Theater Lyrics By Stephen Sondheim ‘This aril was fre preset aan informal alk by Step Sordi alter prepared orplston under Mr. Sond supereon, Weexlond our Dan Thema lishrs andthe repress who hav len permis ri Me Sonhein’s quotations from Is {amjust ging toa and am just going to amble. Some ofthe thoughts willbe incomplete, some willbe pontifical And contentious and dogmatic td opinionated TY going tak only about theater yrs, isin dramutisituation on a stage in terms of character not pop is Most the examplesare going to be from my own work imply because {know it best and from Oscar Hammerstein and Cole Porter becxuse they are among te few Iss ‘who have been deemed worthy of having thet isics published in bok form. Fitquote some others, but lot wl be fom Hammerstein and Porter alsobecause ike them alot, Many ofthe examples from my own work wil ‘besongs you've neverheatd, cutouts fom shows. Generally they are songs Tike and I sekdom get a chance ike this to ly therm on people. Sinclar Levis once began. alt some writers by asking, “How many in the sadience want to wit?” When afew people raised their Rand, Be asked, "Then why arent you alla home wetng?” Welll don think he was tel right 1 think there l cmething to lear. [earned most of what | ‘ow fom Oscar Hammerstein, and maybe some ofthe things haveto say, even though they ae just random thoughts, wl help these af you who ‘want to wit, think moat of whathas tbe sid about he principles ofc ‘wating when to follow rules and when to break them-rcan be sid ina‘ery short ime. There ae infact only one or tw pnp rom whieh {Rink al ye ring springs and ll get to thove shy. “Tost that Nsory fs go nog woingbecsse when vwasachl oft my parents woredivorsd and we mowed te Pennyivani. ‘moved there wth my mater, an smong her rend ee the sme Stein fay. They had a son my age an! we became very close. Osc Hammertin gradually gotmeinterstedin he tester and suppose most tit happened ne fatal or memrble flernoon. He hed sped re fo Seles musi for my acoo! (George Scho a Fenda schol x Bucks oun). With wo clasamates wrt tus cle By Gang,» tly ‘Sguied versio of camps withthe aces! ames change by ne ‘ower consonant, [thought it was prety teri so asked Osa end 1rd was arogantcnosgh tosnytokim, “Wi you ead esi were juts masa that roseed your des as prodisce?Petnd you don Know tie" Hesaid"O.K. and went home tat ight with vin ing the fist 15-year-ol tohave show on Broadway Lhnew he wasgoing olor. ‘Once meinthe nextday anal “Now you realy wantneto rest thisartitwere by somebody Idontkoow” ands, "Yes pense and esol, "Wellin that as she worst hing ever rain yi." He ‘stave sen my lwerip emi ane fone pw Isic taay {Pant ented sd sterile, and yo wan to knoe hy tere Fite you He tae wth te frst tage direction end wena the ‘ray tog the show fra whole fern, realy eating sen Stata scnnar onthe pice a hough were Lg Days ony Ilo git. Beat hinetontarhursogy naomi ining and development and an ending, stort ha principle. {int oul many yu tere ae chet aye 10 rte ong bu be taught me, according to his own princes, how to intadue charter, ‘whatreltesa song characte ec etwas four horsof he ost Information. T dare aay at the ack of bypete, that [learned in tat stternoon more than moat people ar abut song weg in» ee He sv how intrested Ivan ring shows, 2 he tine! ind of course of study for me which Ie! wer the nests yes ight ‘Brough ealge He and "Wate four musa Forte fratone kes pay you aire and tum ito a mesial T adie 9 ply called Began Hvac by Ceorge 8. Kannan and Mare Connely and we actly gt ‘etmision to dot for tee pertorances clog: Next, Os fle "akea pay that you dnt ihnks very good or that youlked bt yoa hin canbeimproved an make amuses outfit chose play ele High Por by Mawel Adrson=T couldn't get permission to put fon in calege WenineAndewson wanie todo st ft with Rar Wei hey never got sound toi), but taught me