Context 3 Essay.

To what extent do Stephen Sondheims work reflect the derailing of The

American Dream?
The American Dream: the ideal by which equality of opportunity is
available to any American. The phrase was the result of the Capitalist
movement of the early 1900s and then later coined by James Truslow
Adams in his 1931 book Epic of America. It is important to therefore
explore possibly one of the most frequently used terms in Musical Theatre
thesis. We can associate this term with the work of Stephen Sondheim
due to the many themes explored in his pieces. From as early as West
Side Story (1957), the lyric Somethings coming. Something good if I
can wait (Bernstein et al., 1987, pp. 25-35) we see his early works
encompassing the hope and spirit which are fundamental principles of The
American Dream. Due to the hope implied in this lyric, one could suggest
that it is not until the social revolution of the sixties and the damage to
the image of The American Dream that we see an impact on his work.
Throughout this piece I aim to analyse Stephen Sondheims musicals,
focussing on Company (1970), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet
Street (1979), Merrily We Roll Along (1981) and Assassins (1991) to
understand how he propelled Musical Theatre beyond the Golden Era of
musical theatre forged by Rogers and Hammerstein II and into a realm of
anti-capitalist, post-modern and most importantly a Post American Dream
way of writing Musical Theatre. A form of writing that would challenge
audiences in thought provoking musicals. Follies (1971) is a clear example
due to its iconic poster and Sondheims comparison of the disillusioned
1970s and the Capitalist greed of the 1920s. The show, set during the end
Ziegfeld Era, had its poster designed by David Edward Byrd and is
impossible to ignore. (See Appendix A) He claims, Hal Prince chose that
first sketchan aesthetic argument intervened and the result was this
art (David Edward Byrd follies, 1970). It would appear that as a
producer Prince was clear in certifying that this was the thematic
metaphor of the show resulting in the creation iconic image. The crack
through the Folly girls face suggests the comparison for the eras end and
the greed of Capitalism in the 1920s made more significant in the
financial greed of the 1970s and the tear it had created in the very fabric
of American Society in a time where America had lost in Vietnam and
many Americans had lost faith in The Dream.
The timing of Sondheims works and the themes that are explored could
possibly suggest that it signifies the end of the Broadway Golden Era but
also the timing of this 1970 musical comes after an iconic time not only
for Broadway Theatre but for The American Dream. The wishful thinking
during the Golden Era, the lavish, hopeful plots, plays and musicals were
falling out of favour, caused by the social changes brought by the sixties
as said in the book Art isnt Easy After the social and artistic upheavals of
the sixties, Stephen Sondheim faced the sterile disillusion of the seventies
by confronting the typical Broadway Audience of businessmen and their

