On March 22, 1930, Sondheim was born into a wealthy clothing manufacturer family in New York. Although the almanac did not indicate that this day was "suitable for the birth of a musical master", 18 years later, Mr. Weber chose this day to come to the world. Sondheim was not born into a musical family, but he had a father who was a clothing manufacturer and a mother who was a fashion designer. They had a deep working relationship with the New York entertainment industry. Therefore, on the one hand, he received the benefits provided by a wealthy family since he was a child. He received a good music education, and on the other hand, relying on his parents' professional convenience, he was often exposed to theater performances, and he developed a strong interest in Broadway musicals very early.
Later, Sondheim met the legendary Oscar Hammerstein II in the musical theater industry through his parents' business relationship, and was fortunate to be under the guidance of this master from the age of eleven or twelve. Learn the art of musical theater production. Perhaps because he saw Sondheim's musical talent, Hammerstein was very fond of this smart boy whose parents divorced when he was 10 years old and seemed quiet and precocious at a young age. He even liked Sondheim more than several of his own biological children. Son, allow him to come and live at any time. For little Sondheim, who lived with his mother after his parents divorced, Mr. Hammerstein was both his teacher and his father, and his guide on his growth path. Naturally, the musical theater creations he engaged in became the most remarkable thing in his eyes. Profession. Therefore, young Sondheim made up his mind early on and determined to become a great musical creator like Mr. Hammerstein. However, judging from Sondheim's future achievements, it seems that his interest in lyrics is far less than that of composing music.
In March 1948, Mr. Hammerstein invited Sondheim to attend the performance of his latest musical "Carousel" with Richard Rodgers in New Haven. ) theater premiere as a boy's 15th birthday present. Even from today's perspective, this R&H group's favorite work is a landmark masterpiece in the history of musicals. The premiere that year deeply shocked Sondheim at a young age.
A few months later, Sondheim and his classmates from the school drama club completed their debut and set a record for the school's best student drama box office. Sondheim triumphantly showed his work to Mr. Hammerstein, but Hammerstein tore it in half because it was the worst work he had ever seen. Sondheim was greatly hit, but because of his shame and blessing, he got the "Nine Suns Manual" that all musical creators dream of: Throughout the afternoon, Mr. Hammerstein patiently explained the music in detail to the 15-year-old boy He teaches the art of drama creation by imparting his experience and experience in the creation process for decades.
Many years later, Sondheim still lamented when recalling the past: The creative magic he received that afternoon was more and more valuable than what many of his colleagues could learn from a lifetime of hard work. Since then, with the master's guidance, Sondheim has gradually emerged in the musical theater world with the help of God.
Compared to Weber, a talented boy who dropped out of school at the age of sixteen or seventeen and embarked on the path of musical theater creation, Sondheim can be regarded as a well-behaved student. After studying music at The Williams College and successfully graduating, the 20-year-old Sondheim got the opportunity to study under the famous Broadway composer Milton Babbitt. By the time his first musical "Saturday Night" came out, Sondheim was already 25 years old. No wonder Sondheim, who is 18 years older than Weber, is always regarded as Weber's contemporary creator. Considering that this master is an all-rounder who can sing and compose music, his late blooming can be regarded as a result of his long accumulation.
Sondheim made his debut as a lyricist. When he was looking for development opportunities with his unfinished "Saturday Night", he received help from another noble person. He was the famous conductor Lon. Leonard Bernstein. Bernstein admired the young man's talent very much and arranged for him to help him write the lyrics of "West Side Story". Although it was said to be assistance, it certainly felt like letting the young man do some chores to get some exercise first. Therefore, although the lyricist of "West Side Story" The two of them signed the name, but in fact it was basically completed by Sondheim alone.
At that time, there was still a trend in the musical theater industry that emphasized music composition and light writing of lyrics. Sondheim wanted to refuse at first, but after the persuasion of the famous lyricist Hammerstein, he finally changed his mind and started to work in the crew. A humble job.
