Happy Birthday to a Living Legend!

Tomorrow is a most important day! It's Stephen Sondheim's 83rd birthday and in honor of the date of birth of this creative genius, I thought I'd present what (in my humble opinion) is Sondheim's 5 greatest musicals! Narrowing this magnificent composer/lyricist's works to just 5 proved to be so much harder than I thought when deciding to give tribute to Mr. Sondheim. I started with limiting my choices to productions in which he wrote both the music and lyrics, which means two brilliant shows are automatically out of the running:  Gypsy (1959) and West Side Story (1957) (he was the lyricist for these shows).

My list of Sondheim's top 5 shows is - in chronological order:

1. Company (1970): (Book by George Furth) Nominated for 12 Tony Awards/winner of 6, "originally titled Threes, its plot revolves around Bobby (a single man unable to commit fully to a steady relationship, let alone marriage), the five married couples who are his best friends, and his three girlfriends" (Wikipedia). I was fortunate enough to catch the 1995 Roundabout Theatre revival.  It was fantastic.  My favorite song from that show is:  "Not Getting Married Today" (sung by Madeline Kahn in this clip).  This song is a prime example of the wordsmith par excellence that Mr. Sondheim is. 
2. Follies (1971):  (Book by James Goldman) Nominated for 10 Tony Awards/winner of 7, "the story concerns a reunion in a crumbling Broadway theatre, scheduled for demolition, of the past performers of the "Weismann's Follies," a musical revue (based on the Ziegfeld Follies), that played in that theatre between the World Wars. It focuses on two couples, Buddy and Sally Durant Plummer and Benjamin and Phyllis Rogers Stone, who are attending the reunion. Sally and Phyllis were showgirls in the Follies. Both couples are deeply unhappy with their marriages. Buddy, a traveling salesman, is having an affair with a girl on the road; Sally is still as much in love with Ben as she was years ago; and Ben is so self-absorbed that Phyllis feels emotionally abandoned" (Wikipedia).  In 1998, the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey had a production of this show which was stunning.  My favorite songs are (I couldn't choose just one): "In Buddy's Eyes" and "Losing My Mind" (Bernadette Peters).
3. Sweeney Todd (1979): (Libretto by Hugh Wheeler) Who would ever consider that a musical about a murderous barber who teams up with a piemaker to create meat pies using the bodies of the murdered victims could be so deliciously entertaining?  And yet, that is exactly the case of this completely wonderful musical!  Nominated for 9 Tony Awards/winner of 8, "set in 19th century England, the musical tells the story of Benjamin Barker, aka Sweeney Todd, who returns to London after 15 years' transportation on trumped-up charges. When he finds out that his wife poisoned herself after being raped by the judge who transported him, he vows revenge on the judge and, later, the whole world. He teams up with a piemaker, Mrs. Lovett, and opens a barbershop in which he slits the throats of customers and has them baked into pies" (Wikipedia)  In 2004, New York City Opera revived this amazing show and while the production had its flaws (namely a chorus that couldn't enunciate worth a damn), it was a sumptuous production.  My favorite song: "The Worst Pies in London" (Patti LuPone). (BTW, the Tim Burton movie did not do justice to this incredible show!!!)
   
4. Sunday in the Park With George (1984): (Book by James Lapine) Nominated for 10 Tony Awards/winner of 3 (he was robbed in '84), "the musical was inspired by the painting "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" by Georges Seurat. A complex work revolving around a fictionalized Seurat immersed in single-minded concentration while painting his masterpiece and the people in that picture" (Wikipedia).  I love the video of the original cast (starring Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters), and I did manage to catch the 2008 Broadway revival - which was wonderful.  My favorite song: "Move On" (Bernadette and Mandy) - the harmonies make me weep!
5. Into the Woods (1987): (Book by James Lapine) Nominated for 10 Tony Awards/winner of 3, "the musical intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tales and follows them to explore the consequences of the characters' wishes and quests. The main characters are taken from "Little Red Riding Hood", "Jack and the Beanstalk", "Rapunzel", and "Cinderella", as well as several others. The musical is tied together by an original story involving a baker and his wife and their quest to begin a family, and their interaction with a Witch and her curse on them" (Wikipedia).  Unfortunately I have never had the pleasure of seeing this magnificent show performed live, but the video of the original 1987 Broadway production is simply genius.  My two favorite songs: "No More" (Chip Zien and Tom Aldredge) and "Children Will Listen (Finale)" (original cast).

The truly lovely thing about Sondheim's shows:  for performer's like me (the Plain Jane/Ugly Duckling/Odd Character), there is always a role available.  In every one of his shows, there is at least one role that I would love to play and would be perfect for me - particularly Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd.  I'd kill for that role of a lifetime! So, thanks, Steve, for thinking of us characters actors!

Musical theatre people nearly unanimously agree that Mr. Sondheim is the greatest musical theatre composer/lyricist of all time but there are some delusional people who make arguments to consider Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber as top dog. Lloyd Webber has composed 17 musicals, but in my opinion, only 3 of them can be considered great (Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1968), Jesus Christ Superstar (1970), and Evita (1976)). All other ALW musicals run the gamut from "craptacular" to "meh". Sondheim has created 19 musicals - 11 of which I consider works of genius. No offense to ALW, but I crown Sondheim - King of Musical Theatre. Oddly enough, my all time favorite Sondheim song is not from the top 5 shows.  It's "Not a Day Goes By" from Merrily We Roll Along.  Here is an amazing performance of this song by the spectacular Bernadette Peters. Enjoy!

In my next life, I would like to come back as a reincarnated Bernadette Peters!