"Better" from A Class Act (2001)
Because we all love Sondheim's music so much and he died just last year, we initially envisioned this show consisting of only Sondheim and Sondheim-adjacent songs. At that stage, we discovered Sondheim's list of 55 "Songs I Wish I'd Written (At Least in Part)." Sondheim compiled the list over a period of weeks for Mark Eden Horowitz, Senior Music Specialist at the Library of Congress, for a concert commemorating the former's 70th birthday. About fifteen songs from it were performed there by Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Marin Mazzie, Nathan Lane, Debra Monk, and Davis Gaines, including this 1973 ensemble gem by Edward Kleban (1939-1987). During the concert, Sondheim told audiences he included "Better" for its "sheer skill and delight," and, as Horowitz writes in Sondheim on Music (2010), also because it was "in danger of being forgotten or dismissed." "Better" is featured in A Class Act: A Musical About Musicals, which tells the life story of Tony award-winning lyricist Kleban ("A Chorus Line") while showcasing his previously unheard, unpublished songs. Before dying at 48 from cancer, Kleban created and endowed The Kleban Prize, a grant that is awarded to someone selected by a panel of Broadway's most respected artists for the promise of their creativity to come. Kleban recipients have gone on to garner four Tony Awards, 30 Tony nominations, 10 Drama Desk Awards and four Obies. We love the spirit behind this grant, which echoes our own show's purpose to nurture the latent potential of young artists.
"I Wish It So" from Juno (1959)
The music and lyrics of "I Wish It So" were written by Marc Blitzstein (1905-1964). At 21, Blitzstein made his concert hall debut as a pianist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, but later cast his lot with musical theatre because in his view, "music must have a social as well as artistic base; it should broaden its scope and reach not only the select few but the masses." During the 1930s he wrote provocative articles on the form and function of socially conscious art while composing his own critiques of capitalism and exploitation, most notably left-wing polemic The Cradle Will Rock (1937). He was heavily influenced by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht and was most commercially successful in his English adaptation of their Threepenny Opera, first performed at Brandeis College under the leadership of his dearest friend, Leonard Bernstein. Blitzstein was working on another project, an opera based on the execution of anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti, when he himself was murdered. "I Wish It So" is from his musical Juno, itself an adaptation of famed Irish dramatist Sean O'Casey's classic 1924 Juno and the Paycock. Writing for Playbill, Robert Viagas noted how modern Blitzstein's work sounds to our ears today: "The consensus is that the score may have been ahead of its time, especially harmonically. Blitzstein’s resolute refusal to write for the pop charts, but instead to serve diligently only character and theme, puts him comfortably in the company of late 1990's writers like Jason Robert Brown and Adam Guettel." For a full history of Juno, see here.
"The Grass Is Always Greener" from Woman of the Year (1981)
Composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb collaborated fruitfully for more than forty years, until the latter's death in 2004. Theirs was the longest partnership of its kind in Broadway history, yielding over twenty musicals. The pair also wrote for the screen: "New York, New York," originally penned for Martin Scorsese's 1977 film of the same name, became Frank Sinatra's signature song. Musicologist James Leve writes, "Since 1996, not one day has passed without at least one Kander and Ebb musical occupying a Broadway theater. As of this writing, the Broadway revival of Chicago, which opened in 1996, is the longest-running revival in Broadway history and is still going strong, and Curtains just closed after playing for well over a year. Cabaret, Chicago, and Kiss of the Spider Woman are among the most innovative and provocative musicals of the post–Rodgers and Hammerstein era. Despite these and other accomplishments, Kander and Ebb are seldom acknowledged for their pivotal role in shaping the course of musical theater for the last forty-five years."
Though rarely performed today, Woman of the Year was a success for the pair, running for nearly 800 performances. Based on the screenplay for the Katharine Hepburn-Spencer Tracy 1942 film of the same title, the musical changes the journalists of the original to television news personality Tess (Lauren Bacall, later replaced by Debbie Reynolds) and cartoonist Sam, who struggle to balance their careers with their marriage. In this duet, Tess, reeling from the recent departure of her current husband, has traveled to the Rocky Mountain home of her first husband, and seeks advice on marital harmony from his star-struck second wife, Jan.
Though rarely performed today, Woman of the Year was a success for the pair, running for nearly 800 performances. Based on the screenplay for the Katharine Hepburn-Spencer Tracy 1942 film of the same title, the musical changes the journalists of the original to television news personality Tess (Lauren Bacall, later replaced by Debbie Reynolds) and cartoonist Sam, who struggle to balance their careers with their marriage. In this duet, Tess, reeling from the recent departure of her current husband, has traveled to the Rocky Mountain home of her first husband, and seeks advice on marital harmony from his star-struck second wife, Jan.
"Larger Than Life" from My Favorite Year (1992)
With a book by Emmy-winner Joseph Dougherty and music by Tony-winning team Stephen Flaherty (composer) and Lynn Ahrens (lyricist), My Favorite Year adapted the 1982 film but ran for a mere 36 performances. The protagonist is Benjy Stone, a naïve young television writer during the Golden Age of live 1950's US television. As the greenest writer in the room, Benjy is saddled with the hopeless task of keeping Alan Swann (Tim Curry), a hard drinking, swash-buckling, Errol Flynn-type movie star from Hollywood, sober and celibate for his guest spot on the "King Kaiser" variety show. This song reveals the fantasy of Swann being his long-lost "real" father that Benjy clung to as a child after his actual father abandoned the family.
Ahrens and Flaherty’s creative collaboration began in 1983 and is still going strong, with some of their best known work including Ragtime (1996), Seussical: The Musical! (2000), and both the film and Broadway versions of Anastasia (2016).
Ahrens and Flaherty’s creative collaboration began in 1983 and is still going strong, with some of their best known work including Ragtime (1996), Seussical: The Musical! (2000), and both the film and Broadway versions of Anastasia (2016).
"Lost in the Wilderness" from Children of Eden (1998)
Composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz (b. 1948), perhaps best known for Godspell (1971), Pippin (1972), and Wicked (2003), has also contributed music and/or lyrics to a number of films, including Pocahontas (1995), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), The Prince of Egypt (1998), and Enchanted (2007). Schwartz calls Children of Eden, based on the first ten chapters of Genesis, his favorite of his works. This song is a passionate entreaty from doubting, angry Cain to his devout, obedient brother Abel. Schwartz’s take on Genesis was casting Eve and Cain as “sort of heroic rebels as opposed to disobedient bringers down of humanity.” It expresses Cain's sense of having been abandoned by God and his resentment at the loss of Eden. Cain derides their suffering as "a cruel joke" on God's part and implores Abel to run away against their father's wishes. He wonders, "have we all been conned [by God]?" and then resolves, "We will never know if we never roam beyond."
