STEPHEN SONDHEIM

By: Aaron Swiniuch

EARLY YEARS
!! Stephen Joshua Sondheim was born 3/22/1930 !! Parents were Herbert and Janet Sondheim ! Both worked at/owned dress manufacturing firm ! Came from poor immigrant families and worked to gain status in world !! Lived in New York City, New York !! Excelled schooling starting at the age of 4 years old !! Father walked out on family when Stephen was 12 years old

LIFE
!! Mother moved the two down to Doylestown, PA
! Sondheim met son of Oscar Hammerstein II

!! Sondheim asked Hammerstein to critique his first work, By George

! Led Sondheim to become Hammersteins apprentice

!! Studied at Williams College and Princeton University !! First big break was West Side Story (1957) with Robbins and Bernstein !! Received many awards like Tony Award for best musical (Company)

FAMOUS WORKS
!! West Side Story (1957) !! Gypsy (1959) !! A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962) !! Company (1970) !! Follies (!971) !! Sweeney Todd (1984) !! Into the Woods (!987)

T H E AT R E S T Y L E A N D T H E M E S
!! Style
! Sondheim wrote in a didactic style with his shows ! He also developed his own style of a contemporary form of opera

!! Themes
! Marriage/relationships (Company) ! Madness/human condition (Anyone Can Whistle) ! Revenge/Injustice (Sweeney Todd) ! Moral consequences/ complexity of life (Into the Woods)

MUSICALS

INTO THE WOODS

!! Set within the fairy tale world set by the Brothers Grimm !! focuses on the journey a couple takes to break a curse, and the sub sequential consequences that come from their encounters with others. !! Focuses on fantasy, the complexness of everyday life, and the importance of family !! Possible reference to own family life !! Baker, Bakers Wife, Cinderella, Jack, Little Red Ridinghood, Witch

INTO THE WOODS:

NO ONE IS ALONE
Original Cast featuring Chip Zien as Baker, Kim Crosby as Cinderella, Ben Wright as Jack, and Danielle Ferland as Little Red This scene shows the two older characters teaching the other two a valued lesson

SWEENEY TODD
!! Set in 19th century England, during Industrial Revolution !! A dark tragedy about a barber who seeks revenge upon the world he once came from and a struggling pie maker who join forces !! Sondheim wrote the show to chill and disturb audience !! Set to teach audience about violence of the world and that we each have our own Sweeney inside of us !! Sweeney Todd, Nellie Lovett, Judge Turpin, Johanna, Anthony, Toby, and Lucy (Beggar Woman)

SWEENEY TODD:
A L I T T L E P R I E S T
!! Original Broadway Cast featuring Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Lovett and George Hearn as Sweeney Todd.

!! This is the scene in which the two star characters devise a plan on how to get revenge.