Many times, listening to the advice of old people will not only avoid losses, but also make big profits. In 1957, "West Side Story" was officially staged and received rave reviews. The 27-year-old Sondheim became the biggest winner. His name was shared with Bernstein (composer) and Harold Prince (producer). , Jerome Robbins (director, choreographer) and other industry giants were put together, and their popularity increased sharply. He also began a cooperation with producer Prince that lasted for more than 20 years.
However, there was still a hard-fought process before the famous musical master was given the big job. Sondheim's subsequent development also stumbled several times. After "West Side Story", he set out to put "Saturday Night" on the stage. Unexpectedly, at the moment of success, the producer unfortunately died of illness, and the performance of "Saturday Night" was stillborn. Devastated by this, Sondheim cheered up and accepted the invitation from Jerome Robbins and Arthur Lawrence to prepare for the creation of a new musical "Gypsy" (Gypsy), but he was asked to perform the music of the play. The queen of theater, Ethel Merman, was not happy. She insisted that Sondheim was not qualified enough to shoulder the burden of composing. Of course, the future masters are not as good as the already famous ones. Sondheim once again reluctantly became a lyricist with the encouragement of Hammerstein. Fortunately, "Queen of the Roses" was so popular after it was staged that it has been revived three times and still can't stop. Sondheim has also become a "famous lyricist" in people's eyes with these two masterpieces since his debut.
Seeing that Sondheim could only work in the field of lyrics, his good friend Harold Prince couldn't stand it anymore and gave him an opportunity to write a new play "A Funny" Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum). This time Sondheim finally got his wish, and he took over the writing of lyrics and music by himself. Compared with his later works that waved the banner of challenging tradition and subverting the musical theater industry, this farce breaks through the old Broadway routine of "love at first sight" in the opening and "everyone is happy with it" in the ending, but it is still considered a conventional work. The play won multiple "Tony Awards" after it was staged in 1962, but Sondheim's composition, which he was eager to receive recognition for, did not even receive a nomination. However, this result is far different from his "Anyone Can Whistle" two years later. That play was forced to stop performance 7 days after its premiere. Sondheim's confidence in The blow was huge.
With the reputation of the master, the value of "Everybody Can Whistle" has finally been recognized by the world today. However, it is an indisputable fact that it was too highbrow at the time. The failure of this play It had a serious impact on Sondheim's career: for the next five or six years, he was forced to return to his old career as a lyricist because no one had the guts to ask him to compose music anymore.
In the 1970s, Sondheim finally had an opportunity to turn around, and this time it was Harold Prince who helped out. In 1970, the new play "Company", written and composed by Sondheim, directed and produced by Prince, and adapted from the work of George Furth, was successfully staged, making this golden pair famous on Broadway. The beginning of ten thousand.
"Party" is one of Sondheim's most characteristic works. It breaks the linear narrative structure of traditional stage plays. The plot can only be described as "a single man escaping from marriage and his five friends." "A story between a couple and friends" is an ambiguous expression. The originally vital plot has become an element in the play that can be discarded. The concept that the creator wants to convey to the audience is the focus of the entire play. This pioneering work of abandoning the plot in favor of the concept marks the birth of a new genre of musicals called "conceptual musicals", and Sondheim has therefore been dubbed the "originator of conceptual musicals".
However, at the time, people did not have a deeper understanding of the significance of this initiative. This new drama's questioning of the value of traditional marriage and its in-depth exploration of various issues in urban life through the perspective of the characters in the drama are the main reasons for its sensation.
"Entourage" not only made the audience laugh, but also made people think deeply. This light-weight performance technique has been recognized by the box office and the "Tony Award". Sondheim has become famous since then, and his die-hard fans are also growing day by day. increase.
