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Danmel

(4,892 posts)
Fri Nov 26, 2021, 06:18 PM Nov 2021

Stephen Sondheim, Titan of the American Musical, is Dead at 91

Source: New York Times

Stephen Sondheim, one of Broadway history’s songwriting titans, whose music and lyrics raised and reset the artistic standard for the American stage musical, died early Friday at his home in Roxbury, Conn. He was 91.

His lawyer and friend, F. Richard Pappas, announced the death, which he described as sudden. The day before, Mr. Sondheim had celebrated Thanksgiving with a dinner with friends in Roxbury, Mr. Pappas said.

An intellectually rigorous artist who perpetually sought new creative paths, Mr. Sondheim was the theater’s most revered and influential composer-lyricist of the last half of the 20th century, if not its most popular.

His work melded words and music in a way that enhanced them both. From his earliest successes in the late 1950s, when he wrote the lyrics for “West Side Story” and “Gypsy,” through the 1990s, when he wrote the music and lyrics for two audacious musicals, “Assassins,” giving voice to the men and women who killed or tried to kill American presidents, and “Passion,” an operatic probe into the nature of true love, he was a relentlessly innovative theatrical force.

Read more: Stephen Sondheim, Titan of the American Musical, Is Dead at 91 https://nyti.ms/32DBQW7



An extraordinary talent. The lights on Broadway are dimmer tonight.
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Stephen Sondheim, Titan of the American Musical, is Dead at 91 (Original Post) Danmel Nov 2021 OP
I hadn't realized he was 91 so I suppose his death was not so surprising... hlthe2b Nov 2021 #1
What an amazing talent! He will be missed! beaglelover Nov 2021 #2
Top 10 Stephen Sondheim Greatest Musicals elleng Nov 2021 #3
That was my favorite of all time... 2naSalit Nov 2021 #16
It was pretty funny, and of course, I only 'learned' it when my daughter was in high school! elleng Nov 2021 #18
damn...a true giant.... bahboo Nov 2021 #4
Noooooooo.... forgotmylogin Nov 2021 #5
... where there never was a hat. Beartracks Nov 2021 #9
Sunday in the Park with George is probably my favorite show. forgotmylogin Nov 2021 #27
One of my favorite moments in the show that always makes me weep copiously... forgotmylogin Nov 2021 #28
Amazing Talent. He will be missed. PA_jen Nov 2021 #6
Wow. BumRushDaShow Nov 2021 #7
Legend. DinahMoeHum Nov 2021 #8
Play us out Frank Dukkha Nov 2021 #10
Beat me to it. elleng Nov 2021 #12
Love Babs version too Dukkha Nov 2021 #20
"Send In the Clowns" elleng Nov 2021 #11
This song always makes me cry. Mad_Dem_X Nov 2021 #23
Children Will Listen Danmel Nov 2021 #13
RIP to a musical genius. Lunabell Nov 2021 #14
Great Talent will be missed. R.I.P. msfiddlestix Nov 2021 #15
... 2naSalit Nov 2021 #17
I thought he would go on forever -- which, in a way, he will.... Hekate Nov 2021 #19
May he rest in peace LetMyPeopleVote Nov 2021 #21
American musical theater has lost a true icon. AngryOldDem Nov 2021 #22
West Side Story is one of my favorite musicals Mad_Dem_X Nov 2021 #24
Just FYI, he only wrote the lyrics for WSS. Leonard Bernstein wrote the music. beaglelover Nov 2021 #29
A gorgeous melody, robbob Nov 2021 #25
... littlemissmartypants Nov 2021 #26
One of my favorites, besides wnylib Nov 2021 #30

hlthe2b

(101,728 posts)
1. I hadn't realized he was 91 so I suppose his death was not so surprising...
Fri Nov 26, 2021, 06:20 PM
Nov 2021

But a bit of a shock to me at least.

You will be remembered. RIP

2naSalit

(86,056 posts)
16. That was my favorite of all time...
Fri Nov 26, 2021, 08:33 PM
Nov 2021

It was first time I almost peed my pants laughing during a musical.

forgotmylogin

(7,496 posts)
5. Noooooooo....
Fri Nov 26, 2021, 06:26 PM
Nov 2021

He went to the premiere of the revival of Company and to Thanksgiving yesterday.

At least it wasn't due to extended illness.

