Finished reading Stephen Sondheim's Finishing the Hat (2010), thoroughly enjoyed it, learned a lot from it, and now I'm recommending it to anyone interested in participating and/or better understanding the craft of songwriting. The book is filled with highly detailed, insightful and honest observations about his own work as well as that of others. One particularly cool thing for me is how it provides the context needed to appreciate the lyrics to the songs. For example, I don't know how many times I've heard "Send In the Clowns" or "Losing My Mind" without knowing where they fit into the larger works that they came from - not having seen A Little Night Music or Follies. This lacking, among others, has now been corrected thanks to this terrific book. Here's Sinatra doing the first one listed above, before it became a standard apparently: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJvUCDP9u0I. And here's Peggy Lee doing the latter in a way I hadn't heard before: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeUvNoWyfQk&feature=related. Two great singers interpreting a songwriter appropriate to their level.

The subjects of Stephen Sondheim's musicals are almost always surprising. One example would be the fairy tale setting of Into the Woods (1987) which gradually transforms into a story of modern family life. And then there's Assassins (1990), which is as disturbing as its title. Sunday in the Park with George (1984), about the pointillist painter Georges Seurat, must be considered among the most unlikely concepts to make it to Broadway, although Sweeney Todd (1979) would surely be in the running. Company (1970) however, at first anyway, doesn't seem unusual in this regard, but after seeing it we realize that its subject matter is daring as well, because it's about the psychological complexity and essential loneliness of upper middle class people, the very people that are in the audience. Here's the opening to a version starring the great Broadway actor Raul Esparza, with its title song that is pure Sondheim: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJsd_Cvk_rw

I saw a very interesting piece on Stephen Sondheim's new book, Finishing the Hat, last night and it reminded me of how great he is both as a composer and a lyricist. Seeing a first-rate production of one of his musicals is an unforgettable experience, and one is often left with the feeling that appreciation for his work is going to grow with time, even though he's already regarded as one of the greatest artists in the history of musical theater. One reason for his eminence is the fact that he's not afraid to explore emotions that most writers would avoid. In Sweeney Todd (1979), it's the degree to which people can be motivated by revenge, for example. In the next few days, I'm going to write a couple of posts on the great composer (who turned eighty this year) in this space, and I'll also be writing about one of the interesting comments that he made in the interview mentioned above in my Shakespeare blog (linked on the right) later today. Here's "My Friends", from Tim Burton's film version of Sweeney Todd, which brilliantly evokes the cross purposes of the two central characters, in both lyrics and music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whhAMSSexQ8