Sondheim: Ten Things You MUST Remember!

 

 

As we move forward, keep the following in mind:

1) There will be no "new Sondheim". There is no successor. Not now, not ever. While others may follow The Master, they do not succeed him.

2) If you saw the original production of a Sondheim show on Broadway, you saw history. Doesn't matter which show it was. Any Sondheim show. Consider yourself privileged.

3) If you have a letter from the man (he wrote thousands and was vigilant about replying) let's hope you've held onto it and that you'll treasure it forever. It's invaluable!

4) Some Sondheim shows ran longer than others but all have been and will continue to be revived. There were no "flops". None!

5) If, through your own fault, you've never experienced a Sondheim show or are unfamiliar with his music you are culturally deprived and, arguably, culturally illiterate.

6) If Bob Dylan was worthy of the Nobel Prize for literature then so too is/was Sondheim.

7) Sondheim never grows old. You grow old and come to appreciate Sondheim in new, different, deeper ways. But Sondheim never grows old or tiresome. Never!

8) Sondheim was the last link -- the magic link, the missing piece -- that connected us to Broadway's dazzling Golden Age. He was the needle and the thread that pulled everything together.

9) Sondheim recreated the Broadway musical bringing it into the modern era and truly turning it into an art form. No one else was equipped to do this.

10) The man lives in his music. Everything you want or need to know about him is there in his music. He lives on there and, in so doing, he remains immortal.

And one more thing: The art of writ is hard work. You don't create it by waving a magic wand or conjuring up some celestial spirit. It's work! What this man created was the product of hard work.