Sheelagh Cook

December 18, 2016

AMT 254: Aesthetics
Term Paper
Stephen Sondheim and His Impact on Musical Theater

According to Joanne Gordon in her book, Art Isn't Easy: The Achievement of

Stephen Sondheim, “America’s greatest original contribution to the theater is the

musical…”i I personally agree with this statement because I have always found joy in

watching musical theater productions. However, the art form of musical theater that

we know today has not always been the same. It went through a transformation

from being about the actors on stage to being about the story they are trying to tell.

One of the greatest influences on musical theater is Stephen Sondheim.

Stephen Sondheim is a well known American Composer and lyricist. He was

born on March 22, 1930 in New York, New York. He developed an interest for

playing the piano and song writing at a young age. Once his family moved to

Pennsylvania he became friends with the son of Oscar Hammerstein II.

Hammerstein became Sondheim’s mentor and introduced him to musical theater.

Writing songs for musical theater in the beginning wasn’t easy for Sondheim. He

went through a lot of struggles with writing musicals but Hammerstein always

offered him criticism. After college Sondheim moved to Los Angeles where he wrote

scripts for television shows. He decided to move back to New York so he could start

a career in Musical Theater. ii

Sondheim’s work created a new wave of musical theatre. Also, unlike most

composers Sondheim didn’t have one set collaborator that he worked on every

show with. His main two collaborators were the director/playwrights Hal Prince
and James Lapine. When Joanne Gordon mentions his work with Prince and Lapine

she says, “Rather than an esoteric style, they have chosen the popular form of

American theater and invested in with a truth and vitality rarely associated with

Broadway musical.”iii Before Sondheim the musical was built around its plot. The

plot of these musicals involved a love story that served as the basis for all the songs,

dances, and dialogue. Sondheim however based his musicals on an idea. “Music,

Lyric, dance, dialogue, design, and direction fuse to support a focal thought.” iv He is

most known for his shows West Side Story, Gypsy, Sweeny Todd, Sunday in the Park

with George, and Into the Woods. What is really interesting about his shows are their

storylines. Since they aren’t typical happy endings of Broadway musicals; instead his

shows often end with a troubling situation. Situations that purposefully have you

leaving the theater upset. Not only did his endings have an effect on the audience the Commented [F1]: Fragment

music did as well.

Stephen Sondheim created his own musical language. Gordon describes it as,

“The heightening emotional impact of tonality; the stimulating effect of rhythm; the

soothing quality of harmony; the expansion and compression of time and feeling-

these emotive powers of music are well established, and Sondheim naturally

exploits all the connotative resonances of musical form.”v These aspects of his work

is why his musicals have become so popular because not only do people enjoy

listening to the music he creates but they also relate to his lyrics on an emotional

level. For Sondheim what helps him create his style of music is the process he goes

about to create it. He once said in an interview, “Once I have a scene I will put it on

the piano and improvise or I will scour the page looking for a line that could become
a refrain or a central idea.” This also helps him step into character, which he does

quite a lot when working on a piece of music. He says its helpful to make lists of

what the character would want or say and then create the song around that. vi Also

his songs are always the development of the scene that just took place and many of

times they serve as a conversation between two characters. That’s why many pride

Sondheim on his songs that are very fast but also more talking singing than actual

singing.

Once musical that really encompasses Sondheim’s work is Sunday in the Park

with George. Sondheim released Sunday in the Park with George in 1984. Sondheim

wrote the music and lyrics and James Lapine wrote the book and directed. The

inspiration for this musical is the famous painting, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island

of La Grande Jatte by George Seurat. What sets this musical apart is that Sondheim

and Lapine took the images in the painting and created them into characters in the

life of George Seurat. Then in the second act the show focus on George’s great

grandson who is also artist revealing his new art work that incorporates the

painting. This show is unlike any other theater production because it is the only

theater show that incorporates visual and performing arts. When in an interview

with Diane Sawyer, Sondheim and Lapine described their reason for creating this

piece by saying, “it is a story about obsession, passion, and the tension between the

human need of daily life and lure of a work of art.” vii The show really expresses the

struggle of being an artist and effort an artist puts in to create the work.