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"I Remember" from Evening Primrose (1966)
"I’m essentially a playwright in song, and I’m not asking [actors] to sing songs, I’m asking them to play scenes." - Stephen Sondheim
One of Sondheim's earliest projects was a 50-minute television musical. Written by James Goldman, Evening Primrose tells the story of Charles, a poet (Anthony Perkins) unable to cope with the pressures of modern life who takes refuge and hides in a locked department store. To his surprise, as night falls, he discovers a group of hermits has been living there for years. Among them is Ella, a frightened and traumatized 19-year-old who has been inside the store since the age of six and desperately wants to leave. She tells Charles, "I don't know anything. I've never spoken to a man before who wasn't old. I've never touched a face that wasn't wrinkled." Charles says, "You haven't seen the sun for 13 years." Ella replies, "Oh, don't pity me. I have my memories," just before singing this song.
One of Sondheim's earliest projects was a 50-minute television musical. Written by James Goldman, Evening Primrose tells the story of Charles, a poet (Anthony Perkins) unable to cope with the pressures of modern life who takes refuge and hides in a locked department store. To his surprise, as night falls, he discovers a group of hermits has been living there for years. Among them is Ella, a frightened and traumatized 19-year-old who has been inside the store since the age of six and desperately wants to leave. She tells Charles, "I don't know anything. I've never spoken to a man before who wasn't old. I've never touched a face that wasn't wrinkled." Charles says, "You haven't seen the sun for 13 years." Ella replies, "Oh, don't pity me. I have my memories," just before singing this song.
"Crossword Puzzle" from Starting Here, Starting Now (1977)
Composer David Shire (b. 1937) and lyricist Richard Eldridge Maltby Jr. (b. 1937) met at Yale and received encouragement and mentoring from Stephen Sondheim upon arriving in New York in the early 60's to write musicals (Shire was a second rehearsal pianist for Sondheim's Anyone Can Whistle). In a 1989 interview with the New York Times, Maltby recalls, "Any young lyricist who loves the contemporary theater loves Sondheim but is stuck in a sense, because no matter what you try, Sondheim's probably done it first." All the same, the two found a singular voice over the years known for equal measures of "urbane wit and wistfulness." Perhaps their best-known collaboration is Starting Here, Starting Now. Its Original Cast Recording was an enormous hit, especially once Barbra Streisand recorded two of its songs, and Sondheim listed one of its numbers, "Travel," among his aforementioned list of songs he wished he'd written. The show became a staple of regional theatres, and as a revue rather than traditional book musical, Maltby says, "These are character songs. You have to have a character inside of it for it to come alive." Maltby ought to know; he directed the only two revues ("Ain't Misbehavin'" in 1978 and "Fosse" in 1999) ever to win Tonys for Best Musical. "Crossword Puzzle" is Maltby at his best, probably because, in addition to wearing his many theatrical hats, he has been creating cryptic crossword puzzles for the likes of Harper's and New York magazines since 1976. He sees both as centered on "the technical manipulation of language. You have to say what you want in exactly the right syllables and often with the accents or emphasis predetermined. Lyricists therefore become acutely aware of the intricacies of words, their multiple meanings, their diversity of definitions, pronunciations, spelling." (Fun fact: In his capacity as theatrical Idea Man par excellence, Maltby was a consulting producer on Bea Arthur's one-woman show "Just Between Friends," which we mention just a few lines below...)
"With So Little to Be Sure Of" from Anyone Can Whistle (1964)
Although the show itself was a spectacular flop, the songs of Sondheim's Anyone Can Whistle have become perennial standalone favorites. The show’s chaotic, disjointed, absurdist story, more satirical social commentary than mainstream entertainment, had just nine performances. Whistle was Sondheim's third collaboration with Arthur Laurents, who previously wrote the books for West Side Story and Gypsy. Laurents also directed the production, which probably hindered his objectivity and hurt the show overall. In his 2010 book Finishing the Hat: Collected Lyrics (1954-1981), Sondheim admits, “[Laurents] and I had written...as if we were the two smartest kids in the class...wittily making fun of the teacher as well as our fellow students, demonstrating how far ahead of the established wisdom we were" (Finishing 111). That smugness didn’t sit well with critics or audiences. This song was written as a duet between the characters Hapgood and Fay, who have unsuccessfully tried to expose the fraud, corruption, and idiocy at the heart of their town and must now part ways.
"Agony" from Into the Woods (1987)
Having collaborated to great acclaim on Sunday in the Park With George, Sondheim and book writer James Lapine teamed up again for Into the Woods (1987), a mash-up of familiar fairy tales — Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel — with a new story of a childless Baker and his wife. The show’s first act tells familiar “happily ever after” stories, while the second act tells the darker tale of what comes after "ever after." It is Sondheim’s most frequently produced work and was made into a film in 2014 starring Meryl Streep. The duet "Agony" is sung in two iterations by Rapunzel's Prince and Cinderella's Prince, brothers who are as dramatic as they are self-involved. In the second act, the brothers sing a reprise revealing their newfound, extramarital ardor (for whom, it's made obvious, are Snow White and Sleeping Beauty.) Interestingly, in some productions, including the original, the actor portraying Cinderella's Prince doubles as the predatory wolf carnally pursuing Little Red.
"Make Our Garden Grow" from Candide (1956)
With music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Richard Wilbur, Candide, an adaptation of Voltaire's classic 1759 satire, is most often categorized as operetta, rather than musical theatre. There are no fewer than five versions one can license, each with slightly different scoring and lyrics. Though it ran for just under two months in its original production, the cast recording attained a kind of cult status, and the show has been performed often since. With Bernstein's score and what eventually amounted to small army of librettists, the story still managed to retain its edge, perhaps because its targets (including persecution, war-mongering, and toxically positive utopianism) have never really gone out of style. Here, the characters, having suffered all sorts of undignified trials and tribulations, are reunited in this final song and resolve that the only way to cope with life's absurdity, moral confusion, and brutality is to live simply, "do[ing] the best we know." We love reinterpreting what is usually a massive, epic finale as an intimate, soaring expression of hope. Bernstein is a towering, fascinating figure, whose feet were planted in multiple musical worlds simultaneously. Perhaps no one has done more to popularize classical music in America.
