Here’s the monthly FREE issue of The Broadway Maven’s Weekly Blast. Subscriptions are just $5/month or $36/year.
Shalom!
This week, The Broadway Maven looks at Sunday in the Park with George and Next to Normal:
• On Monday, March 7 at Noon and 7 pm ET, there will be a FREE Zoom class exploring Sondheim’s deeply personal show about the nature of art with guest teacher Gail Leondar-Wright. Register here.
• On Thursday, March 10 at 7 pm ET ONLY, there will be a FREE Zoom class welcoming the Pulitzer Prizewinning team behind the musical about a family’s struggle with mental illness. Register here.
• This Weekly Blast:
A) contains a guest essay about Sondheim’s process in writing the lyrics to Sunday in the Park with George;
B) includes a YouTube GEM from a recent episode of Jeopardy! about Stephen Sondheim;
C) RAVEs about a recent TV episode based on Next to Normal; and
D) includes a YouTube GEM in which a creator of Next to Normal talks with Seth Rudetsky.
Gail Leondar-Wright: Sondheim often referred to himself as a “playwright in song.” And yet, he said, “I don't really think like a playwright; I really think like a playwright who writes songs. A lot of it has to do with sitting with the book writer and getting the idea of how a scene could be all musicalized, so that by the time I get to writing it, it's already been plotted to some extent.”
While working on Sunday in the Park with George, every time he and librettist James Lapine would approach a moment that they knew would eventually be a song, Sondheim asked Lapine to write long stream-of-consciousness monologues so he could “raid” them for his lyrics.
For the “Opening Number,” in which Dot complains to herself about the discomfort of posing for George, Lapine’s monologue started, “First a dribble of sweat, from the back of the head” but Sondheim thought: “Dribble — I can’t do dribble.” He changed it to “trickle,” and the character-driven opening to the show was born.
Sunday in the Park with George would go on to win a 1985 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, one of only ten musicals that have been so honored to date. That’s an apt honor for this show, in which book and songs function as one seamless whole.
Last week’s Jeopardy! YouTube Gem was so popular I thought I’d share another, this one on the subject of Stephen Sondheim.
Last fall, the Archie-comics-inspired TV series Riverdale presented a musical episode based largely on Next to Normal. The gimmick was that the mother of one of the characters, like Diana Goodman in the Pulitzer-Prizewinning drama, had lost a child and suffered from delusions related to mental illness.
And she coped by listening to the original cast album to Next to Normal. Again and again.
All the best songs are included (though sometimes with rewritten lyrics to fit the show’s ongoing plotlines): “Superboy and the Invisible Girl”; “I’m Alive”; “I am the One”; “I Miss the Mountains”; and more.
The acting is passable, the songs sublime - but there’s lots of plot that’s unintelligible and even nonsensical to people who don’t watch the show. But if you’re looking to hear favorite songs presented in a new way, go for it.
For now, at least, the episode is on YouTube.
Here, one of our guests for Thursday’s class, Tom Kitt, tells “the mayor of Broadway” Seth Rudetsky how Next to Normal came together.
The Broadway Maven is pleased to welcome Sondheim expert Gail Leondar-Wright to speak to our class about Stephen Sondheim's 1984 masterpiece Sunday in the Park with George. In some ways Sondheim's most personal show, Sunday explores the nature of art.
Inspired by A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, the famous pointillist painting by French artist Georges Seurat, the play examines the creation of the innovative artwork and the relationships George and his grandson have with the people in their lives. Monday, March 7 at Noon and 7 pm ET.
Next to Normal is a landmark show exploring one family's struggle with mental illness. The winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the show examines a mother's bipolar disorder and its treatment. We'll be welcoming the lyricist/book writer Brian Yorkey and the composer Tom Kitt, who will talk about the creation of the show. Thursday, March 10 at 7 pm ET ONLY.
To prepare for Monday’s class, please either watch the original production on YouTube at this link: Sunday in the Park with George
Or at least the song "Finishing the Hat" at this link: Finishing the Hat
Then, write to special guest Gail Leondar-Wright at TalkingSondheim@gmail.com with an answer to the following question: Do you believe that George's commitment to his art justifies the way he treats Dot?
For Thursday, watch the below 10-minute summary of Next to Normal, including snippets from the best and most important songs, as well as key plot points.
Note: links to register for ALL classes are ALWAYS available at TheBroadwayMaven.com.
• Monday, March 7 Sunday in the Park with George FREE, Noon and 7 pm ET)
• Thursday, March 10 Next to Normal with Pulitzer Prizewinners Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey (FREE, 7 pm ET ONLY)
• Monday, March 14 Pippin (FREE, Noon and 7 pm ET, registration opens soon)
• Thursday, March 17 A Chorus Line (FREE, Noon and 7 pm ET, registration opens soon)
• Monday, March 21: Ain’t Misbehavin’ with Tony winner Murray Horwitz (FREE, Noon ET ONLY, registration opens soon)
The Broadway Maven, David Benkof, helps students further their appreciation of musical theater through his classes, his YouTube Channel, and his Weekly Blast. Contact him at DavidBenkof@gmail.com.