“Anything you do, let it come from you. Then it will be new."
A small and incomplete tribute to Stephen Sondheim
I first experienced the work of Stephen Sondheim in 1996.
It was in my freshman “Drama 1” high school class. Somewhere amidst learning the vocabulary of theater—thespian, stage right, proscenium—and our initial exercises of embodying characters, Mr. Clark slipped in a VHS of the original Broadway production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
Len Cariou, Angela Lansbury, and Victor Garber starred in the dark, hilarious, affectionate, and endlessly memorable production of Sweeney Todd that hit Broadway in 1979 and went on to win the Tony for Best Musical.
As far as I can remember, it was the first Broadway show I had ever seen. Sure, I had seen Singin’ in the Rain on a “free Disney weekend,” that rare cable TV event that made childhood in the early 90s pulse with anticipation.
What made watching a Broadway show on VHS different than watching a musical movie was that it seemed like something within reach to me—I could see these real people on a real stage telling a strange and entertaining story through music. I never imagined myself in a movie or on TV—but the stage I could dream of.
Sweeney, paired with my first on-stage roles in high school (my dual character appearances as “Young Gaspard” and “Sick Girls Brother” in A Tale of Two Cities in the spring of my freshman year), gave me the acting bug and I spent all four years of high school and into early college on the stage.
I was never the best actor and never had a lead role. I did attend a 3-week intensive at the Indiana Repertory Theater in Indianapolis, was president of the drama club in high school, and had a (small) scholarship for theater when I headed off to college. For me, it was always about the act of creating and experimenting and putting something out there for other people to enjoy.
To be sure, Mr. Clark fanned the flames. A legend in our high school, Mr. Clark had taught drama for 30 years and was set to retire at the end of my first year of high school. After that first semester of Drama 1, he had encouraged me to audition for the spring show, Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. But had I not seen the grainy VHS version of Sweeney Todd, I don’t know if I would have taken the leap.
From there I would get my first original Broadway cast recording on CD, RENT. (I would go on to see the national tour of that show three times.) National tours of Les Miserables, the Chicago production of Ragtime, and seeing my only Broadway show so far, Beauty and the Beast, rounded out my high school musical education.
I listened to Mel Brooks’ The Producers on repeat. I’ve seen the Chicago production of Wicked, the national tour of The Lion King, and most recently, the Chicago production of Hamilton.
But there was always Sondheim. Sweeney was the first, but then I experienced Into the Woods, Company, and Sunday in the Park with George. Oh and don’t forget West Side Story, Gypsy, and many, many more.
I’m ever grateful for my experiences on the stage—how they have shaped me into who I am today. And like millions of others, I owe a debt of gratitude to Stephen Sondheim for inspiring us, entertaining us, and giving us permission to feel, sing, dance, and experience so much through the art of the modern American musical.
Thank you, Mr. Sondheim.
Sondheim’s New York Times obituary
Sondheim’s last interview
Sondheim’s touching interview with Stephen Colbert just two months ago
Sondheim’s influence and homage on display through tick, tick…Boom!
Sondheim’s Into the Woods on Disney+
Sondheim’s Company (with an incredible cast) on YouTube
Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd on Hulu
Sondheim’s tribute Six by Sondheim on HBOMax
Sondheim’s 90th birthday celebration and performances