Stephen Sondheim has been awarded the prestigious Edward MacDowell Medal for lifetime achievement. Four Hypable writers share their personal favorite Stephen Sondheim shows.
Stephen Sondheim is undoubtedly the greatest living musical theatre writer/composer, and possibly the greatest ever. No, he didn’t write Wicked or Spring Awakening, but the musicals of Stephen Sondheim are much more than twisted fairytales or German dramas.
They are musically and lyrically clever – some say, too clever. They inspire both love and hatred in an audience – and often in the performer who has to learn the notoriously difficult music.
Who else could spin the stories of attempted assassinations on different Presidents of the United States into a successful show, or write an entire musical about a guy (well, Seurat) painting a picture (well, masterpiece).
You might be a casual fan, who knows Sondheim for his West Side Story lyrics, and his popular shows like Into the Woods, or Sweeney Todd. Or maybe you’re obsessed with memorising every clever line and intelligent phrase in his huge catalogue of work. Regardless, there is often something deeply personal about a person’s appreciate for a Sondheim musical.
Sondheim has won more Tony Awards than any composer, along with countless Grammy Awards, Drama Desk Awards and Laurence Olivier Awards. He won the 1985 Pulitzer Prize in Drama for Sunday in the Park with George, and the 1990 Academy Award for Best Song for his composition of “Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)” from Dick Tracy.
The Edward MacDowell medal has never been awarded for achievements in musical theatre prior to Sondheim, but it is only the latest in a long list of awards recognising his lifetime achievement and contribution. Every time a Sondheim themed concert is staged, the biggest stars of the stage and screen come running and begging to participate.
Listing off all of the awards Sondheim has recieved eventually becomes redundant because there are so many, and they occur so often. But they are merely attempts by a grateful and adoring public to both quantify and qualify the fantastic work that Sondheim has given us.
How else can we try to say thank you for such musical genius, but through award ceremonies, and special concerts?
The truth is that no matter what kind of Sondheim fan you are, an appreciation (or love) of his music is a deeply personal thing. Every fan will love a different Sondheim show or song for a slightly different reason. His music and lyrics capture life in a way that is inescapable. You might go to the theatre to escape your problems, but Sondheim will bring them right back to you.
And there is no sign of the Sondheim train slowing down. He was involved in the filmmaking process for Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street starring (who else?) Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. Now Into the Woods is heading for the big screen, with Meryl Streep playing the Witch, and Anna Kendrick, Johnny Depp and Emily Blunt filling out the all-star cast.
There is no stopping this genius of musical theatre. To celebrate this new achievement, we are sharing our own personal Sondheim favourites. They might not be his most popular shows, or even his best (and that depends how you are measuring), but for us they epitomise why we love Stephen Sondheim.
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4 Hypable writers share their favorite Sondheim show
Four (personal) favorite Sondheim shows:
With a catalogue of work like Sondheim’s, there are so many fantastic shows that did not make our list. These four are personal favourites of ours, and each one is special to a writer for a different reason.
Marama’s favorite: ‘Company’ (1970)
Some may call this an easy choice, but Company was the show that cemented my Sondheim love. It is a concept musical, and was one of the first to be critically and popularly successful. For a show that deals with fairly conservative subject matter, it was a musical theatre game changer.
Company includes some of my favourite Sondheim songs, particularly the title number, “The Little Things You Do Together”, and “Getting Married Today.” With his trademark humor and challenging music, Sondheim does not paint a highly positive image of marriage. However, it is entertaining, with bursts of honesty and disparity that (as intended by Sondheim) reminded the upper-middle-class audience of the very problems they attended the theatre to avoid.
Watch the opening number from the recent production of Company starring Neil Patrick Harris, which introduces the entire cast. The conversational style of the piece embodies the musical wonderfully, both simple and complication, but a focus on the interactions between all of the characters and Bobby – which is at the heart of this fantastic show.