something sbostplayweng about Struct abot howto tke ut ft ao to make pins Theses 63 ‘Then Oscar sad, “For your thd effort, take something tha i non dramatic e novel, short soy.” andedon ary Pops ad spent abouts Year wrtng a musical version. That’ where [fit encounteted the real ificulties ofplaywsting, which isoneofthe easons am nota ply wright leva very hard to structure a group of short stories and make» py out of them, and T wasn’t able accomplish it. hlly Oncor sai, "For your {our do an original,” so right after I gt out of lege | wrote an orginal smu whove fst act was9® pages longand the second ac €0-od, Oscar Ina recently given mea copy of South Pasictorend an the ee show was 90 pages long, so when I sent him my script got It back fom hi witha ciele ound 99 and just "Wow" writen oni ‘Dy that time, though, I had learned something about the rat of wring ‘musicals, and Ihuppenea to moet Lemuel Ayers ane the best se designers fever, who had produced umber of shows nding Kis i Kate. Lent ad ' property called Front Por in Fstach by twa Hallyweud sreen wie, Julius}. and Philip G. Epstein, twin brothers who won an Academy Award for Catan. Phil had died, but ts, thet last play tether, ws about ‘heir third brother and group of kids in Hatbueh in 1928 allinvestngin the ‘stock market. Lem wanted te make 2 musi out oft He had approached Frank Loesser because i as very New York and Loesser ha tured it doin becuse he was busy on something eee and Lem heard some of "uff from thasefourapprentice musicals and heed me onapectownite hee fongs-—which I aid, and which he and alle Epstein Had We went into !tpposed production on this show, which was now riled Saturday Nigh (tht was the fist professional work {had done, and Iwas prepared todo professional work only cae of what Oscar had made me po through. ‘During the course ofthe backers auions Lem ded, andthe show never got anywhere. Butit was my portfolio, and asa rel of I got Wer Sie Story Inthe cours of audioning for produces around town, wastaken 0 Martin Gabel's apartment he was going to co-produce a masia! of James M. Cain's Serna witha book by Arthur aurentsand was locking for song ters so thats heist imel met Arthurand he heard my work About ‘months later was at an opening night party, and Isa one familie face ‘Arthur Laurens and | went over to make smal ak with him. eked hin what he was doing and he sad, "Tm about to begin a musical of Ram nd Jie with Leona Bernstein and ferry Rabbi.” Laske "Who's dng the lysis?" justi, beeause did't think of myelf as alprc weiter, Thought of myself as a song walter, Iwas composing ll he ne. Arthur Ieraly smote bis forehead (Link i's the only time [have ever seen anybody Iierally sites forehead). He sai "I never thought of you se I iked yyouryrics very much. Teh ke your music very mich, xt Lad ike your lyrics aot” (Arthur is nothing if not fan) Arthur invited me to meet {ear Bersteinand pla for him. Lenny lked what he heard ap ase‘me if would do the yi forthe show. didn’t wan to do just ys but ‘Went to have talk with Oscar who was my guide and mentor all thrugh In caeor He said, “Think it wil be very valuable for you to work with rotentonal ofthis calibre The projec sounds very exciting 0 hk yo ‘ugh to do” “That was my lst show. Ithad one unfortunate consequence: got ped asalyriewriter, which ald want-Obviously the estab ting, isto koep writing, and that apples to music as well as words Ifyou don ‘compote foravil, youtendtobecome rusty, However, tha athehisiory “Two Principles 1s hard to talk about lyses independently of music, but 1 wl ty ‘Obeiously, al the princlpls of wating apply to Iyis: grace fit for ‘words a feeling forthe weight of words, Fesoaance, tone all of Nat. Bat thereare two sie dfferencesbetween Isic weltngandallotherforms, and ‘they dictate what you have do as yc writer. They ae not even rales, thoy ae ust