What's So Great About Sondheim?
Stephen Sondheim, who is known for using universal themes surrounding the human condition in his writing, labels himself as the rare breed of theatre person who hates being in the limelight. This is likely what led him down the road of writing and composing, along with the mixture of incredible influences in his life. His lifelong fascination with puzzles also lent itself to the art form.
Sondheim avoids speaking much of himself, and that translates into his writing being strictly non-autobiographical. However, there is one song in Pacific Overtures that gets awfully close.
Someone in a Tree is a song that relates the person to the huge world around them and of looking at one's past self. According to Keith Warner, the director of a London revival of Pacific Overtures, "When Someone in a Tree started, all of a sudden he grabbed my arm. He said, 'Just think, this orchestra is playing my music, and this is my favorite song of anything I have ever written.' There were tears in his eyes."
Sondheim on
Writing and Theatre
Sondheim is also well known and heralded for his complex yet sophisticated use of language in his lyrics. An aspect that I feel truly allows us to understand the passion and intelligence behind Sondheim is looking at his writing techniques and thoughts on what kind of theatre he creates.
From several interviews and discussions with Sondheim, I've compiled statements below that he's made about his creative process and mind that I feel help to appreciate his great mind even more.
"I don't think the theatre is about converting people to new ideas…I think it's about confirming ideas you have by dramatizing them and making them human."
"The clash between high art and popular appeal is central to the creative tension, the dynamism, in Sondheim's work. He is simultaneously driven to the demanding and the accessible."
- Samuel G. Freedman
"I love for the playwright to create the characters, and then for me to explore them as if I were an actor."
"I like neurotic people."
- Neurotic here is simply described as people with conflict, well-developed characters, etc.
On his meticulous working style - "Writing a song you are restricted; you have certain rhythms and meters and rhymes…you can write a scene that should be two pages long and is eight pages…then you cut back and edit…But that's not the same thing."
On the importance of writing while in character - "It's because there's an actress who has to sing that. And eventually it's naked and it's got to be right. Context is everything."
- He merges himself with each character while writing, and keeps separate files for every one with details of their lives to get into the correct headspace
On audience response - "It's a great mistake just to go home and rewrite…to zero in on what's wrong immediately is always wrong. You gotta let it play."
- He prefers to focus on the audience than partake in focus groups to work scripts; listens for the silences, coughs, restlessness, etc.
On his interest in mathematics - "Music is the organization of a certain finite number of variables…what makes up the diatonic scale has a clear mathematical basis. It's almost subconscious, but if you study music, you must be aware of these things."
On sketching between music and lyrics simultaneously - "I never go far without bringing the other one in…because you're then going to be hard-pressed to find words that fit inside the music easily…"
- His process depends entirely upon what happens to pop into his head and taking meticulous notes to expand and connect
"I love to write in dark colors about gut feelings."
Praise & Criticism
The praise for Stephen Sondheim's work is endless, to say the least.
As with any artist, however, Sondheim's career has not been free from criticism, even from his collaborators and mentors.
I've selected some of my favorite quotes that are either praise for Sondheim and his legacy (in light green),
or criticisms he received early in his career (in dark green), which I personally find hilarious to look back on.
About Cy Feuer, producer of Guys and Dolls:
"I remember he criticized me for having too many B-flats in a melody."
Sondheim's comment: "He wanted to show me that he knew a lot about music, is what it was. And he might have been right, but I don't think he was."
From Michael Bennett, who choreographed Follies and Company:
"He doesn't duplicate himself, does he? He'll tackle things no one else would think of. You can't think of any Sondheim show that's like any other."
From Oscar Hammerstein II, about Sondheim's first musical By George:
"It's the worst musical I ever heard, but that doesn't mean it's not talented."
From actor Michael Ball:
"Once you've understood the genre of musical theatre, you can tire very quickly of the two-dimensional stuff. With Sondheim, it's always a challenge. It's difficult and exhilarating…"
From Leonard Bernstein about A Funny Thing:
"You've got a lot of wrong notes in there."
From Frank Rich, printed in the New York Times:
"Sondheim sees inside of us, and senses and conveys the darker currents of pain, loneliness, and yearning that swirl somewhere within."
From Jule Styne (whom Ethel Merman insisted compose Gypsy instead of Sondheim):
"If he's the hope of musical theater, he's got to write melody."
From Lin-Manuel Miranda:
"Everyone's influenced by him, even if they claim they're not. His shows have staked out such vast thematic terrain...that he's forever changed what a musical can encompass. In pursuing his craft, he's set the rest of us free."
From Sondheim when discussing commercial appeal:
"I think I'm getting more and more accepted, but I'm still essentially a cult figure. My kind of work is caviar to the general. It's not that it's too good for people, it's just that it's too unexpected to sustain itself very firmly in the commercial theater."