The Coffee Cup I Think About You- A farewell to Sondheim Part 2A

It's been a week now and there have been many moving tributes. But like many, I can't stop thinking about the legacy and lessons Mr. Sondheim left us. I'm not much for ballads usually but his move me immensely. I've read people explaining about how he's an expert at expressing "longing" and there is definitely some of that on this list. The other category in here that has a formidable presence is creation and all the aches and pains that come along with that. There's also a lot of Sunday on this list and I even left a few off. (If you haven't watched the moving tribute in Time Square from Sunday here's a link to that video). But here we go:

The Moving Emotional Ones (in chronological order so I don't have to stress about which goes where in my heart):

Edit: Oh my gosh. My first category and it's already gonna be a two parter. Let's just call this Part 2A- pre 1980 and the next one will be 2B post 1980.

"Anyone Can Whistle"- Anyone Can Whistle: This is a show I've never seen, being one of his more tremendous flops. This is one of those exceptions that I'll talk more about out of the context of the show. I've never been within spitting distance of a staging although I had a friend in college (another Sondheim fan) who managed to see a staging that she absolutely raved about and to this day I'm jealous. I heard this song for the first time in college, sung by a friend of mine in a musical theatre class. It was emotional moment in my life, my grandmother had just passed, and something about the raw truthfulness of the lyric coupled with the gentle conversational nature of the melody absolutely slayed me that day. "I can dance a tango, I can read Greek-easy/I can slay a dragon any old week-easy" I think for me personally, there's something very profound in the idea that "what's hard is simple, what's natural comes hard" At my most vulnerable it's hard to admit that while I can be extremely capable I've always had a sense that life's simplest moments have been out of my grasp. "Maybe if you whistle, whistle for... me." Lee Remik's "me" there at the end slays me every time. Looking for other absolutely gut wrenching songs from this show be sure to check out "With So Little To Be Sure Of" which has gotten a lot of play this week too.

"Losing My Mind"- Follies: This song is textbook Sondheim longing. Each Loveland number set in such a specific musical moment is a triumph. In many ways it makes Follies the least "Sondheim sounding" of his scores. This torch song, taking its cue directly from the Gershwins, does everything to give Sally the end all be all of "longing" songs. Again, for the most part I much prefer Sondheim's densely packed witty patter songs, but here it is the grace and simplicity that bring home the emotional center of the song. In terms of expressing the kind of love that just won't let you rest this song does it all. You can hear Sally losing her mind just in the sheer repetition of the lyric. Plus nothing beats the precise imagery of "The sun comes up/ I think about you/ The coffee cup/ I think about you" You know that feeling exactly. It's the one that won't go away. And in this haunting melody it simply tugs and tugs. A good delivery of this song is absolutely gut wrenching. There's nothing you can do from dawn to dusk, you think about them. It is the peer of every great standard torch song, but with that extra bit of Sondheim pain. There is nothing more satisfying/unsatisfying. Also, may any one who has ever said Sondheim doesn't write "hummable" tunes have this stuck in their head on repeat. Feh. 

"Everyday a Little Death"-A Little Night Music: I could go on all day about this show which I have seen many many times because luckily people love doing it. Obviously "Send in the Clowns" could have gone on this list but you've all heard it and if you want to hear the definitive version of it look no further than Judi Dench on Cameron Macintosh's birthday concert. I've taught whole classes about that song and love it but it doesn't get to the very core of my being the way "Everyday a Little Death" does. I became aware of the song long before I knew the show. Female duets are less common in the cannon that one would imagine and this one always makes the list. But in the context of the show, even though the scene before it can be played quite comedically, there is nothing at all comedic in the situation and it comes out perfectly in the imagery of the lyrics. Here's a show that is essentially a sex farce and we've had a great deal of comedic and light hearted numbers up until this point and then bam. Both women reeling from the pain of losing love and/or dignity by losing control of their husbands comes to a head in this lilting yet driving number. When the two vocal lines come together they tumble over each other and are left in a heap of emotions, "Ah, well" is all that Charlotte can muster at the end of it. The B section absolutely kills me. I can't pick a favorite line, they are all a perfect combination of hopeless devotion and complete frustration. "He smiles sweetly/ Strokes my hair says he misses me/ I would murder him right there/ But first I die" Ughhhh. I can't. A good Charlotte gets me every time. 