wives with the very problems they had fled to the theatre to escape
(Gordon, 1992, pg. 3). This reference encapsulates Sondheims desire to
challenge audiences, in a time where the home truths were raw and many
Americans had seen the ugly face of The American Dream.
Stephen Sondheim stripped back the ideas of what a musical could be
through Company (1970), revealing the hard truths of life in post-Sixties
America. The bachelor life of Robert/Bobby for the majority of the piece is
an antithesis to the families portrayed in the 40s and 50s posters. (See
Appendix B). This said, the fragile nature of each of the relationships
and character throughout the vignettes could be seen as a hard hitting
theme to discuss in the early 70s. The show is written through the eyes of
Bobby so that the audience are confronted with the less than ideal
aspects of commitment. Throughout the show the show presents the
central themes through vignettes of couples using many things to supress
their frustrations, from karate to living with one and other post divorced
through to Jenny and David experimenting with weed, followed with the
line incompatible even when stoned (Sondheim et al, 1970, pp. 9-10).
We are subjected to relationships which exist beyond the fairy tale
endings we saw in the Golden Era. It suggests that there is a larger arch
and metaphor to the musical, which Sondheim along with Hal Prince
(Director) and George Furth (Book) backs in saying; In Company we were
making between contemporary marriage and the Island of Manhattan
(Gordon, 1992, p. 38). Sondheims hidden metaphor is presented through
the hazards of Manhattan and the human instincts tendency to conceal
itself from these perils. What it proposes is that post sixty America and
more exclusively Manhattan is increasingly containing itself into a bubble
and its continual hustle and bustle nature takes its toll on the fundamental
elements of relationship. As written in Time Magazine It is not the placid
old heaven-ordained, till-death-do-us-part, for-better-for-worse institution
it used to be (Time Magazine, 1970, p.62) Therefore through Company
we see the similarities of fragile relationships and the big city on the
characters within the piece and the human condition dealing with the
boom or bust nature of The American Dream and critically capitalism. The
impact of the derailing The American Dream throughout the sixties is
projected through Company. Sondheim says, It dealt with the increasing
difficulty in making one to one relationships in an increasingly
dehumanized society (Zadan, 1986, p. 131) this highlights that the
central metaphor of how Manhattan; the hub of growth, wealth and
capitalism in the United States is reflected in each couples relationship,
and highlights the truth behind The American Dream and the White Picket
Fence ideology of the 1950s.
Though Sondheim himself admits that he feels that Sweeney Todd: The
Demon Barber of Fleet Street is about the human obsession with revenge
and how it consumes a vengeful person, as he said in Sondheim & Co,
...what the show is really about is obsession(Zadan, 1986, p. 245). The
character of Sweeney was contemporized when Christopher Bond wrote
the play in 1973 and he goes from the greed driven murderer to an
ordinary working-class man whose life is invaded and destroyed by a

powerful and malevolent social system (Gordon, 1992, p. 208). The

human condition explored is relatable to audiences through time, and
never more apparent in Sondheims depiction of the Londoner. It might
seem that it was solely about obsession of revenge, but for producer Hal
Prince it was an allegory of Capitalism and its selfish qualities. In Mel
Gussows article for the NY times he stated It was only realized that the
show was about revenge... as originally stated. After seeing the steel
factory design Prince felt, The class strugglethe terrible struggle to
move out of the class youre born (Gussow, 1979). It is through these
finer details that we see Sweeneys undercurrent which is capitalism and
greed. Greed, which in part spiralled through the 20th century and killed
the belief and aspiration in Americans which is key to The American
Dream. The lyric from Epiphany;
In all of the whole human race, Mrs Lovett,
There are two kinds of men and only two.
Theres the one staying put in his proper place
and the one with his foot
in the other ones face. (Sondheim, Wheeler and Bond, 1991 pp. 170180)
is a perfect example of Sondheims quasi-Marxist viewpoint , through
Sweeney showing his frustration with the greed of Capitalism and how the
working class are ruled by the upper class. Sondheim continues and
claims that the stronghold of Capitalism depends on oppression; Lives of
the wicked should be made brief for the rest of us death would be a relief
(Sondheim, Wheeler and Bond, 1991 pp. 170-180). The exploitation of the
lower classes and the greed of the ruling class is key in understanding
that The American Dream was failing in the corrupt political scene of the
1970s. It highlighted how tired people were of Capitol Hills pork barrelling
capitalist ideal of ruling. What one could suggest is that Sondheim is
deeming the upper classes to be killing the beauty of The American
Dream and that the opportunity that is fair to all does not in fact exist due
to the ruling classes.
Having referred to the socio-political impact on Sondheims Sweeney, it
is interesting to look at how The American Dream had lapsed through the
1970s and into the early 1980s where Merrily We Roll Along was born. It
is said that Kauffman and Hart wanted to write about the deterioration of
American Idealism and the rise of capitalist greed... (Sondheim, 2010, p.
338) by looking at the opening song Hills of Tomorrow it is clear to see
that it is a metaphor for the students of the U.S pre-Sixties and preVietnam believing in The American Dream as said in the Youve Got to
Have a Dream: The Message of the Musical a hymn to the idealism of the
dream (Bradley, 2004, p. 170). The lyric; Everybody merrily merrily
following dreamstime goes by and hopes go dry but you can still try for
your dream (Sondheim and Furth, 1996, pp. 10) is exposing The
American Dream as a collapsed ideology and is steeped in turmoil.

