. He started out as a lyricist, working on A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Gypsy, and West Side Story. But he could do it all, and he knew he could do it all, so eventually he struck out on his own, writing both music and lyrics. I have been in love his work from the moment I first heard the Original Broadway Cast album of Company. (Years later, I was in a production of Company.) I listened to everything he wrote over and over: Follies, Sweeney Todd, A Little Night Music, Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, Passion, Assassins – and on and on.
His mentor was Oscar Hammerstein, a family friend. Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma changed the course of the American Musical. Years later, Sondheim would change it as well.
No one did it better. There will never be another Sondheim.
My opinion: The musical theater of today, with a few exceptions, is bland and boring – ridden with pop music and pop lyrics. It takes no risks. One musical blends into another musical that morphs into another musical. They’re all interchangeable. I have no desire to see any of it, with the exception of Hadestown and the current revival of Company. Half of the shows on Broadway are juke box musicals that should be playing in Las Vegas, not on Broadway.
Sondheim never talked down to his audience, never chose the lowest common denominator. His music and lyrics demanded a ‘thinking’ audience. He challenged us. He made us think about the human condition. He was brilliant.
Others will follow – Lin Manuel Miranda is also changing the American musical and doing it brilliantly. He also challenges his audience – in a new way. Hamilton remains one of the seminal theatrical experiences of my life.
But there will never be another Stephen Sondheim.
I was lucky enough to coach a play he wrote – a murder mystery – while I was at the Old Globe. I met him. I watched him work. I was completely intimidated by his mind and his brilliance, of course, but I am grateful beyond words that I met him and was in the same room with him over the course of the rehearsal period.
Rest in Peace.
_____________________________
I went to The Mysterious Book Shop yesterday.
I’ve written about it before on this blog – a true wonderland for lovers of mysteries – and I am one of those people. I got a couple more Simenons, the new Julia Dahl, and another book I’ve wanted for a long time. Otto Penzler, the owner of the shop, is a longtime collector of first editions and rare editions of mysteries and detective novels. His collection was vast – he auctioned most of it off a few years ago – and he wrote a book about his adventures in collecting. So I got that. Kathy, you’ll be happy to know I finally used the gift certificate you gave me over a year ago! Thank you.
Then I went to Whole Foods and got a few things. It was cold and very windy here, so I made my way home as quickly as possible.
The girls got a change of clothing:
Gosh, they’re adorable!
Stay safe.
Happy Saturday.
Awwww, some people should just live forever, and he was one of them. Huge loss.
Yes, he should have lived forever.
He had Thanksgiving dinner with my former boss and friend Jack O’Brien – so Jack was one of the last to see him before he left us.
Stay safe, Shanna.
sounds like a very nice day off … resting, changing clothes, enjoying good food after getting a couple necessities taken care of (a trip to a bookstore is in that category for me, too) … i am glad for you!
glad you found something on which to use that certificate. :)
also that you will get to work indoors soon. beaches are beautiful and high on my list of favorite places to be, but being cold isn’t good, no matter how incredible the view.
thanks for your good wishes on my job search. much needed! i really didn’t want to get another botox shot in my throat (previous ones have done nothing) but i am afraid that the quake in my voice is keeping me from some jobs (that and changing jobs * at 63 …). the doctor increased the dose one more time so i hope that helps. if it doesn’t, i won’t be getting any more of those shots and will just deal with it.
* reasons i want to change fields … stupid awful virus with another variant, need to find a full-time job with benefits asap, my voice. also, i very much relate to what you said about being introverted … after 40-plus years, i’d like a more concrete/ less people-y job.
today, though, i am with some members of my family. :) going to make them some chili and we will go for a ride this afternoon. on thanksgiving, we rode north and east of here and saw a large group of deer in a field. think there were at least 20 of them … more than i’ve ever seen at once … beautiful!
must go make chili.
happy, safe, warm saturday, everyone!
kathy
ps … wonderful tribute. glad that you and mr. sondheim could meet, that his music continues to bring beauty and enjoyment to people.
xoxo
I think it gets harder to be around people all the time as we introverts grow older. It sure is the case for me.
