I was introduced to "Some People" via Bernadette Peters on VHS. Sondheim claimed not to write autobiographical material--but I think this was disingenuous. Sondheim himself said, "I never grew up," and his portrait of Rose--a creative force pushing against misogyny and ageism--is a portrait of someone who never grows up.
Notice how easily Sondheim slips into the lingo of the 1920s. "That's peachy for some people--of one hundred and five." "Get an agent--and in jig time--you'll be being booked in the big time." "Good riddance to all the socials I had to go to--all the lodges I had to play...."
Rose's ranting syntax makes her desperation palpable. In the song's famous bridge--with wonderful detail--she spells out exactly what she wants.
There I was in Mr. Orpheum's office...
And he was saying to me...Rose...
Get yourself some new orchestrations...
New routines and RED VELVET CURTAINS.
Get a feathered hat for the baby--
Photographs in front of the theater....
Having been rejected, Rose explodes. The song ends in the only way it can, with our heroine screaming out her own name.
Some people sit on their butts--
Got the dream, yeah, but not the guts.
That's living for some people--for some hum-drum people--
I suppose...
Well, they can stay and rot--
BUT NOT ROSE.
The song makes me think of Mike White and "The White Lotus." MW says he can't write satire unless he is implicating himself--in other words, if he isn't poking fun at his own life, then the writing loses its sting. When Piper says, at the dinner table, "I could never go to the Buddhist retreat because the food is not organic"--MW is writing about himself. The same is true for Sondheim and Rose. When actors say, "She really isn't a monster," they're missing the point. She is a monster--AND she is human. Sondheim is saying, "I want you to find her repellent--AND I want you to love her anyway."
Among a thousand grace notes....I think it's fun to pay attention to the word "get" and its multiple uses. "You ain't getting 88 cents from me, Rose." A reply: "I'll get it someplace else, but I'll get it--and I'LL GET MY KIDS OUT...."
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