Skip to main content

Stephen Sondheim: "Merrily We Roll Along"

 Sondheim has written truckloads of canonical "I Want" numbers: "Some People," "Something's Coming," "Now" (from NIGHT MUSIC), the title song in INTO THE WOODS, "Little Lamb," "My Friends" (from SWEENEY), "Unworthy of Your Love."


One of his greatest is "Opening Doors," from MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG. Because the story is told backwards, the major "I Want" moment happens toward the end of the evening.

The song traces the growth of a Sondheim-ish figure, Frank, as he tries to make his name as a composer:

We're opening doors, singing,
Here we are!
We're filling up days on a dime.
That faraway shore's...looking...
Not too far.
We're following every star.
There's not enough time!

After a funny (and painful) moment of professional disappointment, Frank revisits the "nautical" metaphor, but he makes some edits:

They're slamming the doors, singing,
Go away!
It's less of a sail than a climb.
That faraway shore's...farther...
Every day. 
We're learning to ricochet...
We still have a lot to say....

Sondheim uses parallel structure, in a subtle way. "We're following every star" is a First Act; "we're learning to ricochet" is a kind of reprise. Frank is growing up, in real time.

We're banging on doors, shouting,
Here again!
We're risking it all on a dime.
That faraway shore's....looking...
Near again.
The only thing left is WHEN...
We know we should count to ten...
We haven't got time!

Frank has learned to become scrappy. It's not enough to try to open the door; you have to bang on it. It's not enough to sing; you have to shout.

You can sense Sondheim's delight as he considers and revisits various phrases: "that faraway shore," "living on a dime." He liked to speak about the Statue of Liberty; apparently (or maybe not), the sculptor defended a choice to include fabulous details on the cap of the head of Lady Liberty. "I don't care if those details are invisible to the world. I personally know that they're there...." 

As you watch a Sondheim show, you miss some of the details, just in an effort to try to follow the story. How fun to go back and notice--and appreciate--the sense of rigor and care.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

How to Host a Baby

-You have assumed responsibility for a mewling, puking ball of life, a yellow-lab pup. He will spit his half-digested kibble all over your shoes, all over your hard-cover edition of Jennifer Haigh's novel  Faith . He will eat your tables, your chairs, your "I {Heart] Montessori" magnet, placed too low on the fridge. When you try to watch Bette Davis in  Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte , on your TV, your dog will bark through the murder-prologue, for no apparent reason. He will whimper through Lena Dunham's  Girls , such that you have to rewind several times to catch every nuance of Andrew Rannells's ad-libbing--and, still, you'll have a nagging suspicion you've missed something. Your dog will poop on the kitchen floor, in the hallway, between the tiny bars of his crate. He'll announce his wakefulness at 5 AM, 2 AM, or while you and another human are mid-coitus. All this, and you get outside, and it's: "Don't let him pee on my tulips!" When...

Joshie

  When I was growing up, a class birthday involved Hostess cupcakes. Often, the cupcakes would come in a shoebox, so you could taste a leathery residue (during the party). Times change. You can't bring a treat into a public school, in 2024, because heaven knows what kind of allergies might lurk, in unseen corners, in the classroom. But Joshua's teacher will allow: a dance party, a pajama day, or a guest reader. I chose to bring a story for Joshua's birthday (observed), but I didn't think through the role that anxiety might play in this interaction. We talk, in this house, quite a bit about anxiety; one game-changer, for J, has been a daily list of activities, so that he knows exactly what to expect. He gets a look of profound satisfaction when he sees the agenda; it doesn't really matter what the specific events happen to be. It's just about knowing, "I can anticipate X, Y, and Z." Joshua struggled with his celebration. He wore his nervousness on his f...

Josh at Five

 Joshie's project is "flexibility"; the goal is to see that a plan is just an idea, not a gospel, not a guarantee. This is difficult. Yesterday, we went to a restaurant--billed as "open," with unlocked doors--and the owner informed us of an "error in advertising." But Joshie couldn't accept the word "closed." He threw himself on the floor, then climbed on the furniture. I felt for the owner, until he nervously made a reference to "the glass windows." He imagined that my child might toss himself through a sealed window, like Mary Katherine Gallagher, or like Bruce Willis, in "Die Hard." Then--thank the Lord!--I was able to laugh. The thing that really has therapeutic value for Joshie is: a firetruck. If we are out in public, and he spots a parked truck, he wants to climb on each surface. He breathlessly alludes to the wheels, the door, the windows. If an actual fire station ("fire ocean," in Joshie's parla...