"The Little Things You Do Together" from Company (1970)
"Company is the first full-blown score I wrote that’s really me and nobody else." - Stephen Sondheim
Company tells the story of bachelor Robert, his three girlfriends, and his lovingly intrusive, married couple friends. "Bobby" wrestles with relationships and commitment as his friends voice their ambivalence about the choices they've made and question the conventional trajectory of marriage and kids. Sondheim’s sixth Broadway musical, it was the first that afforded him serious credibility and many consider it game-changing for its adult take on relationships. It received 14 Tony Award nominations, a record at the time. The show’s title has multiple facets, all important to appreciating its complexity. "The Little Things You Do Together" is sung in the show by Bobby's brash, alcoholic married friend, Joanne, the oldest woman in his circle, who has been married "three or four times," with occasional support from the ensemble, or, if you prefer...the company. This musical has special significance to our cohort, as both Jennifer and Sandi have played Amy in it, Jennifer directed it at Oak Grove in 2001, and Sandi directed a 2015 production at Blue Ridge Community College. That production, along with nourishing many other vital friendships, marked the first time that Jennifer (who played Joanne and music directed) and Diana (who played April) worked and played together.
Company tells the story of bachelor Robert, his three girlfriends, and his lovingly intrusive, married couple friends. "Bobby" wrestles with relationships and commitment as his friends voice their ambivalence about the choices they've made and question the conventional trajectory of marriage and kids. Sondheim’s sixth Broadway musical, it was the first that afforded him serious credibility and many consider it game-changing for its adult take on relationships. It received 14 Tony Award nominations, a record at the time. The show’s title has multiple facets, all important to appreciating its complexity. "The Little Things You Do Together" is sung in the show by Bobby's brash, alcoholic married friend, Joanne, the oldest woman in his circle, who has been married "three or four times," with occasional support from the ensemble, or, if you prefer...the company. This musical has special significance to our cohort, as both Jennifer and Sandi have played Amy in it, Jennifer directed it at Oak Grove in 2001, and Sandi directed a 2015 production at Blue Ridge Community College. That production, along with nourishing many other vital friendships, marked the first time that Jennifer (who played Joanne and music directed) and Diana (who played April) worked and played together.
"You're the Top" from Anything Goes (1934)
The name of composer-lyricist Cole Porter (1891-1964) is synonymous with wit and sophistication. He underwent an impressive music education, including formal studies in harmony and counterpoint, and wrote over 300 songs during his undergraduate years at Yale. In the 1930's, Porter had eight Broadway openings, including the biggest hit of the decade, Anything Goes, starring Ethel Merman, which ran for 420 performances. Porter also made inroads into Hollywood, contributing to five Hollywood films during this period. His unique ability to balance catchy melodies with biting cynicism, clever rhymes, macaronic verse, and passionate feelings is evident in the many hit songs of this period, including “I Get a Kick Out of You,” "Night and Day," “Begin the Beguine,” “In the Still of the Night,” and “Just One of Those Things." Porter’s masterpiece, Kiss Me, Kate, opened in 1948 to spectacular acclaim, running for 1077 performances. A horseback riding accident on Long Island in 1937 crushed Porter’s legs and made him dependent on medication and alcohol. After his injured leg was amputated in 1958, he stopped composing and lived as a recluse until his death from kidney failure. Two movies about Porter have been made: Night and Day, starring Cary Grant (1946) and De-Lovely with Kevin Kline (2004).
"Pirate Jenny" from Threepenny Opera (1928)
WEILL AND BRECHT'S PARTNERSHIP
"[Threepenny Opera] won’t exploit topical themes, which will be dated in a year, but rather will reflect the true tenor of our times." - Weill
Weill and Brecht first collaborated in 1927 when the two created Mahagonny, developing the piece into a full-scale opera in 1930. Meanwhile, they created a work for singing actors, the wildly successful Die Dreigroschenoper or Threepenny Opera (1928), which was performed all over Europe. Adapted from John Gay's "The Beggar's Opera," it is a scathing critique of the capitalist world and mocks sentimental musicals. Brecht and Weill’s masterpiece would go on to be translated into 18 languages and receive more than 10,000 performances internationally. Despite their success, Weill and Brecht parted ways, acrimoniously and permanently, in 1931.
WEILL (1890-1950)
The son of a Jewish cantor, Weill began performing and composing as a child. After advanced study in Berlin, he established himself as a composer of instrumental music. He married actress-singer Lotte Lenya in 1926, and she starred in both the original German and English language productions of Threepenny. They divorced in 1933 when Weill left Nazi Germany fearing for his life, but remarried in 1937. Emigrating to the USA in 1935, he began a successful second career composing musicals, "broadening the horizons of the commercial theatre...lift[ing] sobering themes to compelling musical heights." His ‘Broadway Opera’ Street Scene (1947), which is still performed at American opera houses. Weill's more popular music enjoyed a tremendous resurgence during the 1980s and 90s, when his songs began to be featured by a new generation of cabaret singers and pop musicians.
BRECHT (1898-1956)
"Art is not a mirror held up to reality but a hammer by which to shape it." - Bertolt Brecht
Though many singers are more familiar with Weill's work, Brecht is a central figure in theatrical history for both his plays and his theoretical writings. Deeply impacted by Marxism and his alienating experiences as a medical orderly in WWI, he sought to make his audiences think, not merely feel. Brecht changed the rules of theatre, disrupting audiences' sense of reality by distancing them from the events being portrayed, making things that should be familiar strange and vice versa, and using contradictions to create complex characters - this style is commonly called "Brechtian" or "epic" theatre and has been hugely influential. Brecht hoped to inspire revolutionary action and social activism. The anti-war "Mother Courage and Her Children" (1939) is perhaps his most famous play. His political writing earned him the wrath of the Nazi party. He had to spend many years in exile. He moved to California in 1941, hoping to write for Hollywood, but drew the unwelcome attention of the House Un-American Activities Committee. Although he managed to deflect accusations of being a Communist, he moved to Switzerland after the hearings. He relocated to East Berlin in 1949 and ran the Berliner Ensemble, a theater company, while continuing to write poetry.
PIRATE JENNY ("Seeräuber-Jenny")
Marc Blitzstein translated Threepenny Opera into English in 1952 at Brandeis University, and it premiered Off-Broadway at the Theatre de Lys in 1954. The cast included a young Beatrice Arthur as Lucy Brown and Lotte Lenya reprising her role as Polly Peachum. Though some critics call Blitzstein's translation "somewhat softened" from the acerbic original, Lenya won a Tony for her performance, the only time to date one has been awarded to an Off-Broadway performance. In 2002 at each performance of her one-woman show, Just Between Friends, Bea Arthur dedicated her own rendition of "Pirate Jenny" to Lenya. In an interview with Billboard, Arthur said, "I watched Lenya do that song every night - you couldn't not watch her - and I made up my mind that some day I'd do it. And truly, it's the reason why I did this one-woman show...But let's be honest: The song's a show-stopper!" Diana felt much the same watching Arthur's performance as a 15-year-old, and here she is, twenty years later, finally getting her chance to sing it. Fun Fact: In his memoir Chronicles, Bob Dylan wrote, " I felt like I hadn’t slept or tasted food for about thirty hours, I was so into it...["Pirate Jenny"] left you flat on your back and it demanded to be taken seriously. It lingered." His comments on the song can be read in full here.