Despite the cynicism from Sondheim in the 1980s the clear message of
this anthem-like piece still has the fundamental structure of the idealistic
and optimistic Rogers & Hammerstein in the 1940s and 1950s (Bradley,
2004, p. 171). It is interesting therefore to see this transition by Stephen
Sondheim in the early 1980s to reflect some of the optimism seen
previously by his mentor. Socio-politically, Reagans election victory had
huge impact on the rise and the instilling belief back into The American
Dream, on the Reagan foundation page that people were able to keep
more of the money for which they worked so hardin a phrase, The
American Dream had been restored (REAGANOMICS, no date).
Throughout the 1980s America was experiencing a rise in patriotism
and The American Dream was well and truly alive. Assassins opened in
1990 whilst the U.S was amidst the Gulf War in the Middle East. According
to Art isnt Easy by Joanne Gordon he never intended to write a political
thesis (Gordon, 1992, p.319). It appears in the lyric;
Everybodys got the right to be happylifes not as bad as it seems
Everybodys got the right to their dreams. (Sondheim and Weidman,
2004, pp. 9-21)
The song deliberately provides the audiences an understanding of
Assassins. The songs lyrical and melodic line intentionally supports the
American system that all men have the right to be happy and achieve
their goals. His writing through the entire score references all parts of
American musical history. The heart of each song is that Everybodys got
the right to be happy (Sondheim and Weidman, 2004, pp. 9-21). Through
this songs simple and boring lyrics the faade of the American Dream is
revealed. At the end of the show all of the Assassins remerging and
singing the lyrics referenced earlier Everybodys got the right to be
happy (Gordon, 1992, p.337) this symbolic ending exploits the shallow
promises of The American Dream, validating the Assassins actions
through the constitutions the country was built upon. It was a hard hitting
piece and The NY Times David Richards claimed No Musical in the last
decade has dared this much. (Gordon, 1992, p.337).
We can see through the musicals that have been referred to in this piece
that all encompass the underlying theme that the American Dream was
not what had been originally presented/accepted, which until the works of
Stephen Sondheim was partly unexposed within the realms of Musical
Theatre. It is said in Art isnt Easy that This was an audacious course to
follow, for in doing so Sondheim flouted convention and flew in the face of
audience expectation (Gordon, 1992, p. 3). It is this drive and need to
challenge audiences with what was not necessarily deemed acceptable,
that made him a popular and revered composer and lyricist with the
general Broadway audience. Whether it be Company and the metaphor of
Manhattan or the critique of the ruling classes in Sweeney Todd: The
Demon Barber of Fleet Street, his quasi-Marxist, anti-Capitalist pieces
which all exploit the fundamental problem with The American Dream. As
an audience member his exploration of the human condition and the
reflection of society also intertwines with large critical theories that

develop in most of his work. Even with these selected pieces he explores
the many issues with The American Dream and whether or not referenced
directly, they are presented alongside the socio-political landscape of the
time. His clever lyrics and music reflect the under currents of U.S politics
by consistently referencing the derailing of the American Dream which
remained unspoken in the Golden Era of Broadway Musical Theatre.

Reference List
1. Laurents, A., Bernstein, L., Sondheim, S. and Corporation, H. L.
P. (1987) West side story: Based on a conception of Jerome
Robbins. Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard Publishing.
2. David Edward Byrd - follies (1970) Available at:

http://www.david-edward-byrd.com/theatre1-1.html (Accessed:
12 December 2015).
3. Gordon, J. L. (1992) Art Isnt easy: The theater of Stephen
Sondheim. 1st edn. New York: Da Capo Press.
4. Sondheim, S., Furth, G. and Noeltner, R. H. (1983) Company: A

musical comedy (vocal score). Winona, MN: Hal Leonard Pub.