Lovely vision of all those deer!
Stay safe, Kathy.
I look at Libby’s bare legs and I am shivering…
She’s indoors. She’s fine!
Stay safe, Petra.
That is a heartfelt tribute to Stephen Sondheim you wrote. It is truly a great loss for us all.
Sounds like a great day at the bookstore! Enjoy your day! ;)
Such a heartbreaking loss, Donna.
Stay safe.
Claudia — so sorry for the death of such talent — seems like so many have gone this year. that little ginger girl is still my favorite — looks so much like my daughters and grands — love her dress and tights — perfect for her. pls stay safe and healthy
She’s pretty darned beautiful, Linda. (I always wanted to have red hair – or black, like my dad’s. Ah, well.)
Stay safe.
I no nothing about theatre but I have heard about Stephen Sondheim. When you are telling us about all the musicals he wrote I thought about “Gypsy” and the number in that show that made me cry. It was when Mama Rose and Gypsy had just had a fight and Mama walked out of the dressing room onto the empty stage and sang “I Had a Dream”. I really don’t remember the name of the song, but she sang about what her dream was for Gypsy, and maybe, just maybe that the dream had been about what she had wanted for herself too. It broke my heart. You always have dreams for your kids and maybe they are always wrapped up in what you didn’t achieve for your own life. Having had 4 kids I then understood the feelings I had. Gypsy was listening and watching from the wings, and it ended with them hugging and walking off the stage with their arms around each other. I think Gypsy said to Rose “You would have been great.”
Oh, how we lost a great artist who knew the human condition so very well. May he rest in peace.
He was one of a kind, Tana. There will never be another like him. The loss is profound.
Stay safe.
Beautiful tribute. He truly was a genius. I so agree about LMM, also.
Glad you have had some good down time. I am sure time to catch your breath is priceless. Enjoy the next day and 1/2 and take care.
I’m resting, resting, resting. So tired!
Thanks, Chris.
Stay safe.
When I heard the sad news last evening,I thought Claudia will write about him tomorrow! Thank you for your beautiful words that left me in tears.Shortly after our local jazz station played Sarah Vaughn ‘s rendition of Send in the Clowns…more tears! Thank you ,once again, for taking time to share a portion of your life with us. We have never met,but I think of you as a friend.xo
Thank you, Annette. I had to write about him. I’ve thought about him all weekend.
Stay safe.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on Stephen Sondheim and musical theater. I haven’t seen much that looked interesting on Broadway in a long time. Its like they have dumbed it down instead of challenging their audience.
The girls are adorable. Love that you got some books from one of your favorite stores. I hope the coming week will fly by.
Dumbed down for sure.
I love my girls, Linda. They’ve brought such pleasure to my life – especially since I’m away from home!
Stay safe.
Claudia, My husband and I recently watched an interview with Mr. Sondheim and Stephen Colbert. It was to promote the revival of Company. He was fascinating. What a great event for you to have spent even a small moment in time with such a giant of theater.
What a fun place to spend a bit of your well earned time off. So glad you are sharing your adventures with all of us.
I saw that interview. I was amazed that he was still writing new music at the age of 91!
Stay safe, Verna.
I’m not embarrassed to say I cried. The first two shows I saw on Broadway, in the same trip, were “Follies” and “Company” (and the last show I saw, I think, may have been the West End version of “Company” in fall 2018, which I think makes an even stronger show with the gender switch. His lyrics dig deep and touch us in ways that you wonder “how can that happen? Who is smart enough to do that?” I love reading about his process and have watched more interviews with him in the past than I have on any other known person and read many books about him and his shows. I wonder if the things he was working on at his death will ever be heard, in part — of if they were still mostly in his head? We may never know. But you know, a sudden, fast death after a day of celebrating Thanksgiving with friends — well, if you’ve gotta go, it’s about as good as any.
How fortunate you were to be able to see him, work with him, first hand. I join in your shock and sadness.
I’m still thinking about this loss a week later. There’s a little video out there of actors coming together in Times Square – led by Lin Manuel Miranda – to sing “Sunday.” It happened last Sunday and I sobbed and sobbed when I watched it.
xo