Famous for being easy to handle, one year later, Sondheim's "Follies" met the audience. "Beautiful Show" was originally called "The Girls Upstairs" (The Girls Upstairs) and had been conceived long before "Partners". The play is 140 minutes long with no intermission, and the style is in the same vein as "Partners". It reflects the changes in American society over the past half century based on what the gorgeous showgirls saw and heard when they reunited in their hometown decades later. If this kind of subject matter were left to others to create, most of the focus would be on the sentimentality of time fleeting and youth no longer lost. However, Sondheim tried his best to express their regret for the past miss by letting two old couples look back on the past. It can be said to be a unique approach. In terms of music creation, in order to make the audience feel like they have returned to the past, Sondheim tried his best to create the musical atmosphere of the Broadway "Beautiful Show" period and incorporated Irving Berlin (Irving Berlin) and Irving Berlin of that era into his works. The style of Cole Porter, George Gershwin and others, where his compositional talent is most vividly demonstrated. The extravagant scene production of "The Gorgeous Show" also pioneered the mega-musical. Although such luxurious scenes are becoming more and more popular on the musical stage today, the resulting ultra-high cost made "The Gorgeous Show" at that time 》Lost everything.
Sondheim, who lost at the box office but won in word of mouth, has since restrained himself slightly for the sake of his livelihood. In 1973, he released "A Little Night Music" (A Little Night Music), which he co-produced with Prince. This musical is adapted from the film master Ingmar Bergman's "Smiles of a Summer Night" (Smiles of a Summer Night). Sondheim adopts a light and soft style in the play that is quite rare in his works. The melody even has the sounds of Maurice Ravel, Johannes Brahms and Johannes Straw. Influenced by the works of musicians such as Johann Strauss. "Serenade" has a happy ending that is rare in Sondheim's works. However, this ending is actually caused by the disintegration of two marriages - Son's subversive technique is really pervasive.
"Serenade" won Sondheim many awards and generated considerable box office revenue. Thanks to the show, Sondheim finally had his first hit single, "Send In The Clowns" (and as things stand, it's likely to be his only one). head……). However, his subsequent works once again failed to gain critical acclaim. In 1975, the ambitious Sondheim put his masterpiece "Pacific Overtures" on the stage. The plot of the play spans a full 120 years of modern Japanese history. The creative style is deeply influenced by Japanese kabuki and boldly uses Asian actors and oriental instruments. In the play, Sondheim showed the conflict between Chinese and Western cultures without scruples, criticizing Western capitalism for its devastating impact on Eastern culture while invading the Eastern world. It seems the advice may have gone unruly, as Western audiences were clearly annoyed by Sondheim and unwilling to pony up money to support it at the box office.
"Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street), launched in 1979, set its sights on London during the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century. A world where wealth inequality is huge and corruption is spreading. The musical tells the absurd story of a demonic barber who murders his customers and hands their bodies over to the landlady next door to be made into human pies for sale. But the play is not the American "Human Barbecued Pork Bun" that appeals to disgusting horror, but strives to use black humor to expose the dark side of the real world after the industrial revolution. Although the general audience is not interested in "Sweeney Todd", it has won the favor of critics and die-hard Sondheim fans. It has won awards continuously and is known as the best Sondheim-Prince combination. An excellent piece of work.
After receiving this praise, Sondheim confidently launched the new play "Merrily We Roll Along" (Merrily We Roll Along, 1981). God made another little joke with our master: not only was the play sadly canceled after 16 performances, but his old partner Prince also walked away. Sondheim's weird narrative techniques sent him to the lowest point in his directorial career. valley.
Seeing that the new work failed miserably and his old partner also gave up and left, Sondheim was helpless and angrily announced that he would quit the musical theater industry and rewrite mystery novels. Thanks to the timely appearance of James Lapine, a rookie director who had emerged from Off-Broadway, as Sondheim's new partner, the world had fewer mystery novels of unknown quality and more excellent musicals. . In 1984, their first collaboration, "Sunday in the Park with George," was officially staged. This musical was inspired by the 19th-century oil painting "A Sunday on La Grande Jatte" by George Seurat. It continues Sondheim's conceptual style and attempts to explore How to balance the relationship between artistic creation and commercial benefits in the commercial society has some shadow of Sondheim's own experience. If you use Weber's standards to evaluate the box office of this work, it would be a bit overwhelming. It did not lose money and was simply a victory for Sondheim.
