Sondheim on Stage: Selected Works

Other composers have written musicals that have been far more successful; other composers have written far more hit songs; a few composers have written more musicals than Sondheim has, since he arrived on Broadway 45 years ago. But Sondheim has influenced and changed his field in a way that no composer has. No lyricist or librettist or director or choreographer or producer, either.

Sondheim's musicals have ranged from sizable hits to misunderstood failures. Looked at from the vantage point of today, though, one fact becomes remarkably clear. Each of these musicals is distinctively different; different from other Broadway musicals, and different from other Sondheim musicals as well. All were ground-breaking in their time, all remain provocative today. Sondheim's music and lyrics have always stood out among the work of his contemporaries. Most remarkably, all of Sondheim's shows remain fresh and fascinating. Many scores of the 1960's and 1970's—even some award-winning musicals—now sound dated to our ears. Not so with Sondheim.

In this section, we focus on four Sondheim musicals that are appropriate for high school audiences:

Sweeney Todd is, arguably, the most powerful of Sondheim's shows—and to some theatregoers, ranks as the finest score of the last 25 years. This 1979 musical has a score that is extensive and varied, ranging from moments of tender beauty to madness, and containing some of the most extraordinary moments in American musical theatre.

Merrily We Roll Along is a rarity among Broadway musicals, a decidedly unsuccessful show that has been rewritten and rehabilitated into something significantly different and stronger than what first appeared on Broadway. The most recent production, in London in 2000, won the Olivier Award for Best Musical.

Sunday in the Park with George, from 1984, is Sondheim's most experimental work. Taking his cue from the French impressionist painter Georges Seurat, the composer created a score filled with color and light—and memorably addressed the act of creation.

Into the Woods blends the worlds of several familiar fairy tales as Cinderella, Rapunzel, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Little Red Riding Hood share the stage with a childless Baker and his Wife.