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On Musicals

It's the fortieth anniversary of the premier of Stephen Sondheim's masterpiece, "Sweeney Todd," possibly the closest-to-perfect piece of writing in musical theater, in world history. Some thoughts:

*Leonard Bernstein was a testy father, and one day he was particularly difficult with his daughter. His daughter later spotted a family friend, Stephen Sondheim. She complained to Sondheim about her father's mystifying recent bitchiness. Sondheim thought, and said: "He might be in a bad mood. SWEENEY TODD happened this weekend. Its success might be hard for him."

*Lorrie Moore calls Sondheim "the Dark Prince of Broadway," and she notes that there is a conspicuous flat note in "Sweeney Todd," in the song "Johanna." The flat happens to occur when the singer hits the syllable "win," in "window." (Moore does *not* note that the flat happens elsewhere, again, in the song, on the word "dream." But three cheers for Moore, for praising Patti LuPone's "Sweeney" performance, and for focusing on LuPone's wavy sting-ray lips.)

*Tony Soprano would seem to usher in an era of Difficult Men. Walter White, Don Draper, Al Swearengen. But look at Sweeney--whose story debuted long, long before the "antihero wave." From the moment the curtain goes up, Sweeney isn't looking for anything moral. He is looking for vengeance. Sondheim doesn't judge Sweeney. Sondheim seems to say, to the audience, "Do a little work. You can understand this guy. You don't need all of your musical-theater heroes to be Dolly Levi."

*"Sweeney Todd" is the moment where Sondheim really embraces Victorian language. "Gentlemen," "trod a path," "deserved a nod," "my ward," "pretty as a rosebud," "green finch and linnet bird." As in other Sondheim works, part of the fun in "Sweeney" is just watching a genius renew his love for words.

*I've loved Sweeney, and "Sweeney," for years. My favorite. A huge inspiration. It may be time to dig out the Tim Burton version: Just imagine you're hearing great singers, even when you aren't.
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