"[Threepenny Opera] won’t exploit topical themes, which will be dated in a year, but rather will reflect the true tenor of our times." - Weill
Weill and Brecht first collaborated in 1927 when the two created Mahagonny, developing the piece into a full-scale opera in 1930. Meanwhile, they created a work for singing actors, the wildly successful Die Dreigroschenoper or Threepenny Opera (1928), which was performed all over Europe. Adapted from John Gay's "The Beggar's Opera," it is a scathing critique of the capitalist world and mocks sentimental musicals. Brecht and Weill’s masterpiece would go on to be translated into 18 languages and receive more than 10,000 performances internationally. Despite their success, Weill and Brecht parted ways, acrimoniously and permanently, in 1931.
WEILL (1890-1950)
The son of a Jewish cantor, Weill began performing and composing as a child. After advanced study in Berlin, he established himself as a composer of instrumental music. He married actress-singer Lotte Lenya in 1926, and she starred in both the original German and English language productions of Threepenny. They divorced in 1933 when Weill left Nazi Germany fearing for his life, but remarried in 1937. Emigrating to the USA in 1935, he began a successful second career composing musicals, "broadening the horizons of the commercial theatre...lift[ing] sobering themes to compelling musical heights." His ‘Broadway Opera’ Street Scene (1947), which is still performed at American opera houses. Weill's more popular music enjoyed a tremendous resurgence during the 1980s and 90s, when his songs began to be featured by a new generation of cabaret singers and pop musicians.
BRECHT (1898-1956)
"Art is not a mirror held up to reality but a hammer by which to shape it." - Bertolt Brecht
Though many singers are more familiar with Weill's work, Brecht is a central figure in theatrical history for both his plays and his theoretical writings. Deeply impacted by Marxism and his alienating experiences as a medical orderly in WWI, he sought to make his audiences think, not merely feel. Brecht changed the rules of theatre, disrupting audiences' sense of reality by distancing them from the events being portrayed, making things that should be familiar strange and vice versa, and using contradictions to create complex characters - this style is commonly called "Brechtian" or "epic" theatre and has been hugely influential. Brecht hoped to inspire revolutionary action and social activism. The anti-war "Mother Courage and Her Children" (1939) is perhaps his most famous play. His political writing earned him the wrath of the Nazi party. He had to spend many years in exile. He moved to California in 1941, hoping to write for Hollywood, but drew the unwelcome attention of the House Un-American Activities Committee. Although he managed to deflect accusations of being a Communist, he moved to Switzerland after the hearings. He relocated to East Berlin in 1949 and ran the Berliner Ensemble, a theater company, while continuing to write poetry.
PIRATE JENNY ("Seeräuber-Jenny")
Marc Blitzstein translated Threepenny Opera into English in 1952 at Brandeis University, and it premiered Off-Broadway at the Theatre de Lys in 1954. The cast included a young Beatrice Arthur as Lucy Brown and Lotte Lenya reprising her role as Polly Peachum. Though some critics call Blitzstein's translation "somewhat softened" from the acerbic original, Lenya won a Tony for her performance, the only time to date one has been awarded to an Off-Broadway performance. In 2002 at each performance of her one-woman show, Just Between Friends, Bea Arthur dedicated her own rendition of "Pirate Jenny" to Lenya. In an interview with Billboard, Arthur said, "I watched Lenya do that song every night - you couldn't not watch her - and I made up my mind that some day I'd do it. And truly, it's the reason why I did this one-woman show...But let's be honest: The song's a show-stopper!" Diana felt much the same watching Arthur's performance as a 15-year-old, and here she is, twenty years later, finally getting her chance to sing it. Fun Fact: In his memoir Chronicles, Bob Dylan wrote, " I felt like I hadn’t slept or tasted food for about thirty hours, I was so into it...["Pirate Jenny"] left you flat on your back and it demanded to be taken seriously. It lingered." His comments on the song can be read in full here.
"Calm" from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962)
A gleeful burlesque farce, Forum was the first time Broadway heard an all-Sondheim score. Its characters are broad stereotypes: sweethearts, arrogant military man, randy old husband, virago wife. The twisting, turning plot has the sly, conniving slave Pseudolus (originally played by Zero Mostel) trying win his freedom by bringing his young master together with the courtesan he loves. The early 1960s saw a number of extremely comic musicals in which nearly every number was a joke of some kind (perhaps the most famous from this show is opener "Comedy Tonight"), and Forum is funny even during ballads. It was made into a 1966 film directed by Melvin Frank. "Calm" is sung by the aptly named, frantic and frenetic Hysterium, a slave (nominally, at least) in charge of the other slaves in his household who has just been briefed on Pseudolus' scheme and is being forced to go along with it. Our favorite Hysterium line? "I live to grovel."
"Get Happy" from Nine-Fifteen Revue (1930) and "Happy Days are Here Again" from Chasing Rainbows (1929)
"Get Happy" was written by Harold Arlen with lyrics by Ted Koehler during their four-year tenure songwriting for the famed Cotton Club. In late 20's and early 30's Harlem, aristocrats poured into the pricey club with a $3.00 cover charge to hear the bands of Cab Calloway, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, and Duke Ellington and singers like Ella Fitzgerald, Ethel Waters, and Bessie Smith, while sipping back beverages banned by the Prohibition. The club closed permanently in 1936.
Judy Garland revived "Get Happy" performing it at the end of her 1950 musical Summer Stock, but it debuted 20 years earlier in the stage musical The Nine-Fifteen Revue. The song put Arlen, who went on to co-write "Over The Rainbow," on the path to composing. He was performing in the pit orchestra of a Broadway revue when the catchy riff he played to summon actors back to rehearsal caught the ear of Broadway composer Harry Warren, who encouraged Arlen to pursue composing. That little riff turned into "Get Happy." Arlen described it as "a rhythm number with the feel of a spiritual." The lyrics take the tone of an evangelical revival meeting as listeners are encouraged to "shout hallelujah" in anticipation of heading to the promised land and washing their sins away. Thanks to the song's success, the duo teamed up on several more hits for the popular cabaret scene, including "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" and "Stormy Weather." Sondheim often cited Arlen as one of his favorite songwriters.
