I just got back from a "conversation" with Stephen Sondheim hosted by the University of Utah. It was just him and Nancy Melich (a former theater critic and literary seminar director for the Utah Shakespeare Festival) on stage talking about everything from critics to his writing process. Nancy had some planned questions that she posed to him for about an hour and then there was a musical interlude of songs from Into the Woods and Sunday in the Park With George by the School of Music opera students there at the University and then Nancy asked him questions that some audience members had written down before the evening had started. I loved when he talked about the structure of a show and how the first song should give the audience an idea of the show they will be seeing that night. Then you must DO what that first song has set up and end the show by telling the audience that you HAVE done it. He talked about how Rogers and Hammerstein had introduced the idea of a song furthering the plot and not just being a pretty song. The songs had a beginning, middle and an end. We laughed when he talked about how he has a hard time with choruses singing about things that don't make sense to him. Like 40 cowboys singing, "Every night my honey lamb and I....alone and talk....watch a hawk" He could make sense of them singing about the State of Oklahoma and how wonderful it was but this sentimental stuff, "honey lamb" and "lazy circling hawks"....In his musicals when the chorus sings all together there is motivation behind it and it makes sense, like "More Hot Pies!" The chorus has gone to the pie shop because they like the pies. He said he is very literal. He was asked what his favorite musical was (besides his own) and he said that there has been nothing to top Porgy and Bess. He had a great story about Katherine Hepburn (a neighbor at the time) telling him to be quiet in the middle of the night by knocking on his door in frigid weather wearing no shoes, her pajamas and a babushka. He was composing Company at the time and she was in her first musical Coco and she needed her rest. The funny thing was, she asked her director if she could leave rehearsal everyday at 3pm because her "neighbor" kept her up all night writing some musical. And they let her go. haha It was awesome when he talked about theater critics and how most critics really don't know how to write like they used too. They don't understand theater and their writing is poor period. He talked of some great theater critics and had some fun stories about that. He also explained about why musicals on Broadway are all taken from tried and true sources like movies, pop artists and shows that have done well out of town. It costs a lot of money to produce a show on Broadway, A LOT of money and he said that the producers have to raise that money and they want to make sure the show will be a hit. He said that he abhors this BUT he wouldn't want to be the producer having to raise the money. This truly was a great master class. I learned so much and was surprised at how wonderful a conversationalist he was. So down to earth, honest and intelligent. He made his interviewer feel at ease and the audience just ate him up! I started crying when the opera chorus sang "Sunday" from Sunday in the Park With George. It brought home to me how much Sondheim has influenced my life. I relate so much to his works and I feel privileged to have gone tonight and been a part of the whole experience.
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