Remembering Stephen Sondheim

The world of theatre is mourning right now. Stephen Sondheim passed away on Friday, 26 November. The prolific composer had a career in stage and screen spanning six decades. He is the composer behind some of the most acclaimed musicals of all time, including Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods, Follies, Sunday in the Park with George, and Company.

I cannot say I’ve had many interactions with Sondheim in my life. He worked in theatre and loved theatre, so it was not uncommon to see him at a performance of a show in NYC. He loved supporting new works and new composers. The people lucky enough to work with him loved working with him.

I want to focus in on one particular video that makes the rounds every so often. Sondheim taught a master class at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1984. The three students featured in the video are performing “Not Getting Married” from Company.

As a theatre educator, I look at this video and realize how kind and giving Sondheim was. He offers simple advice to improve the performances and explains why. When he gives the note to the Paul to look at Amy so he has someone to play off of, that’s good direction for what that actor needs. He gives notes to the beautifully trained soprano on how she can harness her technique to better bring out the meaning of the text. These are very different notes for performers who need support in different ways. Sondheim is not trying to change who they are; he’s trying to bring out their best.

Then there’s Amy. Sondheim can’t hide his joy at this performer’s interpretation. He’s grinning a few notes into the first verse. He leans in when he expects a mistake and backs off when she nails it. Amy only gets stopped for a simple blocking note, which I suspect he gave her to see what she would do with it.

I’ve brought students to master classes before where the guest makes everything about themselves. Sondheim makes it all about the students. He meets them where they are and gives them notes they can actually apply. The actor playing Paul did well with a note about focal points and using someone as a scene partner. The singer playing the minister could handle specific critique about phrasing, pronunciation, and support to best bring out the meaning in the text. The performer playing Amy got a little insight into Sondheim’s process behind creating the song and ran with it. This video is all the proof I need that Sondheim cared about theatre as an artform beyond any of his own success in the medium.

I will leave you with my favorite lesser known Sondheim song. This is “Take Me to the World” from Evening Primrose, a television musical about people living in a department store to escape the turmoil of the outside world. There are so many layers going on, but it can ultimately be seen as a hopeful song about moving forward in life. It’s a recurring theme in Sondheim’s work and it’s presented plainly and beautifully here.