Well, dear readers, let me state the obvious – yesterday theater lost one of its greats – the world lost one of its true geniuses. It was an incredible long run, ninety-one great years and working right up until the end. It is a life, of course, to be celebrated. He deserved his accolades, and they were endless, as they should have been. One of my standard jokes that I’ve used for as long as I remember is to call him my close personal friend. I can’t say and would never say he was a friend of mine, but I knew him for thirty-two years, worked with him, had telephonic conversations with him, visited him, shared a cab with him, jousted with him, and most of all recorded a LOT of his music and lyrics, more than any other composer. I speak, of course, of Stephen Sondheim. Here’s what I wrote on Facebook when I got the news.
I met Stephen Sondheim in 1989, when I issued the first CD release of the cast album to A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. He sent me a check and in the note told me he wrote the score. I had to laugh. I sent him his check back and told him I knew who he was and that I’d loved his work since I was twelve years old. That led to a lot of back-and-forth notes and finally to the Unsung Sondheim album, which was not only a treat to do because most of that album had songs no one had ever recorded, but a chance to work with him, talk to him, visit with him, share cabs with him – and that led to my recording more Sondheim than any other composer. He really wanted the York Theater’s Merrily We Roll Along recorded, and I said yes instantly. We did the Terry Trotter jazz albums of his shows, which he loved. He always loved the singer choices on our albums. And when I told him I was going to remix the Follies cast album, he was skeptical about whether it could be improved but excited about me trying. And when he heard it, he called it a miracle, told everyone involved in Follies about it, and it was one of my happiest moment in all my record producing days. He was an odd duck in certain ways, but it was a privilege to know and work with him, even in small ways, and he, of course, really did change musical theater forever and there isn’t a lyricist or composer post-1970 who isn’t indebted to him or influenced by him. I told him when we were doing Unsung Sondheim that I loved his music every bit as much as his lyrics, and he said he wished everyone felt that way. Ninety-one is a great run and his legacy is forever, and no lover of musical theater will ever forget him and his work, and for generations to come he’ll be revered as the master he was. Here we are at the Merrily session – I told him we both looked like a bag of laundry.
A couple of other highlights: After he got his copy of Unsung Sondheim, he called me to tell me how much he liked it and said he’d just gotten off the phone with Arthur Laurents – that he’d called him and giddily said, “Listen to THIS” and played him There’s Always a Woman over the phone. Being told that they played our Passion in Jazz album at their opening night party. Having him arrange his house seats for me for the Company reunion concert and then going to his house after, and later arranging his house seats for Passion and Road Show for me. Lunching with him at a gathering with David Raksin and other friends in New York. We had a couple of contentious moments, but they passed quickly. He’ll be missed. No new Sondheim shows to look forward to. I’m sure there’ll be many tributes and concerts. I’m glad to have known him, even as little as it was,
Yesterday was the day that Sondheim passed away. I managed to get eleven hours of glorious sleep, got up just before two, and got that news. I made tuna sandwiches for food – I had a few of those small Hawaiian rolls left and had them on that. Then I shaved and showered, did stuff on the computer, had some good luck in that one of my back-up drives actually showed up on my computer when I plugged it in – so, I can now transfer what’s on it to another drive that will be here Monday, and then that drive will also get the two cuts of the Creature and then I can just deliver that to where it needs to go. Hoping all that can happen early next week.
Then I moseyed on over to the theater and saw an opening night, and then attended the after party. There some really good chicken nuggets there, apparently from a place called Pizza Man. When I got home, I found one not too far that was still delivering and got what I thought was an order of the nuggets. What arrived were wings, big, thick, wings – I ate three – they were good, but I wanted those little nuggets and I guess this iteration of Pizza Man doesn’t do them. So, that was disappointingly disappointing. I also got a completely ridiculous and wildly inappropriate private message on Facebook, from the wife of a former dear reader who took me to task because I said that in the photo, Steven and I looked like a bag of laundry. I tried to remain cool in my response, but I probably failed. People are so screwy sometimes that it’s just mind-boggling really, that anyone, let alone anyone who knows me, thinks that was okay to write me that crap. And to completely misunderstand what I actually wrote. She thought I said his face looked like laundry – what I actually said is we BOTH looked like a bag of laundry, meaning our CLOTHES. By the way, Steve thought the bag of laundry line was funny, so I’ll take that. I’ve told this person that the only response necessary is an apology. If I get anything other than that, it will be an instant block.
Today, I’ll be up at eight-thirty and out the door by nine, for she of the Evil Eye will be here. I’ll go have an early breakfast somewhere, then do stuff until it’s time to come back home, around noon. I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, I’ll do a bit of writing, and then I can watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow is a complete ME day – if I feel like writing, I will, and if I don’t feel like writing, I won’t, and I don’t care who knows it. Then next week is getting everything ready for the Kritzerland holiday show, which begins rehearsals the following week. Oh, and someone around these here parts is having a birthday sometime soon, so I wonder if anyone will help me celebrate?
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up by eight-thirty, out the door by nine, have an early breakfast of some sort, do things, hopefully pick up packages, write, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: Your favorite Sondheim songs and shows. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, as we all should celebrate a life lived beautifully, successfully, and a legacy to be cherished for as long as there is musical theater.