principles. Fis, lyin exist in time—ae oppure to poetry, fF ‘xainple, You can read a poem at your own speed. ind most pocty very ‘ica and there area few poets Ike very such. Wallace Stevens tone, butt takes mea good 20 minutes to get through a mediumlengeh Wallace Stevens poem, and even then Idon’tunderstand aot of, yt Lenoyitand can reat at my own speed. That's the point On the stage, the ies come at you and you hear them once. I theses a reprise you hear them fice, ‘here are wo reprises you hear them thre tines, but tha all ue often you've had the experience, or you've henrd fends say, "Gee, Taide get the lyric unt I heard the record.” Well tha’ the problem, you oly get fonce, The music sa teentless engine and keeps the yes gong. “This leads tothe second principle: Lyrics go with musi and musics very sich, in myjopinion the richest form of art I's also abstact and does very Strange thiigs to your emotions. Soot oly do you have that going, but you also have lights, costumes, scenery, characters, performers. There's {reat deal to hear and get. Lytics therefore have tobe underwriter. They Ihave to be wory simple in esence, That doesn’t mean you eat do como Jated yee, but eseenally the thought fs what count ad you have to strech the thought out enough so tha thelistener has flr chance opt Many Iyees sue irom being mach too packed, Fi'give you some sampes of my own iter, but my favorite example x “Oh, what a beautial morinOh, what a beau day” L would be ‘ashamed to put dawn on paper, € woul ook ily. What Hammerstein Jenew was that et to musi was going to have an enormous richnets. It i 5a beaut ync—but not on paper. *apiyh© 16 Watanion Mate Inc, NewYork NY. Copy neve ied perma Ag ev 1 have a. book of Hammerstein's Iyscs and one of Cale Porter's. Hammerstein's you llaseep reading, while Porters san absolute delight, lke reading light verse, "Oh, what» beaut mornin’ "is not anywhere rear a5 much fun to read a to heat. A inital Hammerstein yr that Aids "Mariain Ws Side Story, aye Lam not erly ound of ecept foe fone good line: "Marla ve jut kssed gt named Naa” {rere when wrote that though, “Teattdo anything that bland and banal ut Fixit later” OF coure when it went withthe musi just soared was perfec. The fander pat of the lyse “Say it Tou and there’. musi PhyingSay it sot «et, ete. (im too embarrassed to quote) is avery frat yee oo much, overripe ‘Serious pocts make very ba pic wters. Auden or example; is yes forTeRatesProgres readily they are sharp and wit but so packed and sofa of reverberation and esonances hat they are posse et theyare wearing they areeshausting lan oper hat shouldbe eador 45 ith most operas, you can hea tout having to hea the words Inyway because of the singers™but the point le thatthe lyre ae too packed Tve always thought of lee wring a a craft rather than an at's 30 soul, There are how many words in an averge fic Tm tending to wet long Songs tise days, but the average ly has mayne 6 to 80 Word, 30 ach wort count for rest des! New, any novel o aber sory writer takes as much pins as Necan over ech naval word bul they arnt ss Important asin iyi, not even as important toa playwright hoc each Iye line is practically a sene in sel I there are 12 Ines ina song, tie lke 12 scenes ina play, anion word offs ike aenie wc of he The opening lin of Porgy ond Bess by Dose Heyward, who wroteall the Iytis forthe fst st, is "Summertine and the nf exeje™—and that “and ls worth great dea attention would write "Summertime when” but that “and” sets upa tone, a whole pot tone, not tomention aoe Kin of cctio that ping be used inthe play: a informal, uneducated diction and a steam of consciousness, a in many ofthe songs ke My Man's Gone Now.” It's the exact right word and that word! worth ie ‘weight in gold “Summertime seer th Ivins easy” ea bong line Compared fo "Summertinedn” Te choices of “and and "hut become slmost traumatic as you are wetng a lye—or should, snyway.