Hooked On Sondheim
By David Armstrong
Producing Artistic Director
I can remember distinctly the day when I first became entranced by the work of Stephen Sondheim. It was 1973, I was fifteen years old and about to audition to become an apprentice actor with a small summer stock theater in Cincinnati. I had grown up attending this theater. It was where I first experienced many of the great musicals that have become my work and passion. Naturally, I dearly wanted to become a member of its company, if only as a lowly unpaid apprentice. When I arrived at the theater the first show of the season was already in rehearsal. I took a seat in the back of the house nervously waiting for the dinner break during which I was to sing my audition song. As I sat there, I listened in amazement as the talented young cast ran through the opening number (and title song) to Sondheim's 1970 Broadway musical Company. I had never heard of the show or heard that song before that night, but it grabbed me immediately and has yet to let me go.
This thrilling, complex mix of music and drama is undoubtedly one of the most exciting openings ever written for a musical. It is both a natural descendant of the classic musicals from Broadway's golden age, and a startling departure from them. Most of all, even to my young ears it was clear that the composer/lyricist was a significant new voice in the musical theater. All the great theater writers have had a unique voice – Gershwin, Porter, Rodgers and Hammerstein, etc. They each sound like no one but themselves. Still, within their distinctive styles they are capable of conveying a great range of period, character and emotion. From hearing just that one song I knew this Sondheim guy belonged on that list. There is never anything generic about a Sondheim song. No one else would, or could, have written "Company" or any of the songs in his long and celebrated career.
It grabbed me immediately and has yet to let me go."
I was lucky enough to land that apprentice job and only a few weeks later I found myself running the follow spot for that production of Company. As an aspiring stage director, running a follow spot will teach you nearly as much as an entire year at the Yale School of Drama. As an important observer/participant in the production you have the opportunity to develop an intimate understanding of just how a show is put together. Shining my light on Company night after night only deepened my appreciation of Sondheim's work and achievement. I saw that he has the rare ability to create a musical that is at once a crowd pleasing popular entertainment and a significant and inspiring work of art.
Without knowing it, I had actually experienced Mr. Sondheim's genius long before that day. I had performed in amateur productions of West Side Story and Gypsy when I was quite young – too young to be interested in who might have written the lyrics. I just knew that I loved the stories, the characters, and especially the songs. I knew that the lyrics for "I Like to Be in America" were clever and fun to sing, and that "once I was a schlepper – now I’m Miss Mazeppa" was a scream even if, as a nice Midwestern Catholic boy, I had no idea what a "schlepper" was.
Over the years I continued to "discover" Sondheim along with the rest of the world. I regret deeply that I was not able to see the original Broadway productions of Follies, Pacific Overtures or A Little Night Music. However, when the original cast albums of these shows finally made their way to Cincinnati I was usually first in line. I certainly never missed any of his shows after I moved to New York and in fact attended Sweeney Todd, Sunday In The Park With George, and Into the Woods many times each.
I could stage Sondheim's musicals again and again, year after year and never be bored."
Over the years I have had the privilege of directing and/or choreographing several shows from the Sondheim canon: Sweeney Todd (three times), A Little Night Music (twice) and Company (this is my third production). Each show is a director's dream. His works are deep, with layers of character and meaning to explore. Most significantly, Sondheim is a man of the theater who has crafted his art to work on the stage as well, or better, than it does on the page. I could stage his musicals again and again, year after year and never be bored.
I, of course, am not alone in my admiration for Stephen Sondheim. Not only is he the recipient of seven Tony Awards, an Academy Award and the Pulitzer Prize, he is also the subject of 20 or so books. These include scholarly studies, intimate biographies and glossy coffee table extravaganzas. All attest to a widespread fascination with his work and life. There are also a number of Web sites devoted to him. There you can find countless pages jam-packed with facts and trivia as well as discussion groups devoted solely to the works of this musical theater master. Perhaps most impressive is that for more than 13 years Sondheim has been the subject of a quarterly journal, The Sondheim Review. Each issue includes reports on significant productions of his works throughout the world, interviews with his colleagues and collaborators, and feature articles on the history and genesis of his fourteen amazing shows. That any living dramatist would generate enough attention to inspire the creation of a magazine dedicated solely to his work is amazing. Few outstanding individuals in any field have inspired that kind of attention and devotion.
Some of this may border on the obsessive, but Sondheim possesses the kind of major league talent that draws people to worship at his shrine. Sondheim is a genius, and most importantly, a true artist, who is able to make us laugh, make us cry and touch our hearts as well as our minds. That is a very rare quality. His work touched me on that spring day 33 years ago and I have never gotten over it. I doubt I ever will.
