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 Bell Work

And the Darker Side of Musical Theatre

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. Objectives

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. Stephen Sondheim-The Early Years

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!” The Early Years Continued

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 Mentor

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 Sondheim’s Assignments

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 The Results

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”. Since Then…..

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) After That…..

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 It ran for 9 performances (or 1 week) Post “Gypsy”…..

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.” Claim to Fame

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. Sweeny Todd

Other famous Sondheim works include: Company A Little Night Music Follies Pacific Overtures Merrily We Roll Along Sunday in the Park with George Assassins Sondheim’s Famous Works

Sondheim is still alive, but has recently “retired” from composing. Presently…

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. Assignment

Thank you so much for all of your work and I’ll see you tomorrow! Dismissal