Jimmy’s favorite: ‘Sweeney Todd’ (1979)
When it comes to the medium of storytelling, I’ve always held character and plot pretty high on the totem pole of Aristotle’s poetics. I love experiments like Company, visual-centric works of art like Sunday in the Park With George, as well as all-out just-comedies like A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, but this gripping story always grabs my attention by the throat with its dark blood-red themes and viscerally desperate characters.
The legend of the demon barber of Fleet Street was well established long before the musical, but much of what eventually became the musical came straight from the mind of Stephen Sondheim. The concept of killing people and baking them into pies just proves that there’s no such thing as a bad concept as long as the execution is good. Also, Sondheim’s trademark discordant harmonies fit perfectly into a song about people slowly allowing their inner demons flourish under their skin.
Take a listen to the song where Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett come to the decision to let those above serve those down below. Take note: Although the Tim Burton/Johnny Depp version is worth a watch, we highly recommend the George Hearn/Angela Lansbury version below for viewers that prefer a ghoulishly manic Sweeney as opposed to a quietly introspective demon barber.
Laura’s favorite: ‘A Little Night Music’ (1973)
Early on in Sondheim’s career, his mentor and next-door-neighbor, Oscar Hammerstein challenged him to write outside his comfort level, and to explore new things. He challenged the young Sondheim to write adaptations from plays, novels, and progress to original work. The idea was to constantly keep his work fresh, and not be known for just one style. Sondheim never forgot that advice, and one of his best adaptations is A Little Night Music, based on the 1955 Swedish film Smiles of a Summer Night, directed by the legendary Ingmar Bergman.
The story covers love and loss in the years spanning the late 1800’s and early 1900’s in the lives of those living an upper-middle class to privileged existence. It looks at the choices made by those living under the constrains of Victorian morals that permeated much of society life, not just in Britain. Some of those choices are looked back on fondly, others with regret of action or inaction. Think of it as a bit of Downton Abbey, only with a delightful score that is predominately done in 3/4 time.
Yes, you read that correctly. The entire musical is written in 3/4 also known as waltz time with few variations. It’s quite a challenge for the actors not to sound too sing-songy, and at the same time, Sondheim manages a beautiful and lyrical score.
The one song from the musical that transitioned into a pop hit for Judy Collins and others is Send In the Clowns. Below is the 2009 revival that had a multitude of OSCAR and Tony winners in the cast such as Angela Landsberry, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and later the incomparable Bernadette peters.
Danielle’s favorite: ‘Into the Woods’ (1987)
Out of all of the musicals and stage productions I’ve ever seen, Into the Woods has been one of the only ones that has really stuck with me. Like most fairy tales, he musical begins with “Once upon a time,” but things go awry from there. Sondheim’s musical intertwines the lives of well-known fairy tale characters. However, instead of ending at “Happily ever after,” Into the Woods explores the consequences of the characters actions. In a sense, it’s sort of like a darker, more gritty version of Once Upon a Time.
Each song in this Stephen Sondheim musical flows effortlessly in and out of the dialogue and really gives you more of an insight into the characters and their motives. One of my favorite musical styles of Sondheim’s is his use of “singing speech.” The characters join together in song, but end up speaking in singing voices rather than just singing. I wish I knew the professional term for what I’m talking about but, alas, I do not. But I do know that it is extremely entertaining to watch and listen to!
If you haven’t seen this musical, I highly recommend it. For those of you who can’t find a stage production of this Sondheim masterpiece nearby, you’re in luck. In case you haven’t heard, Into the Woods is currently being adapted for the silver screen. The movie will begin filming in September and will supposedly open nationwide Christmas 2014.
Below, you’ll find my favorite song of the entire musical. It embodies what I was trying to explain before about singing speech. It’s short and sweet, not to mention fun to listen to. I believe this particular performance was from the original Broadway run, as you can see Bernadette Peters’ Witch character lurking in the background. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!