Many critics who look at Sunday in the Park with George notice the parallels

between George Seurat and Stephen Sondheim. Sondheim does not say that the
character of George is based on him but he does acknowledge their similarities.

“Seurat’s emphasis on form is echoed in the meticulous structure of a Sondheim

musical: nothing is random: nothing is arbitrary: each detail is essential to the

overall composition.” viii Seurat and Sondheim both are perfectionist. What Seurat

does with paint, Sondheim does with music. There is a song “Finishing the Hat”

Where George is singing about painting the hat and the music that Sondheim

created represent the dot movements of his paint brush.

I recently saw a production of Sunday in the Park with George at the

Huntington Theatre Company. I was really excited because I had only seen clips of

the filmed version before and there is definitely a difference between watching clips

of a musical theater show and seeing it live. I was really interested to see how they

would incorporate the actual painting into the show. First what I thought was

interesting is that some of the set pieces were made to look like they were a part of

the painting. For example, there are a lot of trees in the painting and when a tree

was brought on stage it looked like it had been painted with dots, like the actual

painting. Also the end of Act I the actor who plays George places the other

characters in positions of people in the painting and then before the curtain falls

there was a screen that came down displaying the painting. Also in Act II they

project the painting around the room using the creation George’s great grandson

created. Also in Act II the actors now play more modern characters but the character

have similar characteristics. For example, the same actor who plays George Seurat

also plays George the great grandson, both artists but of different styles. Yet the

musical shows how the creative process affects each of the artists.
 I really related this production to the views of Hans-Georg Gadamer. A big

part of Gadamer beliefs was this idea of art and play. He says that, “When we speak

of play in reference to the experience of art, this means neither the orientation nor

even the state of mind of the creator or of those enjoying the work of art, nor the

freedom of subjectivity engaged in play, but the mode of being of the work.” What he

is saying here is that it is not about the creator’s freedom or the behavior of the

player but it is about being the art. The beings of the artworks, the play, is separate

from the critiques of the player, it exists even where the subject isn’t exactly being

playful. Play is also an order that represents the to-and-fro movements follows

itself. “It is part of play that movement is not only without goal or purpose but also

without effort.” Finally, play is also all about presentation. All though it is really

more about self-presentation it also can be presented for anyone. When acting on

stage you are presenting the art of the creator to the audience. You are playing a

role. You also never exactly do any performance the same way twice. Yes the

costumes, sets, and the people are the same every time but the emotions behind it

sometimes change depending on how your cast members set you up in a scene.

When an actor is acting in a play they are scene as the art in that moment. Sunday in

the Park with George relates to Hans-Georg Gadamer ideas because this musical is

about the artist George Seurat and his famous painting A Sunday on La Grande Jatte.

He talks about his personal life and how the people shown in the painting are

characters in his life. This show ends with the cast standing in spots to make the

final painting. I also have seen the film version of this show and even between the

two productions there was differences. For example the costumes were different,
they looked similar because they were the same period but the colors were

complete different. Also the actors didn’t say the same lines the same way it was all

about how the actor viewed the character and how he/she saw themselves in the

production. ix

Sondheim and Sunday in the Park with George, also relate to Immanuel Kant’s

ideas about fine art. In part of the “Critique of Judgment”, Kant explains his thought

on what a Genius is. He describes Genius as, “Genius is the innate mental

predisposition through with nature gives the rule to art.” A Genius is thus basically

the one who creates the object of art. However, there are four rules that must be

followed for one to be considered a genius. First, Genius is a talent that is only for art

not for science. This is because art forms tend to be more original. Second, how the

art is presented states if it is or is not created by a genius. Third is, that the object

has to come through nature to be explained and not scientifically. Fourth, “Nature

through genius, prescribes the rule not to science but to art, and this also only

insofar as the art is to be fine art” For art to be considered fine art it must, create

pleasure and some sort of cognizing, engage mental powers (not just senses), and it

involves social communication. Production in fine arts should be free of “interest” of

the type Kant is concerned with regarding judgment. The work of fine art must seem

to be free and natural; purposive without the intention of a purpose on the part of

the maker being evident. x

I personally believe that Stephen Sondheim is a genius. I believe he first in

the criteria that Kant created. First off, he is a composer/lyricist, which is a form of

art not science. Second, Sondheim creates his art in the form of songs and can create
full-length musicals with his songs. He is also able to take another form of art like

