Sondheim the Politician
Though not generally thought of in these terms, Stephen Sondheim and his
collaborators have actually turned out
some of the most socially conscious theatre in the last several decades. This
started early on in his career, of
course - West Side Story was an innovation not only in terms of theatrical
conventions, but in touching on
some of the darker facets of urban life. While Rodgers and Hammerstein had
touched on race relations with
South Pacific, the races in question were safely ensconced on the other side of
the world. By bringing the
racial tensions of the youth gangs in New York City to the stage, theatre took
another step.
To continue the trend, Anyone Can Whistle is certainly a commentary on politics
and government, as well
as big business and society in general. Cora's mayoress is the epitome of the
stereotypical politician - willing to
fake a miracle to insure her continuing popularity - and willing to scheme with
the best of them to keep it going.
Pacific Overatures is overtly political, of course, dealing, as it does, with
the Westernization of Japan. Hal
Prince had a lot to say about the political nature of the show, and in fact,
this aspect was said to be more Prince
than Sondheim. But the culture clash and the juxtaposition of Western ideals
onto Japanese culture is an essential
element of the music, as well as the visual elements of the show.
Sweeney Todd, again with Prince, turns a gothic British legend into an
industrial revolution nightmare. When
Prince was asked what his onstage factory set makes, he replied "They make
Sweeny Todds." The original set
included a blowup of a famouse British poster illustrating class differences,
which was torn down by workers as
the show opened. The continuing references to the inequity of class
distinctions, and the evil manipulations of
the Beadle and the Judge, the show's political figures, give this piece
decidedly political overtones.
Sunday In The Park With George again plays with class differences a bit, and
Into The Woods
has been interpreted as an allegory for everything from AIDS to Nuclear War,
but aside from the mild social
commentary present in any modern piece, I don't believe either show was
intended to be overtly political.
That certainly couldn't be said of his next show, however, since Assassins is
easily his most political show to
date. By examining our American "tradition" of political assassins, he managed
to craft a blistering commentary
on America and the American Dream. Many of the assassins in the show make valid
points, and in fact,
portraying them as individuals and occassionally idealists who have been
seduced by the fiction of the
"Everybody's Got a Right to Be Happy" American Dream instead of as a bunch of
crazed wackos ruffled a lot of
feathers. By the end of the show, the "sound byte" platitudes of the Balladeer
ring as hollow for the audience as
they do for the assassins. Nonetheless, Sondheim and Weidman manage to portray
these people as individuals
without glorifying them or their actions.
In Martin Gottfried's view, the show reflects Sondheim's politicization - and
he cites Sondheim's rejection of the
1992 National Medal of Arts Award from the NEA as evidence of this.(He refused
it due to the ongoing efforts
of the political right to only give grants and awards to works that they
approved of, which, in the view of
Sondheim and many others, amounted to censorship). I would agree except that I
don't think Sondheim waited
until 1991 to be "politicized". While I don't believe he serves any specific
political agenda, I believe that he has
always stuck to his own beliefs and been unafraid to make social comment with
his work - in 1957 or today.
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