"Happy Days Are Here Again" was written by Milton Agger & Jack Yellen for the movie Chasing Rainbows. It became massively popular in 1932 when Franklin Delano Roosevelt used it as his presidential campaign song. Not only did he win, he helped pull America out of the Depression with the New Deal and was re-elected three times, serving until his death in 1945 (this is before term limits). The song has since been associated with the Democratic party. Barbra Streisand popularized it again in 1967 when she sang it at a televised Central Park concert.
The mashup of these two songs was arranged by Philip Kern and became iconic on "The Judy Garland Show" in 1963, with Garland singing the former and Streisand the latter. More recently, it was performed on the popular television series, "Glee."
Judy Garland revived "Get Happy" performing it at the end of her 1950 musical Summer Stock, but it debuted 20 years earlier in the stage musical The Nine-Fifteen Revue. The song put Arlen, who went on to co-write "Over The Rainbow," on the path to composing. He was performing in the pit orchestra of a Broadway revue when the catchy riff he played to summon actors back to rehearsal caught the ear of Broadway composer Harry Warren, who encouraged Arlen to pursue composing. That little riff turned into "Get Happy." Arlen described it as "a rhythm number with the feel of a spiritual." The lyrics take the tone of an evangelical revival meeting as listeners are encouraged to "shout hallelujah" in anticipation of heading to the promised land and washing their sins away. Thanks to the song's success, the duo teamed up on several more hits for the popular cabaret scene, including "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" and "Stormy Weather." Sondheim often cited Arlen as one of his favorite songwriters.
"Happy Days Are Here Again" was written by Milton Agger & Jack Yellen for the movie Chasing Rainbows. It became massively popular in 1932 when Franklin Delano Roosevelt used it as his presidential campaign song. Not only did he win, he helped pull America out of the Depression with the New Deal and was re-elected three times, serving until his death in 1945 (this is before term limits). The song has since been associated with the Democratic party. Barbra Streisand popularized it again in 1967 when she sang it at a televised Central Park concert.
The mashup of these two songs was arranged by Philip Kern and became iconic on "The Judy Garland Show" in 1963, with Garland singing the former and Streisand the latter. More recently, it was performed on the popular television series, "Glee."
"Losing My Mind" from Follies (1971)
Follies is now "recognized as the high-water mark of the serious 'concept' musical, that genre in which form and function are brought into the tightest possible alignment." Sondheim approached playwright James Goldman about a collaboration, and the two were fascinated by a news story of Ziegfeld Follies girls reuniting. Along with director Hal Prince, it took them "six years, at least 19 rewrites, and, finally, nine months of intensive creative collaboration" to finish. Sondheim noted, “With Hal prodding us, we began to think in surrealistic rather than naturalistic terms...[it was] a dream play, a memory piece.” A deeply melancholy, ambiguous musical, Follies was often misunderstood. It depicts a show-biz reunion in a theatre that once housed revues comparable to the Ziegfeld Follies. On the eve of the theatre's demolition, impresario Weismann throws a party for his former players. There is no story per se; no beginning, middle, and end, and we meet the characters both as they are in 1971 and as they were thirty years prior. The score was "an orgy of pastiche," a loving tribute to Porter, Irving Berlin, Noel Coward and more. Aging ex-chorine Sally, unhappily married to salesman Buddy, sings "Losing My Mind" about her former flame, Ben. Sondheim described the song as "less an homage to, than a theft of, Gershwin's 'The Man I Love'." Plaintive as it is, "Losing My Mind" is written in a major key. As Sondheim noted, "One of the pleasures of writing is noting how a single small word can change or intensify the emotional tone of what is being said (or sung). For example, using the word 'to' instead of 'and' in the fourth line of the last stanza takes Sally a step further into her obsession with Ben...God is in the details" (235).
"A Little Priest" from Sweeney Todd (1979)
"I wanted to write a horror movie, and the way a horror movie gets written is that you keep the music going all the time...What makes Sweeney effective...is that everybody is over the top, because if they’re not, it’s really silly. But if they’re over the top, it’s silly unless you can keep the tension going...in a melodrama, subtlety is not what you’re after." - Sondheim on Sweeney Todd
Sondheim and Hal Prince continued their partnership with Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, a terrifying and scathing story of human cruelty and indifference. Considered Sondheim's masterpiece by many critics, its genesis occurred in 1973 when Sondheim saw a London production of Christopher Bond's play of the same name, derived from a 19th century melodrama. The plot: In 1849 London, Benjamin Barker, a barber operating under the new name of Sweeney Todd, has just returned from Australian prison, determined to avenge himself on Judge Turpin, the despicable man who convicted Barker in order to bed and discard his beautiful wife. His old neighbor, Nellie Lovett, having long harbored feelings for Barker (Todd), recognizes him immediately, and returns his precious razors to him. She tells him his wife is dead and that Turpin has raised his daughter as his ward, but intends to marry her soon. She and Todd plot to kill the judge, but their first attempt goes awry. Furious, Todd has "a breakdown" and is "conver[ted] into a mass murderer" (355). In "A Little Priest," Todd having just murdered a rival barber, Mrs. Lovett sees an irresistible opportunity: they can make a steady income if Todd offs those who "won't be missed" with his razors and she serves them, ground up in meat pies, to unknowing customers. Todd is fully on board, and Mrs. Lovett hopes their business will fund a romantic retirement "by the sea" for Todd and herself; he, on the other hand, is only interested in revenge.
Sondheim and Hal Prince continued their partnership with Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, a terrifying and scathing story of human cruelty and indifference. Considered Sondheim's masterpiece by many critics, its genesis occurred in 1973 when Sondheim saw a London production of Christopher Bond's play of the same name, derived from a 19th century melodrama. The plot: In 1849 London, Benjamin Barker, a barber operating under the new name of Sweeney Todd, has just returned from Australian prison, determined to avenge himself on Judge Turpin, the despicable man who convicted Barker in order to bed and discard his beautiful wife. His old neighbor, Nellie Lovett, having long harbored feelings for Barker (Todd), recognizes him immediately, and returns his precious razors to him. She tells him his wife is dead and that Turpin has raised his daughter as his ward, but intends to marry her soon. She and Todd plot to kill the judge, but their first attempt goes awry. Furious, Todd has "a breakdown" and is "conver[ted] into a mass murderer" (355). In "A Little Priest," Todd having just murdered a rival barber, Mrs. Lovett sees an irresistible opportunity: they can make a steady income if Todd offs those who "won't be missed" with his razors and she serves them, ground up in meat pies, to unknowing customers. Todd is fully on board, and Mrs. Lovett hopes their business will fund a romantic retirement "by the sea" for Todd and herself; he, on the other hand, is only interested in revenge.