Sunday in the Park with George and turn it into the plot for a musical. Third, in his

musicals, like Sunday in the Park with George, Sondheim is able to tell intricate,

relatable stories through music. Fourth, Sondheim is one of the most well known

composers in the musical theater industry. This is because of his musical style that

is so relatable. However, people also enjoy his work because his musicals transform

you and take you away from reality for just a few hours. Commented [F2]: I think you would also have a firm
argument based in Kant’s belief that the work of genius sets a
model for those who follow, and Sondheim’s influence would be
Stephen Sondheim is truly a genius. He has transformed the art of musical evidence for that as well.

theater forever. His music style and through process behind shows alone set him

above and beyond what was around in his era. I chose to do write about Sondheim

because he is such an intricate part of where musical theatre was, is and where it is

going. I have enjoyed his work for a very long time and if it wasn’t for the

philosophers I have learned about I never would of known how much thought he

really put into his work. Fro example, I have known about Sunday in the Park with

George since high school but I never realized how much a connection there was

between George and Sondheim. I look forward to experiencing the future of musical

theater and it is all thanks to Stephen Sondheim.

i Gordon, Joanne. Art Isn't Easy: The Achievement of Stephen Sondheim. Carbondale
and Edwardsville, IL: Southern Illinois University Press., 1.
ii "Stephen Sondheim-Songwriter, Writer." Biography.com. Accessed November 30,

2016.
iii Gordon, Art Isn’t Easy… 3.
iv Ibid., 7.
v Ibid., 9.
vi Sondheim, Stephen. Unknown. YouTube, “Sondheim on Writing”. April 16, 2015.
vii Sondheim, Stephen and James Lapine. Diane Sawyer. Good Morning America. June

13, 2008
viiiGordon, Art Isn’t Easy… 265.
ixGadamer, Hans-Georg. "Truth and Method." In Aesthetics: The Big Question, edited
by Carolyn Korsmeyer, 91-97. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 1998.
x Kant, Immanuel. "Critique of Judgment." In Aesthetics: The Big Question, edited by

Carolyn Korsmeyer, 300-305. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 1998.

 Work Cited:

Gadamer, Hans-Georg. "Truth and Method." In Aesthetics: The Big Question, edited by

Carolyn Korsmeyer, 91-97. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 1998.

Gordon, Joanne. Art Isn't Easy: The Achievement of Stephen Sondheim. Carbondale

and Edwardsville, IL: Southern Illinois University Press.

Kant, Immanuel. "Critique of Judgment." In Aesthetics: The Big Question, edited by

Carolyn Korsmeyer, 300-305. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 1998.

Sondheim, Stephen and James Lapine. Diane Sawyer. Good Morning America. June

13, 2008

Sondheim, Stephen. Unknown. YouTube, “Sondheim on Writing”. April 16, 2015.

"Stephen Sondheim-Songwriter, Writer." Biography.com. Accessed November 30,

2016.
Component Points
Paper clearly articulates theme and purpose for the paper in 18/20 points
an initial paragraph, and the theme or purpose of the paper is
effectively addressed in the body and conclusion.
Paper accurately represents concepts from class readings and 19/20 points
discussions.

Paper evidences effort to obtain and use sources beyond the 9/10 points
required course materials.

Paper clearly and accurately represents work(s) of art used as 10/10 points
examples in the paper as appropriate.

Paper makes appropriate connections between aesthetics 10/10 points

content and artwork(s) chosen.

Sequencing of content in paragraphs is organized and logical. 10/10 points

Sentence structure and word choices are accurate and clear. 9/10 points

Spelling and typographical errors are absent. 4/5 points

Chicago footnote citations and Works Cited list is included and 5/5 points
properly formatted.

Total 94/100
points