After this successful work that won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the two collaborated on their second musical, "Into The Woods," which was launched in 1987. In this new hodgepodge of Grimm's fairy tales that subverts the tradition, Sondheim, as always, mocks the standard fairy tale model from "love at first sight" to "ultimate marriage", warning people to learn to grow and learn to deal with interpersonal relationships. Mutual help creates a relationship, and we must have the courage to shoulder our social responsibilities when facing moral tests. Such an adult fairy tale with a strong moralizing meaning is actually Sondheim's most acceptable work in the eyes of critics and audiences. Under the influence of the huge box office appeal of Broadway queen Bernadette Peters, this fairy tale with a simple and clear melody and a light-hearted story not only made a lot of money, but also became a fierce " "The Phantom of the Opera" won the "Tony Awards" for Best Screenplay, Best Lyrics and Music, which symbolize the soul of musicals.
Perhaps Sondheim was worried that this kind of play that was a hit at the box office and loved by everyone would be too commercial and would ruin his unique brand, so he was ready to let Critics exploded, leaving audiences at a loss as to what to do. At the end of 1990, Sondheim's new play "Assassins" (Assassins), a collaboration with John Weidman, was previewed on Off-Broadway and immediately caused an uproar. In the summer of that year, Iraq invaded Kuwait; just one month after the trial began, the United States sent troops to the Gulf battlefield, and the first Gulf War began. At this juncture when several main theme works are needed to enhance national cohesion, Sondheim's new work is to sing the opposite, using the nine assassins in American history who are famous for assassinating the president as the protagonists to tell the audience Don’t blindly view these historical figures in a superficial way, don’t easily regard these assassins who have been infamous for centuries as madmen, and don’t blindly believe the history others tell you, because it may not be objective and fair... This is inappropriate. If the subject matter that boldly questioned the spirit of American democracy had been written by someone else, I am afraid that it would have been washed up by public opinion and washed to the bottom of the Atlantic forever. Thanks to Sondheim's name, the critics were scolded, but they were not. Dare to block it with a big pen, and many knowledgeable people also have the courage to stand up and express their appreciation for this drama. However, due to the social background conditions at the time, the still-unfinished "Assassin" did not move to Broadway immediately after a brief trial run. Instead, it was not until 10 years later, in September 2001, that rehearsals began to prepare for the audience. Unexpectedly, the tragedy of 9/11 occurred within a few days, and the performance of "Assassin" was naturally postponed indefinitely. It was not officially launched on Broadway until April 2004.
Within just a few days of its performance, "Assassin" was nominated for 6 Tony Awards, and won Best Revival of a Musical, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Director of a Musical at the awards ceremony in early June. 5 awards.
After "Assassin", Sondheim's another work "Passion" (Passion) was released in 1994. This work is adapted from the 1869 novel "Fosca" written by Iginio Ugo Tarchetti and is the third work of Sondheim's collaboration with Laban. Compared with "Assassins," this musical about a love triangle between a man and two women is obviously a mild one, although Sondheim still questions traditional social concepts and interpersonal relationships in the play. , attempts to explore the connection between beauty, wealth, love and marriage. This soul-stirring love tragedy received a good response after its performance, and its exquisite narrative structure was also praised by critics.
After entering the new century, Sondheim, a leading figure in the American musical theater industry, is already in his seventies. Since 2000, major cities in the United States and the United Kingdom have re-staged Sondheim's classic plays to express their congratulations. The schedule of activities is even full until Sondheim's 75th birthday in 2005. Such grand treatment can be described as There has never been one before or since.
Looking back on the nearly half-century creative career of this musical theater master, his early works have been regarded as a model by the majority of musical theater lovers to this day. Since his later works were born only a short time ago, although their artistic value has been reflected, their epoch-making significance may not be revealed until decades later. For musical theater lovers living today, they are lucky enough to live in the same era as this master and witness the birth of classics with their own eyes.