Jean had a wonderful post on the AAR blog this week about Stephen Sondheim. I’ve been playing Sondheim CDs ever since (though I often play Sondheim). The post also reminded me of how much Sondheim has influenced me as a writer.
My first exposure to Sondheim (in addition to the lyrics to West Side Story) was when the national tour of the original Broadway production of A Little Night Music came to San Francisco when I was eight. loved it–an historical setting, pretty clothes, and lots of love stories with happy endings (and a whole lot of irony I slowly began to appreciate as I got older). And music I adored even then. We had the record, and I learned all the songs. To this day, I remember the words (probably because I still play the score all the time, now on CD). Not too long ago, a friend commented that he couldn’t catch all the words to “A Weekend in the Country” at a concert. I remember being vaguely surprised that anyone didn’t simply know the word to a “A Weekend in the Country.”
I saw Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George (both of which I later saw on stage) and a concert version of Follies on PBS, saw the national tour of Into the Woods, listened to the score of Company (which I still haven’t seen, though I know most of the songs). Then I was in New York for the RWA (Romance Writers of America) National Conference the season Passion opened on Broadway. I was organizing the theater tickets for my friend and fellow writer Penny Williamson and me. I got tickets to Passion, but I was a little nervous about what she’d think of it because it’s so *not* a typical Broadway musical (imo, a lot of Sondheim borders on opera for musical complexity). We both loved it.
I love listening to Sondheim when I write. His lyrics are so witty and his music is so rich and complex. Both music and lyrics delineate character so brilliantly. As I’ve mentioned before, my starting place for Beneath a Silent Moon was the final scene between Charles and Mélanie. I had that in mind before I plotted the rest of the book. Part of my inspiration was the final scene between Peter and Harriet in Busman’s Honeyroom. My other inspiration was Sondheim’s “Being Alive” from Company, a wonderful ode to the wonder and terror of sharing one’s life with another person. I had that song running through my head when I wrote the scene. I also think, though I didn’t realize it until I saw the recent movie, that the song “No Place Like London” from Sweeney Todd helped inspire the prologue to Beneath. And just a few days ago, listening to Passion, I realized what was missing from a scene that had been giving me trouble.
Who else is a Sondheim fan? What are your favorites of his songs and musicals? Writers, are there particular songs (by any composer) that have inspired scenes or characters? Readers, do you find yourself reading a book and thinking that a particular song fits a particular scene?
This week’s Fraser Correspondence addition is a letter from Raoul to Mélanie with some advice about how to handle Talleyrand and Tsar Alexander.
July 12, 2009 at 9:27 am
I had a lot of fun a few months ago, writing a character who was inspired by ‘You Can Get Away With Anything’ from the ALW music of ‘The Woman in White’ (a good musical, but as an adaptation it makes me cranky). ‘In His Eyes’ from ‘Jekyll & Hyde’ was on repeat yesterday when I was writing a scene between two characters – a governess whose ex-lover had just shown up, and her sixteen year old charge who was falling in love for the first time. And when I write the scene to mirror it near the end when it all goes kaput, I’ll listen to ‘Every Day a Little Death’ ad nauseum.
In non-writing news, I used to think that ‘Marry Me a Little’ was an incredibly romantic song. I think that says a lot about the state of my then-relationship!
July 12, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Thanks for posting, Kaite! It’s great to hear about scenes and characters inspired by songs from musicals (your plot sounds fabulous btw!). When I first say “A Little Night Music” at the age of eight, I had a hard time understanding what “Every Day a Little Death” meant (I remember my mom explaining “it means every day she lives with her husband feels like dying a little”). It’s such a powerful and wonderful song.
“Marry Me a Little” is a wonderful song, but I don’t think it would have ever occurred to me to call it romantic!
July 18, 2009 at 3:31 am
Like you, I was initially more familiar with Sondheim’s lyrics that he wrote in partnership with other composers, like Leonard Bernstein and Jule Styne. I think my first exposure to his solo work was “Sweeney Todd,” which I seem to remember staying up late to watch–not perhaps the wisest thing to do, given the darkness of the show’s tone!
A little later, I bought an original cast recording of “A Little Night Music” on cassette and played it continually–I’d read Hugh Wheeler’s book of the play first, but I had no idea how the music was supposed to sound. To this day, I think ALNM is my favorite Sondheim show–I’ve seen it live twice, once as a revival with Glynnis Johns(the original Desiree) playing Mme. Armfeldt this time, and once with the Interact Players who perform so close to the audience you can practically touch them.
I’ve seen several other Sondheim works as televised productions. Not all of them work for me on the same level, but they’re always interesting at least. And the witty lyrics put me in mind of Lorenz Hart’s (I sometimes prefer Rodgers & Hart to Rodgers & Hammerstein). The first act finale of “Sunday in the Park with George,” when Seurat’s painting finally comes together, can still leave me breathless. Likewise, I enjoy the creative riffs on fairy tales in “Into the Woods.” I haven’t seen “Passion” or “Assassins”–the plot of the latter is a bit too off-putting for my taste.
Now that I’ve begun a new WIP, the opening and closing waltzes of ALNM are haunting me. For one thing, the waltz as a dance plays a significant part in the story; for another, the characters all start out with the wrong partners and, as in the musical, they have to go through numerous contortions to find the right ones by the final curtain.
July 18, 2009 at 6:20 am
Thanks, Stephanie! I love Rodgers & Hart too (I did my graduation speech in 8th grade on early musical comedy lyricists, notably Hart and Cole Porter). A few years ago I heard San Francisco Opera’s Adler Fellows (graduates of the Merola Opera Program with which I’m involved) do a fabulous rendition of the first act finale from “Sunday in the Park” (I tend to love the way Sondheim sounds sung by classically trained singers).
“Children Will Listen” (particularly the finale version, with the line “wishes come true, not free” also makes my breath catch. I adore the Princes duet, and the Baker’s 2nd Act soliloquy with the line “No more curses we can’t undo, left by fathers we never knew” always makes me think of Fox Mulder.
I too have been listening to “A Little Night Music” a lot lately, as my current WIP takes place at Vienna (much earlier than ALNM) and so of course includes waltzing and some changing of partners. It’s so wonderful wry and yet at the same time very romantic.
July 19, 2009 at 6:01 pm
[...] a postscript, going back to last week’s post, I’m listening to Sondheim’s A Little Night Music as I write this. Speaking of [...]