Naturally, today would be the day that I would discuss the Academy Awards. New movies, new winners, new format (was there?), and new host! Great! Did I cover everything? Frankly, I was bored about an hour (I'm being generous) into it. Heath Ledger won, which, of course, made me happy. Though there will be many that will not accept the win as a true win because of his unfortunate death ("If he didn't die, no way would he of won"). Slumdog Millionaire took home the most prizes, including Best Picture, which was no surprise to anyone. Hoping for an upset, I sat waiting for one of two things to happen. First, that Benjamin Button came out on top, since I felt it was the better film. Second, that they announced there was a mistake and The Dark Knight was given Best Picture of the Year (or decade). Nevertheless, the awards were fine and we can move on to my real topic of the weekend ...
On Saturday, February 21st, Bonnie and I headed to the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, joining the numerous members of the Philadelphia Theater Community to see Frank Rich, columnist of the New York Times, interview the great Stephen Sondheim. Bonnie and I entered the huge theater, shivered away the piercings of the cold air from outside and instantly felt at home in the huge complex. Immediately, there was a sense that we were surrounded by "high art" musical theater lovers. One could say there was a sense of snobbishness in the air. There was a good number of people there that were there to see Sondheim because he is "Sondheim." Since his lyrics are ones that many people don't "get" easily, he must be talented. If you were to sit down and ask what their favorite Sondheim score is and why, most of them could not give you an educated answer. I may be making grand assumptions, but this was just the impression I got. It did not help that in the rear of the theater, there was a young man (seemed like a college voice major - possibly from the neighboring University of the Arts) singing "Being Alive," one of Mr. Sondheim's most well-known pieces. Don't get me wrong, it's a glorious song, but it seemed to me that the Kimmel knew what they were doing. Let him sing "Being Alive" because it's similar to a "normal musical theater song." True Sondheim fans would want to hear "Another Hundred People" or "Finishing the Hat," but "Being Alive" will please the larger audience. "Being Alive," while a terrific number, can be heard on any "Broadway Collection" along with "Memory" from Cats or "All That Jazz" from Chicago.
The program contained an insert that requested questions from the audience. Bonnie and I took no time at all to write down the questions we've always wanted to ask. Bonnie asked about his female characters. Who were his favorite and did he have a female in his life who inspired him? I had a feeling her question would be chosen and it was. Sondheim immediately gave the credit to his librettist, whoever it may be. Sondheim stated that he did not think of them as women, but as characters. The lyrics come from who he feels the character is and what they want. He did state that one of his favorite females characters, and one that inspired him, was Dot in Sunday in the Park With George.
My question was very specific and I felt it had little to no chance of being chosen. I was correct. It concerned the character arc of Sweeney Todd and the lyrics that trigger the audience's awareness of this arc. I assume it didn't even get narrowed down to the short list that Frank Rich chose from. It was not a problem however, for afterwards I spoke with the self-proclaimed musical theater expert, Jeffrey Simno (he backs up the title very well) and he made it abundantly clear when this awareness occurs. Thank you, Jeffrey.
Mr. Rich, known for his honest columns about Art and Life and the New York Times, hurried into the interview by asking about Sondheim's popular number "Send in the Clowns." Mr. Sondheim told a humerus (and brutally honest) tale about the making of the film adaptation of A Little Night Music, the show from which "Clowns" comes from. He spoke of his distaste for the film version ("Though there were a few good moments," he said) and about Elizabeth Taylor's hard time recording "Send in the Clowns" for the soundtrack. According to the composer, Taylor recorded the song around 73 times and the recording engineers had to piece the final product together, not just line by line, but often syllable by syllable. "Okay, take the s-sound from that take and combine it with the end-sound from that take..." Sounds brutal and was, apparently, not worth the effort.
Mr. Rich continued the interview with very interesting questions. Topic highlights included the recent revival of West Side Story, which Mr. Sondheim is looking forward to in the bi-lingual format. He enjoys the fact that "I Feel Pretty," a lyric he is not a fan of, will now be listened to by an audience whose majority will not understand the lyrics, and be forced to pay attention to the joyful melody. He expressed concern about the format because certain songs such as "America" need to be sung in English because the rhymes are the joke. A decision has yet to be made on whether "I Have a Love" will be sung in Spanish or English. Mr. Sondheim did say, however, that it would be justifiable to have Anita sing her song, "A Boy Like That," in Spanish and Maria sing "I Have a Love" in English, showing us the transport of Maria's love to an American, English-speaking boy. Anita joining her in English would express the moment when Anita understands the love Maria has for Tony, therefore progressing the play to its tragic end.