Stay Tuned for Merrily and too many songs from Sunday.

Forever

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Children and Art- A farewell to Sondheim Part 1

This will probably take many days to write. But tonight I will begin with thoughts on the end of an era of musical theatre. Stephen Sondheim (3/22/1930-11/26/2021) made history in our world by always moving forward. The great mind mentored by Oscar Hammerstein II pushed boundaries just like his second father did. Sondheim in return became a mentor to so many of the next generation and I think that is what makes him a great artist. There are many songs of his to mark the grief of his passing but I can't stop thinking about "Children and Art" the song that Marie sings to George in Act 2 of Sunday in the Park with George. A song about the most important things we leave behind in this world. Children and Art. He left no biological children but even beyond the countless theatre artists he mentored he inspired even more he never met. We are all his children. He is our musical theatre father (which makes Oscar our grandfather which feels about right to me honestly). He left both children and art. Children of his own art. And I am forever grateful. 

There are already many lists indicating favorite scores and songs of his. This one by Linda Holmes from NPR is lovely. As with most things in this blog my list is more for my own emotional release than anything else but if anyone else enjoys it that's always good too. Again, this isn't gonna be your average list. Because if you read my blog you may have already noticed that my favorites are not always everyone else's favorites. But these are the songs that make me the happiest for whatever reason whether that is his incredible gift of wit and rhyme or his completely heart wrenching melodies. 

Edit: Nope this is gonna be several lists. Sorry. In fact let's just call this the table of contents post for a few posts to follow. I will come back and do a post about each list. Like I don't have enough to do. But let's call this my mourning process. I mean, if you're here reading my blog you can probably handle a few more Sondheim posts right? I may come back and edit this table of contents but for tonight it is good enough.

The Moving Emotional Ones:

"Children and Art"-Sunday in the Park With George

"Everyday a Little Death"-A Little Night Music

"Anyone Can Whistle"- Anyone Can Whistle

"Losing My Mind"- Follies

"Move On"- Sunday in the Park With George

"Finishing the Hat"- Sunday in the Park With George

"Not a Day Goes By"- Merrily We Roll Along

Group Numbers That Make Me Giddy:

"Please Hello"- Pacific Overtures

"A Weekend in the Country"- A Little Night Music

"The Frogs"- The Frogs

"Opening Doors"- Merrily We Roll Along

"Getting Married Today"- Company

"Someone in a Tree"- Pacific Overtures

Funny/Witty (this list might get longer):

"A Little Priest"- Sweeney Todd

"A Country House" - Follies

"Agony" - Into the Woods

"Mr. Goldstone, I Love You"- Gypsy*

"Officer Krupke"- West Side Story*

"Pretty Little Picture"- A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

"I'm Calm"- A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

"Chrysanthemum Tea"- Pacific Overtures

Unsettling yet Beautiful:

"Unworthy of Your Love"- Assassins

"Not While I'm Around"- Sweeney Todd

"Pretty Lady"- Pacific Overtures

"I Remember"- Evening Primrose

"Johanna (Quartet)"- Sweeney Todd 

"Loving You"- Passion

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"I like your style" or These are a few of my favorite Jazz Waltzes

 So the real reason I wrote the last post, was to explain this one. Basically, while listening to my vinyl "find" $1.95 copy of Applause I turned to my husband and said, "you know what my favorite song in this score is right?" Which lead me to spend the rest of the evening collecting my favorite jazz waltz showtunes. I'm not convinced I can rank them effectively so I'm gonna have to go chronologically.  I'm no musicologist, I just love these songs. So here we go, the ultimate feel good list of songs that make you want to get up and do a waltz clog with the person you love.  