"Days and Days" from Fun Home (2013)
Fun Home is a musical theatre adaptation of Alison Bechdel's 2006 graphic memoir of the same name, with music by Jeanine Tesori, and book and lyrics by Lisa Kron. The story concerns Bechdel's discovery of her own sexuality and her attempts to unlock the mysteries surrounding her father, Bruce. She recalls immense tension living in an ornate Victorian home her father painstakingly restored and insisted on keeping absolutely, obsessively, pristine. Bechdel and her siblings know all too well how easily Bruce's wrath can be provoked ("make one wrong move and the demons will seize him") and do all they can to anticipate his wants. Four months after she comes out to her parents, Bruce is killed by an oncoming truck; although the circumstances are ambiguous, Bechdel concludes that he committed suicide. Her mother, Helen, reveals that Bruce was a closeted gay man whose many affairs included minors. She also says that at the time of his death, he had been ordered to see a psychiatrist following an arrest for his encounter with an underaged boy. In this song, Helen explains to Alison how she endured Bruce's infidelity, impossibly high standards of cleanliness, and frequent viciousness towards her.
"No Time At All" from Pippin (1972)
With music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and direction and choreography by the legendary Bob Fosse, the original run of Pippin was a tremendous hit (1,944 performances) and the show has remained popular ever since. The score shows Schwartz's strong influences from the period, including Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, and various Motown figures. Critic Rex Reed praised it as “a cornucopia of music from traditional show tunes to the hot tempos of rock.” It is about a king's son searching for identity and meaning in life. Having found no fulfillment in warfare and battle despite his father, Charlemagne's encouragement, Pippin visits his feisty grandmother Berthe in the country. She tells him, "You look terrible! You need some food, some fresh air, some...frolicking." When he replies that he's been at war, she scoffs, "Men and their wars. Sometimes I think men raise flags when they can't get anything else up." She sings this song urging him to make the most of his youth.
"Children Will Listen/No One Is Alone" from Into the Woods (1987)
This arrangement brings together two of the most moving songs from Into the Woods' famous score. Having suffered numerous losses, Cinderella, Jack, the Baker, and Little Red Riding Hood find themselves unsure of how to continue, the myth of "happily ever after" having been soundly disproved. Into the Woods is about stories, fairy tales and folktales most especially; tales which have been traditionally passed from parent to child to help them process a world that is by turns enchanting and frightening. They are told to entertain, soothe, and teach, but Sondheim cautions us all to consider just what exactly we are teaching our children. What are we teaching, and why? To us, they may just be stories, but to children they are lessons, blueprints for living. The Witch and the rest of the cast address the audience directly to remind us that we must be thoughtful about what we wish for and what we say, for "children will listen" when we least expect them to.
Jennifer and Diana arranged this mashup as a response to the troubling times our nation and our world more broadly is experiencing. Despite the daunting challenges we face, to respond adequately, we must turn toward, not against each other. By helping us to look anew, songs like these, and the arts more broadly, remind us of our shared humanity and the responsibilities we owe to one another.
Jennifer and Diana arranged this mashup as a response to the troubling times our nation and our world more broadly is experiencing. Despite the daunting challenges we face, to respond adequately, we must turn toward, not against each other. By helping us to look anew, songs like these, and the arts more broadly, remind us of our shared humanity and the responsibilities we owe to one another.
To be a part of a collaboration is to be a part of a family." - Stephen Sondheim
Connections
BERNSTEIN AND BLITZSTEIN
"I was tremendously influenced by Marc [Blitzstein] in everything I wrote for the theater and even some things that weren’t.” - Leonard Bernstein
Bernstein has a dizzying array of connections to other artists we feature in this show - not surprising, given the close-knit nature of American musical theatre history. Bernstein and Marc Blitzstein were the best of friends almost from the instant they met in 1939 at Harvard. Their influence on one another has been difficult for critics to pinpoint because it is so ubiquitous - it's hard to say where one ends and the other begins. Indeed, Blitzstein wrote, “We are almost telepathically close. Sometimes we compose startlingly similar music on the same day, without seeing each other.” Bernstein served as one of Blitzstein’s most vocal proponents and champions, and the two named their children after one another and appointed one another as godfathers. The nature of their friendship is documented in the many letters and telegrams they exchanged, and by Bernstein in his own writings and interviews. Bernstein premiered and recorded some of Blitzstein’s most important works, including his English-language adaptation of Weill and Brecht's The Threepenny Opera (1952). Furthermore, Bernstein dedicated his 1952 opera Trouble in Tahiti to Blitzstein, and Blitzstein in turn dedicated his Six Elizabethan Songs (1958) to Bernstein. Along with Kurt Weill, both men aspired to create and contribute to a uniquely American operatic idiom "wholly an outgrowth of our culture...intelligible to all," as Bernstein said. Fittingly, opera houses today routinely perform works by all three, as well as Bernstein's onetime protégé, Stephen Sondheim.
"I was tremendously influenced by Marc [Blitzstein] in everything I wrote for the theater and even some things that weren’t.” - Leonard Bernstein
Bernstein has a dizzying array of connections to other artists we feature in this show - not surprising, given the close-knit nature of American musical theatre history. Bernstein and Marc Blitzstein were the best of friends almost from the instant they met in 1939 at Harvard. Their influence on one another has been difficult for critics to pinpoint because it is so ubiquitous - it's hard to say where one ends and the other begins. Indeed, Blitzstein wrote, “We are almost telepathically close. Sometimes we compose startlingly similar music on the same day, without seeing each other.” Bernstein served as one of Blitzstein’s most vocal proponents and champions, and the two named their children after one another and appointed one another as godfathers. The nature of their friendship is documented in the many letters and telegrams they exchanged, and by Bernstein in his own writings and interviews. Bernstein premiered and recorded some of Blitzstein’s most important works, including his English-language adaptation of Weill and Brecht's The Threepenny Opera (1952). Furthermore, Bernstein dedicated his 1952 opera Trouble in Tahiti to Blitzstein, and Blitzstein in turn dedicated his Six Elizabethan Songs (1958) to Bernstein. Along with Kurt Weill, both men aspired to create and contribute to a uniquely American operatic idiom "wholly an outgrowth of our culture...intelligible to all," as Bernstein said. Fittingly, opera houses today routinely perform works by all three, as well as Bernstein's onetime protégé, Stephen Sondheim.
