Composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim in New York in 1976. Sondheim died Friday at the age of 91.
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Composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim in New York in 1976. Sondheim died Friday at the age of 91.
Image R. Jones / Getty
Stephen Sondheim, Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway musician and Tony has passed away at the age of 91. His death occurred early this morning, according to Aaron Meier at DKC O&M, producer of The company on Broadway.
Sondheim would be the first to tell you he was a kid on Broadway. As a teenager, he learned about stage composition from a master – Oscar Hammerstein, author of Canoe and Oklahoma!, among others – and when Sondheim was twenty-seven years old, he gave his first gig, West story, on Broadway.
Although he only wrote lyrics for Leonard Bernstein’s music for West story, it was the beginning of a remarkable career in which Sondheim – as a lyricist and composer – elevated what was essentially a cheerful, upbeat commercial entertainment into a sort of art figure.
Sondheim’s shows, with their intricately crafted scores, reflect his restless curiosity about human nature – from the precise barber’s revenge to murder in Sweeney Todd, for troubled painter Georges Seurat in Sunday in the Park with George. Sondheim examined contemporary marriage – and the state of conflict – in The company, cultural clash between 19th century Japan and the United States in Pacific Overtures, The dark side of fairy tales in Go to the forest, and even surveyed the president Killer.
During a career spanning more than 60 years, Sondheim has received both critical acclaim and criticism for his adventurous work. Frank Rich is a columnist for New York Magazine and former drama critic for New York Times.
“Perhaps no one more than Sondheim has kept the classic Broadway musical form alive. He reinvented it,” says Rich. “He kept it fresh, interesting, finding new ways of, you know, combining it for every show.”
Sondheim has a reputation for being a hard worker – and has actually published two major books with lyrics and explanations of his songwriting process. He said WHY of Clean Air in 2010, before he wrote a piece of music or created a rhyme, he needed to consult the show’s script.
Sondheim says: “I always write after the musical writer has started writing a scene or two, so that I can meditate and imitate the style the writer is using, both in dialogue and in approach and familiarity. with characters like him. forming them. “
And that particularity has made performers like Bernadette Peters so passionate about their work. “He writes as if he were an actor, as if he were impersonating… If you have a precious note, there’s a reason – a precious note helps you express how you feel at that moment in time. .”
“Send in the Clown” is the only hit song Sondheim has ever written. It’s from his show Some night songs, in itself was a modest success. The musical was originally directed by Hal Prince, one of Sondheim’s most frequent collaborators.
Laurence Maslon, co-producer of the PBS series Broadway, says that their work of pushing envelopes was never really commercial.
Maslon commented: “Not a single show he has ever written has more than a thousand performances. “And they play all over the world and they get revived every five minutes, but they simply don’t have that commercial traction, which even Hammerstein used to back in the day.”
In fact, starting in the 1980s, Sondheim exclusively developed his work in nonprofit cinemas, which also saw the beginning of his collaboration with James Lapine.
“My first non-profit performance was Sunday in the Park with George and it’s because of Lapine,” Sondheim said Clean Air. “And of course, it’s a joy, compared to doing it on Broadway. I mean, no pressure, no worries about everything from the budget to the supporters, and it’s true. And that’s how theater should be done – just for the love of it.”
Sunday in the Park with George, written with James Lapine, eventually moved to Broadway, where it won a Pulitzer Prize – but again, it was not a commercial success. Like many other artists now considered masters, it took a while for Sondheim’s performances to begin to take off and Sondheim’s transformation from a cult figure into a cultural icon. He says he’s always been keenly aware of making an impact with his writing.
“I’m interested in theater because I’m interested in communicating with audiences,” says Sondheim. “Otherwise, I’d be in ensemble. I’m in a different profession. I love theater like music, and the whole idea of going to an audience and making them laugh, making them cry – just making them feel – is paramount to me.”
And the emotions he stirred in the hearts of audiences will continue after his death.
Neda Ulaby contributed to this report.