"Wait Till We're Sixty Five" from On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1965): First of all, this score is a winner. The story completely falls apart past the initial premise, woman with ESP falls in love with psychiatrist who falls in love with her past life. Alan Jay Lerner was a lot of things, including a fan of the clairvoyant, but it wasn't the stuff of a hit musical.  A hit song for Barbra and others sure, but not a permanent member of the cannon of classic musicals. I love A LOT of songs in this score (also Trude worked on the show as vocal arranger and musical continuity) so it actually took me till recently to see that this particular gem of a song fit perfectly into my jazz waltz obsession. Burton Lane wrote terrific melodies and this is certainly more of a charm song than anything else but this playful duet between Daisy (the one with ESP) and her fiancee-she's-no-longer-in-love-with Warren, gives a kick up your heals to embracing life's securities. The vocal selections give the tempo of the refrain as "in strong rhythm and vigorously" so it's not your average Rodgers waltz. With marvelously hilarious rhymes like "Safe from disaster/ No one haster take care of ma and pa./ All brown and rosy/ Living cozy down there in Tampa Fla." and "Life will be gala/ Every malady all completely paid. / And we've a plot a/ Terra cotta in which we'll both be laid" what's not to love. Oh Alan. But it's Lane's tuneful bounce that makes you want to skip all over the living room when you here it. Betty Walberg's excellent dance break with Robert Russel Bennett's orchestrations make a joyful boisterous carefree tune out of this completely practical subject matter. It could only have been made more hilarious by the wonderful straight man William Daniels (the way he hits the "v" the first time he says "sixty-five") and the comedic brilliance of Barbara Harris (the way she throws off "pa") I love them both soooooooooo much. Listen to it here

"One of a Kind" from Applause (1970). I talked some about Applause in my last post, but basically all my love for the 70's comes from this show (and the dance break of "The Music and the Mirror"). It's a 70s retelling of All About Eve with Lauren Bacall in the Bette Davis role. Music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Lee Adams, epic orchestrations by Philip Lang. This delightful duet (again) between Margo and Bill (Bacall and Len Cariou) is true love at its finest. They're a bit of an odd couple, there's tension between them throughout the play, but this is one of those perfectly honest and playful charm songs that just makes you smile from ear to ear. The score calls for the song to be played "moderately in 1" but I feel the 3 of the waltz so strongly. In fact of all the jazz waltzes on this list this is the one I'd call the waltziest. Maybe because it's such a deeply romantic sentiment masquerading as a charm song. Lyrics like "you always grind your teeth at night/ Your snoring is a real delight/ It's noisy but we sleep alright" is what the young people used to call "relationship goals" in my book. There is not a dance break here but you can feel the dance all the way through. I'm also a sucker for the harmony, something about Cariou taking the high notes while Bacall sings the melody in the basement just tickles me. But it's the drive of that "in 1" that moves the song along and makes it one of the most delightful numbers in the score. I love it so much.

"I Like Your Style" from Barnum (1980): Cy Coleman being the great jazz man he was gives this song the marking "jazz waltz" and it couldn't be more accurate. With lyrics by Michael Stewart and orchestrations by Hershey Kay this song is another love song in charm song clothing, heavy on the charm. Like "One of a Kind" this troubled couple is coming to grips with their differences (which are many) and do it in this super cutesy catching tune. It doesn't hurt that it's Jim Dale as Barnum who exudes charm in his very pronunciation. And lovely young charming and not-yet-recognized-for-her-maniacal-roles Glenn Close as Charity. The two of them together bring forth a warm understanding of working through a relationship in this chipper toe tapping driving waltz. It feels like a direct descendent of "One of Kind" but with a vocal complexity you couldn't give Lauren Bacall.  Oh and this dance break. Cy Coleman was an absolute master of his craft and this break is delightful (and are those spoons Hershey Kay? I think they are). I literally cannot sit still writing this right now. Ahhhhh I love it so much!!! It just makes me happy. What can I say? I dare you not to dance along listening to this.

Honorable mention goes to:

"She Likes Basketball" from Promises, Promises (1968): Another "moderately fast in 1" this song is once again, an endearing love song parading as a comic masterpiece. Not unlike the title number of She Loves Me, Chuck here is getting good news about a girl and letting the whole world know about it. Not a duet, but still extremely charming for multiple reasons including that it's a Burt Bacharach and Hal David song but the number one most important reason is: Jerry Orbach. I mean who doesn't love Jerry Orbach. And could he be anymore adorable? In his overcoat and his perpetually hunched shoulders. Few things in life make me happier than his run jump bit in this number (thank you Michael Bennett). Anyway, it's a cute song to listen to but if you want the full experience you'll want to watch him do it on the Tony's here: You're welcome.

So there you have it. Now you know exactly what kind of a sucker I am. The romantic-jazz-waltz-duet kind of sucker. 

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