Transcript Stephen Sondheim

Bell Work
1. Set up a new sheet of paper
2.At the top, make the title Stephen
Sondheim
3. Think about meanings to this musical
term: Dissonance
And the Darker Side of Musical
Theatre
Objectives
• Students will take notes on the
Biography of Stephan Sondheim.
• Students will understand his upbringing
and how it impacted his music writing.
• Students will understand his most
famous work and how it fits in among
the other musicals observed to date.
Stephen Sondheim-The Early Years
•
Sondheim was born on March 22, 1930 on the
Upper West Side of Manhattan (NYC).
•
When Sondheim was 10, his father ran out on he
and his mother, they divorced, and he moved out
to a farm in Pennsylvania and Stephen grew up
hating both of his parents. When Sondheim’s
mother died in 1992, Stephen did NOT attend the
funeral
•
Since Sondheim had no father figure in his life, he
turned to movies to fill that void, feeling very
jealous at the families on the screen as they
worked out their problems.
The Early Years Continued
• Stephen had to find companionship somewhere, so he
made a friend at school by the name of Jimmy and the
two were best friends for the rest of their life.
• Jimmy invited Sondheim over to his house after school
and Sondheim met his very famous father, Oscar
Hammerstein II (the same Hammerstein from the team
Rodgers and Hammerstein who wrote “Oklahoma!”
Sondheim’s Mentor
• Hammerstein took Sondheim under his wing and
became the father figure Sondheim needed.
• However, Hammerstein also became Stephen
Sondheim’s mentor as he sparked an interest in young
Stephen to pursue a career in music/composing.
• Sondheim wrote a brief musical for his school friends
called “By George” and was so proud of it, he took it to
Hammerstein, and pretended to not know who the
author was. Hammerstein was quoted saying “This is
the worst musical I have ever read! But if you want to
know what’s wrong with it, I’ll show you…..” Thus
started Sondheim’s apprenticeship with Hammerstein.
Sondheim’s Assignments
• Hammerstein gave Sondheim 1, 4 part Assignment as
his apprentice and it took almost 10 years for
Sondheim to complete. The Assignment was:
1. Write a Musical based on a play Sondheim admired
2. Write a Musical based on a play Sondheim thought was
flawed
3. Write a musical based on an existing novel or short story
which has never been made into a play or musical
4. Write a completely original musical
The Results
• The results of this assignment became 4 of
Sondheim lesser known musicals, one of which
has never been produced. They are:
1. All That Glitters
2. High Tor
3. Mary Poppins (not the Disney version)
4. Climb High
•
This finally gave Sondheim something to be
happy about, and a dream to follow
Since Then…..
• Sondheim attended and graduated with honors from
Williams College in Williamstown, Mass, in 1950
• Sondheim struggled to find work for years, desperately
wanting to produce a big Broadway hit, but only wrote
a few flops.
• Sondheim’s big break came in 1957, when he was hired
by a famous composer by the name of Leonard
Bernstein to be a lyricist of a modern musical version of
Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” which became “West
Side Story”.
After That…..
• Sondheim had established himself as a successful
lyricist, and Bernstein was asked by his good friend and
composer, Jules Styne, to use Sondheim as his lyricist.
• The result of that partnership became the hit musical
based on the famous Burlesque performer, Gypsy Rose
Lee, entitled “Gypsy” (1959)
Post “Gypsy”…..
• Again, Sondheim had established himself as an
accomplished lyricist, but wanted to be known as a
composer.
• Finally, in 1962 Sondheim had his first hit all by himself
with his famous comedy, “A Funny Thing Happened on
the Way to the Forum”. It ran for 964 performances
(approximately 4 years).
• Now Sondheim was due for a flop……he wrote one
called “Anyone can Whistle” in 1964. It ran for 9
performances (or 1 week)
Claim to Fame
• After that flop, Sondheim finally matured and got a great
grip on what the audience liked and wanted, but would push
the envelope with his clashing and Dissonant Harmonies.
• After a trip to London, Sondheim was trying to take a
vacation from composing. However, he bought a very old
book entitled “Sweeny Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet
Street”.
• He read the story and refused to write a musical about it.
• That night, he went to go see a play with the same title. It is
said that the night he left the theater, Sondheim looked to
the sky and said, “I get it….I’ll start writing it tomorrow.”
Sweeny Todd
• Sweeny Todd was finally done and staged in 1979 and
since then has become the premiere musical score and
an musicians dream.
• It has resulted in several movie versions, and 2 stage
revivals.
Sondheim’s Famous Works
• Other famous Sondheim works include:
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Company
A Little Night Music
Follies
Pacific Overtures
Merrily We Roll Along
Sunday in the Park with George
Assassins
Presently…
• Sondheim is still alive, but has recently “retired”
from composing.
Assignment
• You are going to view 2 Sondheim Musicals:
• His first work, “A Funny Thing Happened on the
Way to the Forum”
• His most famous work (written 17 years later)
“Sweeney Todd”
• Students will compare and contrast
Sondheim’s early writing to his later writing.
Dismissal
Thank you so much for all of your work
and I’ll see you tomorrow!