BERNSTEIN AND SONDHEIM
"Not only was I for the first time writing lyrics to someone else's music, the someone else was a legend, verging on myth.” - Sondheim, on Bernstein
The original production of West Side Story opened on Broadway in 1957 with music by Bernstein and lyrics by Sondheim. At the time, Sondheim was a newcomer. Sondheim and Bernstein were able to work very well together, though their personalities and working styles did conflict at times. Bernstein said, “[Sondheim] is violently opinionated and when he gets hold of an idea that is pro or con something, it possesses him...he is a compulsive and obsessive person...exactly what produce[s] that first-rate work.” Sondheim wrote that one of the greatest lessons he learned while working on WSS was the need for a collaborator: “I have to work with someone...who can help me out of writing holes, someone to feed me suggestions when my invention flags, someone I can feed in return. To be a part of a collaboration is to be a part of a family.” Beyond their musical interests, they had a great deal in common. Both were Jewish (though what Judaism meant to them different greatly) and closeted, and both had an intense love for word games and puzzles, especially anagrams. As Sondheim explained, “we argued but it was never ugly. It was even fun. We got our hostilities out on the anagram table. Lenny never won." The closeness and love Sondheim felt for Bernstein is most clearly illustrated in the letter Sondheim gave to Bernstein on opening night:
Dear Lenny,
You know – only too well – how hard it is for me to show gratitude and affection, much less to commit them to writing. But tonight I feel I must. West Side Story means much more to me than a first show, more even than the privilege of collaborating with you and Arthur and Jerry. It marks the beginning of what I hope will be a long and enduring friendship. Friendship is a thing I give and receive rarely, but for what it’s worth I want you to know you have it from me always. I don’t think I’ve ever said to you how fine I think the score is, since I prefer kidding you about the few moments I don’t like to praising you for the many I do. West Side Story is as big a step forward for you as it is for Jerry or Arthur or even me and, in an odd way, I feel proud of you. Much as I want to write music, I’m not sure I like the idea of doing another show without you. I will, of course, and I’ll play it for you, and you’ll criticize it, and I’ll be hostile and sarcastic about your criticism. But I look forward to that criticism and I hope you’ll give it freely. My gratitude and affection, then (in token of which I offer the enclosed unusual portrait of L. Bernstein in a moment away from J. Robbins), and also my best wishes for good luck to our little divertissement. May West Side Story mean as much to the theater and to people who see it as it has to us.
Steve
Sondheim's feelings for Bernstein were reciprocated in arguably one of the most selfless gestures in the history of professional theatre. Sondheim was mostly neglected in the opening night reviews of West Side Story and felt depressed. According to Sondheim, Bernstein approached him and said, “I can see you're upset; the lyrics are yours and you should have sole credit and I will arrange that.” Aware that as co-lyricists, the two were splitting the customary 4% of the profits given to the lyricist, Bernstein added, “and we'll make the financial adjustments, too.” Sondheim, shocked by Bernstein's graciousness, and perhaps a bit embarrassed, replied, “oh, don't bother about that, after all, it's only the credit that matters.”
Musically, Sondheim made no secret of the debt he owed to Bernstein and others: "The reason a lot of people complain [my] music is difficult is because it does tend to change. It’s something I picked up partly from Cole Porter and partly from Leonard Bernstein. One of the things about Lenny’s music that I like is he keeps surprising you —particularly rhythmically. Just when you think something is going to be a 3/4 bar, it turns out to be a 4/4 bar, or when you think it’s going to be a four-measure phrase, it turns out to be a three-measure phrase. So you rarely get a chance to get ahead of the music, and that keeps the music fresh— because it’s full of surprises. He used to say— it’s not his phrase, but he’s the first person I heard it from— that music should be inevitable but fresh...Anybody who studies a Cole Porter song is due for a lot of surprises, because what looks like a simple AABA form, turns out to really be A-A prime-B-A double prime— he does not repeat the A section. It’s almost repeated, but not quite. And the result is the ear is constantly freshened, and that’s what keeps music alive over a period of time. People who like my music and say they discover new things in it the more they listen to it, it’s because there are these little surprises scattered throughout. So that what is jolting on first hearing, on the second hearing you start to see more how it’s part of the pattern —even if it’s not a conscious process."
It is clear that despite the awe Sondheim felt in Bernstein's presence, their collaborative relationship was extremely productive and fulfilling for both parties and resulted in a friendship thereafter. Bernstein often sent Sondheim original piano pieces as birthday gifts. For the 1973 revival of Candide, Sondheim wrote new lyrics for three of Bernstein's songs and edited another. In 1983, Bernstein wrote Sondheim that his Sunday in the Park with George was "brilliant, deeply conceived, canny, magisterial, and by far the most personal statement I’ve heard from you. Bravo." Sondheim wrote “The Saga of Lenny” (based on “The Saga of Jenny” by Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin) written for Bernstein’s 70th birthday concert in 1988. Until Bernstein's death, the two remained faithful and affectionate correspondents.
"Not only was I for the first time writing lyrics to someone else's music, the someone else was a legend, verging on myth.” - Sondheim, on Bernstein
The original production of West Side Story opened on Broadway in 1957 with music by Bernstein and lyrics by Sondheim. At the time, Sondheim was a newcomer. Sondheim and Bernstein were able to work very well together, though their personalities and working styles did conflict at times. Bernstein said, “[Sondheim] is violently opinionated and when he gets hold of an idea that is pro or con something, it possesses him...he is a compulsive and obsessive person...exactly what produce[s] that first-rate work.” Sondheim wrote that one of the greatest lessons he learned while working on WSS was the need for a collaborator: “I have to work with someone...who can help me out of writing holes, someone to feed me suggestions when my invention flags, someone I can feed in return. To be a part of a collaboration is to be a part of a family.” Beyond their musical interests, they had a great deal in common. Both were Jewish (though what Judaism meant to them different greatly) and closeted, and both had an intense love for word games and puzzles, especially anagrams. As Sondheim explained, “we argued but it was never ugly. It was even fun. We got our hostilities out on the anagram table. Lenny never won." The closeness and love Sondheim felt for Bernstein is most clearly illustrated in the letter Sondheim gave to Bernstein on opening night:
Dear Lenny,
You know – only too well – how hard it is for me to show gratitude and affection, much less to commit them to writing. But tonight I feel I must. West Side Story means much more to me than a first show, more even than the privilege of collaborating with you and Arthur and Jerry. It marks the beginning of what I hope will be a long and enduring friendship. Friendship is a thing I give and receive rarely, but for what it’s worth I want you to know you have it from me always. I don’t think I’ve ever said to you how fine I think the score is, since I prefer kidding you about the few moments I don’t like to praising you for the many I do. West Side Story is as big a step forward for you as it is for Jerry or Arthur or even me and, in an odd way, I feel proud of you. Much as I want to write music, I’m not sure I like the idea of doing another show without you. I will, of course, and I’ll play it for you, and you’ll criticize it, and I’ll be hostile and sarcastic about your criticism. But I look forward to that criticism and I hope you’ll give it freely. My gratitude and affection, then (in token of which I offer the enclosed unusual portrait of L. Bernstein in a moment away from J. Robbins), and also my best wishes for good luck to our little divertissement. May West Side Story mean as much to the theater and to people who see it as it has to us.