Corp.

5. Time Magazine, 1970, p.62

6. Zadan, C. (1986) Sondheim & Co. 2nd edn. New York:

HarperCollins Publishers.
7. Gussow, M. (1979) Sweeney Todd: A Little Nightmare Music,

The New York Times , 1 February, .

8. Sondheim, S., Wheeler, H. and Bond, C. (1991) Sweeney Todd,

the demon barber of fleet street. New York, NY: Applause

Theatre Book Publishers.
9. Sondheim, S. (2010) Finishing the hat: The collected lyrics of
Stephen Sondheim (volume 1) with attendant comments,
principles, Heresies, grudges, Whines and anecdotes. London:
Virgin Books.
10.
Bradley, I. C. (2004) Youve got to have a dream: The
message of the musical. LONDON: SCM Press.
Sondheim, S. and Furth, G. (1996) Merrily we roll along
(vocal score): Piano/vocal. Edited by Sy Feldman. United
States: Alfred Publishing Company.
12.
REAGANOMICS (no date) Available at:
http://www.reaganfoundation.org/economic-policy.aspx
(Accessed: 13 December 2015)
13.
Sondheim, S. and Weidman, J. (2004) Assassins. New
York: Theatre Communications Group Inc.,U.S.
11.

Bibliography
Books
1. Adams, J. T. (2012) The epic of America. New Brunswick, NJ:

Transaction Publishers.
2. Bradley, I. C. (2004) Youve got to have a dream: The message of

the musical. LONDON: SCM Press.

3. Gordon, J. L. (1992) Art Isnt easy: The theater of Stephen Sondheim.

1st edn. New York: Da Capo Press.

4. Zadan, C. (1986) Sondheim & Co. 2nd edn. New York: HarperCollins

Publishers.
5. Sondheim, S. (2010) Finishing the hat: The collected lyrics of

Stephen Sondheim (volume 1) with attendant comments, principles,

Heresies, grudges, Whines and anecdotes. London: Virgin Books.
Scores
6. Sondheim, S. and Furth, G. (1996) Merrily we roll along (vocal

score): Piano/vocal. Edited by Sy Feldman. United States: Alfred

Publishing Company.
7. Laurents, A., Bernstein, L., Sondheim, S. and Corporation, H. L. P.

(1987) West side story: Based on a conception of Jerome Robbins.

Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard Publishing.
8. Sondheim, S., Furth, G. and Noeltner, R. H. (1983) Company: A

musical comedy (vocal score). Winona, MN: Hal Leonard Pub. Corp.
9. Sondheim, S. and Weidman, J. (2004) Assassins. New York: Theatre

Communications Group Inc.,U.S.

Sondheim, S., Wheeler, H. and Bond, C. (1991) Sweeney Todd,
the demon barber of fleet street. New York, NY: Applause Theatre
Book Publishers.

10.

Articles

Gussow, M. (1979) Sweeney Todd: A Little Nightmare Music,

The New York Times , 1 February, .

11.

Websites

David Edward Byrd - follies (1970) Available at:

http://www.david-edward-byrd.com/theatre1-1.html (Accessed: 12
December 2015).

12.

Putting it together since 1994 (no date) Available at:

http://www.sondheim.com/commentary/index.html (Accessed: 12
December 2015).

13.

Stephen Sondheim (1984) Available at: http://sunday-in-thepark.com/sondheim/articles/sondheim-johnlahr.html (Accessed: 12

December 2015).

14.

15.
REAGANOMICS (no date) Available at:
http://www.reaganfoundation.org/economic-policy.aspx (Accessed: 13
December 2015)

Appendix
A.

Original Follies Poster

B.

Worlds Highest Standard of Living