Mr. Sondheim spoke about the term genius. His definition was short and clear. "A genius is one who never stops inventing." He went on to say that the only "genius" he believes he has ever met is Jerome Robbins, legendary choreographer and director, who first worked with Sondheim on West Side Story. "He never stopped inventing. And not just theatrical ideas, but whenever he were at a party, he would make up games. Good games. We actually would play the games right there and have a good time." Sondheim's calling Robbins a genius is quite an honor, considering Sondheim went on to discuss working so closely with his mentor, Oscar Hammerstein II.
Though not a main topic of the discussion, Mr. Sondheim did talk about the work he did with Hammerstein and did give Carousel the credit of being his second-favorite musical. His favorite musical credit goes to George and Ira Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. Mr. Sondheim discussed how lyric writing was a skill that could be taught in 20 minutes ("or even five minutes"), but takes longer to be acquired. It was obvious to me that Sondheim could hear the voice of Hammerstein in his head as he spoke these words to the captive audience.
When asked by an audience member about his experiences with Cole Porter, Sondheim immediately smiled as if his memory of the legendary composer and lyricist (one of the few musical theater legends to have both credits, along with Mr. Sondheim) was splendid. He spoke of his first meeting. As a young composer, Mr. Sondheim travelled to Porter's house to do research on a satire he was writing. The satire was on Porter's writing style. Upon entering with muddy feet, Sondheim read a sign at the door that read, "Please wipe feet. White carpets." Obviously putting him on edge, Sondheim took his shoes off and entered a room with a piano "the size of this stage." Before Porter entered, he tried to read what he was currently composing, but was interrupted by the composer's entrance. Porter requested to hear what Sondheim had written so far. Sondheim played and was corrected by Porter about the ending. Essentially, Cole Porter helped Sondheim write a satire about Cole Porter. "That's the kind of guy he was," said Sondheim, laughing.
He continued to tell a story about an experience while working on Gypsy. During the process, Ethel Merman, a close, personal friend of Porter's told the production team that Porter had just had his second leg amputated and was in low spirits and asked if the team would mind if visiting Porter to share some selections with him. They all agreed. Mr. Sondheim recalls what he claimed was one of his happiest memories. He was playing "Wherever We Go," a number clearly influenced by Cole Porter, and got to the section that goes, "No fits, no fights, no feuds, and no egos ... amigos ... Together!" As the word "amigos" was sung, Sondheim heard Porter gasp in pleasured shock at the extra rhyme that Sondheim had placed in the line using another language, something Porter did often. Sondheim knew of Porter's joy and considers it a triumph.
Though he was only seen by me from the view of an audience, Mr. Sondheim seemed to be having a one-on-one conversation with each and every person. His casualness made us all forget for a moment that we were seeing a legend, and made us feel like we were seeing a human who has worked his whole life and, though has achieved greatness, still wants more for himself, like any other human being. Like us, he has opinions about musicals. A particularly fascinating moment was when he expressed his dislike of the work of the musical-writing team of Lerner and Lowe. "They're good ... it's just ... not my type ... not my cup of tea." Just because someone is "known as a great composer" does not mean we all have to agree on their talent. In a way, I felt Sondheim was telling us that it's okay if we do not like everything he does. His sense of security shows that he would be alright with that if it were the case. The way he spoke of his co-workers in the field helped us relate his stories of famous legends to our own lives. He humanized figures such as Bernadette Peters, Angela Lansbury, and even Oscar Hammerstein by telling us tales of their insecurities, failures, and ultimate triumphs.
Though this may have only been a "moment ... one peculiar, passing moment," Sondheim is now not only an influential composer, but a teacher - a teacher of music, creativity, and life lessons. So, let's "leave the moment, just be glad for the moment that we had ..." with Mr. Stephen Sondheim. Thank you, Mr. Sondheim, for the music, the lyrics, and the moments.
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