Steve
Sondheim's feelings for Bernstein were reciprocated in arguably one of the most selfless gestures in the history of professional theatre. Sondheim was mostly neglected in the opening night reviews of West Side Story and felt depressed. According to Sondheim, Bernstein approached him and said, “I can see you're upset; the lyrics are yours and you should have sole credit and I will arrange that.” Aware that as co-lyricists, the two were splitting the customary 4% of the profits given to the lyricist, Bernstein added, “and we'll make the financial adjustments, too.” Sondheim, shocked by Bernstein's graciousness, and perhaps a bit embarrassed, replied, “oh, don't bother about that, after all, it's only the credit that matters.”
Musically, Sondheim made no secret of the debt he owed to Bernstein and others: "The reason a lot of people complain [my] music is difficult is because it does tend to change. It’s something I picked up partly from Cole Porter and partly from Leonard Bernstein. One of the things about Lenny’s music that I like is he keeps surprising you —particularly rhythmically. Just when you think something is going to be a 3/4 bar, it turns out to be a 4/4 bar, or when you think it’s going to be a four-measure phrase, it turns out to be a three-measure phrase. So you rarely get a chance to get ahead of the music, and that keeps the music fresh— because it’s full of surprises. He used to say— it’s not his phrase, but he’s the first person I heard it from— that music should be inevitable but fresh...Anybody who studies a Cole Porter song is due for a lot of surprises, because what looks like a simple AABA form, turns out to really be A-A prime-B-A double prime— he does not repeat the A section. It’s almost repeated, but not quite. And the result is the ear is constantly freshened, and that’s what keeps music alive over a period of time. People who like my music and say they discover new things in it the more they listen to it, it’s because there are these little surprises scattered throughout. So that what is jolting on first hearing, on the second hearing you start to see more how it’s part of the pattern —even if it’s not a conscious process."
It is clear that despite the awe Sondheim felt in Bernstein's presence, their collaborative relationship was extremely productive and fulfilling for both parties and resulted in a friendship thereafter. Bernstein often sent Sondheim original piano pieces as birthday gifts. For the 1973 revival of Candide, Sondheim wrote new lyrics for three of Bernstein's songs and edited another. In 1983, Bernstein wrote Sondheim that his Sunday in the Park with George was "brilliant, deeply conceived, canny, magisterial, and by far the most personal statement I’ve heard from you. Bravo." Sondheim wrote “The Saga of Lenny” (based on “The Saga of Jenny” by Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin) written for Bernstein’s 70th birthday concert in 1988. Until Bernstein's death, the two remained faithful and affectionate correspondents.
BERNSTEIN AND SCHWARTZ
Stephen Schwartz's agent was Shirley Bernstein, Leonard's sister. Godspell had just opened off-Broadway, and Bernstein had committed to writing a mass for the 1971 opening dedication for Washington, DC's Kennedy Center and was panicking. He had a concept, but no other organizing principle. He had approached many of his longtime collaborators, but all were unavailable. In desperation, Shirley invited her brother to see Godspell. Afterwards, impressed, Bernstein invited a 23-year-old Schwartz to help him. MASS, a Theatre Piece for Singers, Players, and Dancers, composed by Bernstein with English texts by the composer and Stephen Schwartz, opened the Kennedy Center in 1971. The story follows the journey of a young Celebrant who comes up against the needs, desires, and frustrations of his congregation.
Stephen Schwartz's agent was Shirley Bernstein, Leonard's sister. Godspell had just opened off-Broadway, and Bernstein had committed to writing a mass for the 1971 opening dedication for Washington, DC's Kennedy Center and was panicking. He had a concept, but no other organizing principle. He had approached many of his longtime collaborators, but all were unavailable. In desperation, Shirley invited her brother to see Godspell. Afterwards, impressed, Bernstein invited a 23-year-old Schwartz to help him. MASS, a Theatre Piece for Singers, Players, and Dancers, composed by Bernstein with English texts by the composer and Stephen Schwartz, opened the Kennedy Center in 1971. The story follows the journey of a young Celebrant who comes up against the needs, desires, and frustrations of his congregation.
FURTHER READING
Bernstein, Leonard, and Nigel Simeone. The Leonard Bernstein Letters. 2013.
Friedman, Jonathan. Rainbow Jews: Jewish and Gay Identity in the Performing Arts. 2007.
Garebian, Keith. The Making of West Side Story. 1998.
Gordon, Joanne. Art Isn't Easy: The Theater of Stephen Sondheim. 1992.
Horowitz, Mark E. Sondheim on Music: Minor Details and Major Decisions. 2nd ed., Scarecrow Press, 2010.
McClung, Bruce D., and Paul Laird. “Musical Sophistication on Broadway: Kurt Weill and Leonard Bernstein.” The Cambridge Companion to the Musical, edited by William A. Everett and Paul R. Laird, 2nd ed., Cambridge UP, Cambridge, 2008.
Most, Andrea. Making Americans: Jews and the Broadway Musical. 2004.
Shaftel, Matthew. "Porter, Cole." Grove Music Online. 2013.
Stith, Nathan. Creating “West Side Story”: An Investigation of the Sociopolitical Backgrounds and Collaborative Relationships of Jerome Robbins, Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim in the Creation of the Original Broadway Production of “West Side Story.” 2011.
Friedman, Jonathan. Rainbow Jews: Jewish and Gay Identity in the Performing Arts. 2007.
Garebian, Keith. The Making of West Side Story. 1998.
Gordon, Joanne. Art Isn't Easy: The Theater of Stephen Sondheim. 1992.
Horowitz, Mark E. Sondheim on Music: Minor Details and Major Decisions. 2nd ed., Scarecrow Press, 2010.
McClung, Bruce D., and Paul Laird. “Musical Sophistication on Broadway: Kurt Weill and Leonard Bernstein.” The Cambridge Companion to the Musical, edited by William A. Everett and Paul R. Laird, 2nd ed., Cambridge UP, Cambridge, 2008.
Most, Andrea. Making Americans: Jews and the Broadway Musical. 2004.
Shaftel, Matthew. "Porter, Cole." Grove Music Online. 2013.
Stith, Nathan. Creating “West Side Story”: An Investigation of the Sociopolitical Backgrounds and Collaborative Relationships of Jerome Robbins, Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim in the Creation of the Original Broadway Production of “West Side Story.” 2011.