Sondheim Tribute a Musical Lovefest

Have you ever thought you had a fair understanding of something only to find out there was a huge gap in your knowledge bank? A gap so big that it made you a little embarrassed for being so presumptuous?  That’s how it was with Take Me to the World, an exuberant Zoom extravaganza filled with the who’s who of Broadway.  They all came together on the video conferencing platform to celebrate the birthday of the finest composer/ lyricists in America, or maybe even the western world, Stephen Sondheim.  The party commemorated his 90^th year and was originally aired in late April.  It’s still available, hopefully forever, on Youtube.  You can only imagine the blowout the festivities would have been like if there was no pandemic stalking the world.  Lincoln Center or one of the theatrical jewels of Broadway would be thronged with luminaries paying homage to a guy who’s been creating music that’s been bombarded with accolades for the last six or seven decades.  Individual songs repeatedly win Oscars and Grammys.  Full blown musicals collect Tonys.

Instead of calling into service red carpets and grand halls to toast someone whose accomplishments seem endless, Mr. Sondheim may have gotten something better with his Zoom tribute.  Director Mary Mitchell Campbell exploited the intimacy inherent in a Zoom experience and loaded it with two hours and 22 minutes of incredibly wonderful music, humble appreciation and unabashed praise. The speakers and singers are folks who probably know Sondheim’s work better than anyone else because they immerse themselves in it to do their jobs as renowned Broadway performers.  And their gratitude and recognition goes much further than honoring a master on his craft.  It’s very personal as well; the way one friend compliments the staggering talents and abilities of another friend or comrade.

Folks who think they know a little bit about contemporary American musicals but have yet to be exposed to Sondheim will be in for a jolt if they tip into Take Me to the World.   Opening with a big orchestral welcome and unspooling into a long series of solos, a duet here and there and that little sparkler with Audra McDonald, Christine Baranski and Meryl Streep doing Ladies Who Lunch, every performer was able to choose his or her own favorite Sondheim song.  And often the artists tell why that specific song is so special for them.  Then you hear the songs and completely understand the cause for so much veneration. 

Despite the extreme sophistication of both Sondheim’s music and lyrics, they can sound light, spontaneous and free.  But there’s always a lot of clever going on too with detectable whiffs of rascal swirling through.  And it’s all shaded in an ageless wisdom.  Many of the artists participating in the digitally driven gala echoed Mandy Patinkin in one way or another when he said Sondheim’s music makes him look at the world with greater possibility and see it with more light than darkness.  Listening to Neil Patrick Harris’s rendition of The Witches Rap from Into the Woods or Elizabeth Stanley’s glorious take on The Miller’s Song with its zany word play and beautifully reflective subtext lets you know the depths of the lyricist’s capabilities and what it means to create joy through music. 

There’s also something about Sondheim’s canon that’s very sensitive to the sensibilities and intellectual awakening of children.  It has as much to do with sound as it does words and can be either explicit as it is in The Witches Rap or sublimely subtle like it is in Children and Art from Sunday in the Park with George.   Sondheim himself didn’t have the best childhood and the songs all seem to speak to the importance of nurturing the potential of the young.  The spark that lit his own interest in music came at 9 when he heard the chords of a piano being played live at his first musical.  Later serendipity saw the legendary Oscar Hammerstein become his mentor and surrogate father whose guidance helped shape and inspire his brilliant career.

It’s no surprise then that all proceeds and donations raised for Take Me to the World go to promote the work of Artists Striving to End Poverty (ASTEP) through arts exposure and substantive involvement in underserved communities in this country and around the world.  https://astep.org/

Take Me to the World: A Sondheim 90^th Birthday Celebration