I suppose that means the hat is finished.

forgotmylogin

(7,496 posts)
27. Sunday in the Park with George is probably my favorite show.
Sat Nov 27, 2021, 11:19 AM
Nov 2021

About Georges Seurat developing a new technique (pointillism with millions of dots of unblended colors) nobody else ever had tried before and being ridiculed for it "They hung it over the refreshment stand!"



The score and orchestrations for the musical are insanely challenging as Sondheim replicated the pointillist style in the music with frantic staccato rhythms and dissonances that blend in the ear when heard together as a whole. Apparently some musicians called in to play for the show turned it down because they were baffled by the music.

It's probably Sondheim's most personal work, illuminating his philosophy about art, artists/creators, and the obsessive mental state that takes them away from the real world as they choose live in their own and moving on from that. It's a rare show in that the romance with his model/muse gives her the character arc realizing that she cannot be with him and also have what she wants despite their deep connection.



And there's also Sweeney Todd, (I encourage people to listen to outside of the Tim Burton movie which compromises a lot of the score) which is its own terrifying and entertaining beast of a show about obsession and revenge.



forgotmylogin

(7,496 posts)
28. One of my favorite moments in the show that always makes me weep copiously...
Sat Nov 27, 2021, 11:48 AM
Nov 2021

Historians have tried to decipher the odd collage of characters and objects in the arrangement of the painting, which is the set of the musical over which George wields godlike power as the artist, adding and subtracting trees and other scenic elements at will. "I hate this tree..."

The musical does this too, hypothesizing relationships and reasons: "That...is Louis's waffle stove!"

George is considered "odd" staring at and sketching all manner of things not considered good subject material for a painting: "Staring at the monkey cage!" His lover and model Dot thinks he might be cheating on her:

Who was at the zoo, George?
Who was at the zoo?
The monkeys and who George?
The monkeys and who?


In the finale of Act One the painting comes together as George completes it, organizing the chaos that has erupted from his life and subjects. Dot is front and center, featured, obviously very important despite the fact she has left him and is moving to America with a baker. George looks her in the eye as he positions her and a monkey appears at her feet. While holding her gaze, he unwinds the monkey's leash and places it in her hand.


That's what he was doing at the zoo. It gets me every time.

BumRushDaShow

(127,312 posts)
7. Wow.
Fri Nov 26, 2021, 06:48 PM
Nov 2021

I didn't realize he was still around. A sad loss.

Condolences to the family and close friends, thank you for your amazing and seminal work, and R.I.P.

Hekate

(90,189 posts)
19. I thought he would go on forever -- which, in a way, he will....
Fri Nov 26, 2021, 08:43 PM
Nov 2021

RIP, sir, and thanks for everything. 🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

AngryOldDem

(14,061 posts)
22. American musical theater has lost a true icon.
Fri Nov 26, 2021, 09:18 PM
Nov 2021

Absolutely brilliant lyricist. Although his genius will live on, he was one person who I thought we would never lose.

RIP.

Mad_Dem_X

(9,522 posts)
24. West Side Story is one of my favorite musicals
Fri Nov 26, 2021, 10:33 PM
Nov 2021

Thank you, Mr. Sondheim, for the music and the memories. Rest in peace.

robbob

(3,514 posts)
25. A gorgeous melody,
Fri Nov 26, 2021, 10:35 PM
Nov 2021

Also from “A Little Night Music”, although of course overshadowed by “Send in the Clowns”. I saw a production of this in Montreal in the early 90’s with a woman I was madly infatuated with playing one of the lead rolls, and even though I had never heard it before it stuck with me and still stirs something inside me.

The Sun Won’t Set:

wnylib

(21,146 posts)
30. One of my favorites, besides
Sun Nov 28, 2021, 05:10 AM
Nov 2021

West Side Story, is Into the Woods.

One day, years ago, I had my TV on, not paying close attention while folding laundry, and then dusting, when an unusual fairy tale musical came on. I stopped to see where it was going and ended up abandoning my chores to sit glued to the TV for the rest of it. Creative, insightful, and mesmerizing. A couple years later I saw a community college theater production of it.

Regarding West Side Story, I first saw it in a theater when I was 14. I'd heard some of the tunes on the radio for years before that, but hearing them in the film setting impressed me so much that I bought a vinyl LP of the entire film tunes. Played it so often that I had all the lyrics to every song memorized.

Decades later, I picked up the dvd, wondering if I would feel the same about it so many years later. I was even more impressed with the music, not just the Bernstein score, but how well the lyrics blended with the music as they told the action of the story and the emotions of the characters.

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