Thursday, April 01, 2010
Is Stephen Sondheim the Shakespeare of musical theatre?
guardian.co.uk: "The first time I encountered Stephen Sondheim was like everyone else: through snatches of old songs people performed in drama school, through Send in the Clowns, which everyone knew. I wasn't aware at the time that he was the writing force behind West Side Story and Gypsy. It often gets forgotten, because people think of Sondheim purely in terms of making difficult, highbrow music – which he did. But as a lyricist, he also worked on some of the most popular musicals ever."
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9 comments:
I enjoyed reading this article, and learning a bit more about the absolute genius that is Stephen Sondheim's creations. His work has added a completely new take on musical theater, and seems to make it have a bit more substance than most shows have. Sweeney Todd, West Side Story, and Into the Woods all have such dark undertones, while maintaining the needed fun and entertainment for a show to succeed.
I don't know if i would make the comparison that Sondheim is the Shakespeare of musical theater, because personally i don't think shakespeare did much for theater. He wrote some awesome plays, but there are authors that have done some much more incredible works. So I don't think this comparison is fair. Sondheim has changed musical theater, yes. He does write about topics, not usually common in musical theater or theater in general but the thing that gets me is constant devotion to him. He has achieved alot but in some time others will begin to take his place. He replaced Hammerstein and soon people like Tom Kitt will replace him. Currently though he is at the top of his game and with his limited continued life, I hope he continues to write to shell out a few more musicals before his time is over.
I agree with a lot of what Bryce said. Sondheim is just another man in a succession of brilliant contributors to the arts. His impact on the arts will live on long after he passes, but I do not think he will ever see the fame that Shakespeare has. This is not a comment on his abilities or talent, but just a trend in the industry. It is not talent that leads to legacy, but it is luck. I am very thankful for everything Mr. Sondheim has done, but I just do not see him being talked about as a revolutionary figure 500 years from now.
I really enjoyed reading this article. West Side Story is one of my favorite shows and will always be sentimental because it was the first show i ever worked on.
I dont think he will be as famous and as well known outside the theater community as Shakespeare, but his work was revolutionary and will be his legacy forever.
I did enjoy reading this article a lot, and enjoyed the tribute that it pays to Sondheim. He has contributed so much to musical theater and it's evolution, it's interesting to take a quick look over the work of his life, and see the variety of plays that he's helped create. His shows always seem to carry something more than the normal musical, and that's what seems to be the draw, and while I'll keep enjoying many of musicals.
I also liked this article. I agree with the other comments that Sondheim is not comparable to Shakespeare. I think this is mostly because there are so many revolutionary people currently or in recent history that no one person will ever equal Shakespeare's time tested fame. I particularly like how this article describes Sondheim's work as musical theatre as apposed to musical comedy. I feel like the stereotypical musical is an over the top comedy, and he challenged this.
There was far too much fan enthusiasm in this article to take it very seriously. It is clear from the outset that the writer is fond of Stephen Sondheim, but I feel like he was one or two paragraphs away from comparing Sondheim with Jesus. As it is, I'm not sure that the Sondheim/Shakespeare comparison really pans out in the way the writer was intending. Although I also am a fan of Sondheim, I'm not that interested in articles that go on and on about how profound his work is and how awesome and funny he is.
It's nice that this article was written by someone who can more fully appreciate Sondheim's significance, having worked with him before. I wouldn't say that we should equate Sondheim with Shakespeare quite yet, I think that this comparison can only be made after seeing whether Sondheim's work can stand the test of time like Shakespeare's. Nevertheless, I would consider Sondheim one of the most inventive and influential figures in our industry, and I hope people in the future will continue to appreciate his work.
I also really enjoyed this article and getting to know a little more about Sondheim. I'm probably going to get a lot of heat for this, but I don't actually like Shapespeare very much, so I wouldn't compare Sondheim to him. Shakespeare was popular, but I would never call him revolutionary. He stole the plots for many of his plays, and reused all of them several times. Sondheim is original and breathed new life into a genre that was somewhat flat before. His influence brought about shows that gave musical theater more depth, as well as writing fantastic shows himself. I agree with the last line of the article: Sondheim is for adults, and his shows are very profound.
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