—Decase tach one weighs 80 much me ‘Oscar Hammerstein once tld ne how astonished he was to earn thatthe sculptor ofthe Statue of Liberty had carved thetopof the headascaeflly 5 “Sap ©1257 nnd ein phn Sonn. Rope Schpigh by ern Patang Crp Copngheeonse el chp co ne “ome seme‘hesestofthe statue, eventhough he couldn't possiblehave known that one dy there would be agplanes. That's what You have to doin ly, 100 very word counts, whether the audience hear specficly of not “verything Coming Up Roses” there was very lil tosay in thelyicater ‘he tie was over 20! decided that I ould give iit eling by resting nyse © mages of eaveing,chuldren and show business, Becase the Scene was ina valload sation and was about mother pushing her child into show business. Now that may be of na interest excep to somebody doing a doctorate In 200 years on these of taveling images in Cry. Bat the point is i's there, and informe the whole song. ‘On one evel, supp, Irie writing ian elegant form of puzzle, and 1 ama great puzzle fan. There's a great deal of oy fr mein the sweat invalved Inthe working ou of yc, butt ean leat blondlessness, and ve often ‘ben capable of waiting bloodless yes Chere area numberof them in West Side Sor) “Anyway all he principles extend from this one, whichielyrics existing in ‘time. Mey also help shape the musi, usta the muse shapes er. Phe Fiidity of iyrc wnting ts Uke sonnets, and onstage this pity makes ‘eating character difeul, beause characters, they are toe alive, dont tend to alk in well-rounded phases. But on the other hand, the pose that | packed into the rigid form can give it enormous punch and make the haracters splat out at you” An example foun my own workig “The Ladies ‘Who Lunch in Company which Is so packed thi it gives out a ferocity, ‘mally because Those afi gl for, fl of innerFhymes and wth te line inthe musicalmostsquare-not that W's sung square, I mean the ines ave very formed. ‘Thre Influences: Hammerstein, Shevelove, Laurents wouldlike to talk next about infuences, Oscar havetold you abot, The ‘main thing be taught me was that t's content that counts, Is wh yous ‘ather than how you say and any of thought, making the thought lest tothe listener (that hast do with the lyric exatng inne agai), Oscar also sab, "Say what you fel, not what other songwriters fel.” When 1 Started out walling love songs T would wnte about stars and trees snd reamsand moonlight the usualaong writers voenbulary. That fine yon bebe but Ted’, Oscar also stetaed the opening ofa show “The hit lyre the audience hears the ist song, is what really makes or beaks 8 show. Ifyoustart withthe right opening, you canidefor 4S mutex on the felephone book. On theother hand, iyo start of witha wrangone isan ‘uphl ight al he way.” would like to tll you about an opening problem that coat al Prince, Bobby Griffith and thee backer $100,000. 4 Funny Thing Happened on The Way the Fru with a rlnt book by Bat Shevelove and tary Geert ‘wos maybe the furiest maa ever wien and cet he Best fate. prefer to Feydenu ut we opened out of town ant was dose, {ls hated iI was bang bees ual when you have ssw trouble you cam sense whats wrong and why ts not erlang when ou standin the ack. ti case we wer tally Balled: Even Gece Att who had ben connected with more free than anya, sald dont ow what do. The They dost ket I don'tknom wat todo, youve sot alin George Abbot ‘Well ofcourse the trouble was upfront. The opening song “Live ain the Ai” was perety charming vong which preceded a Sotcharning evening. The evening was lw comedy, 9 celebration of 2000 yeast buuteasue comedy. af fre situational comedy. What you were tel fe believe at the beginning was that it would have, I dot know al he lines of The Fanta. Tsong wou dele ad charming, Abts tmonth before rehearsalsbegan, Burt, Lay and smeled aude ong So ‘we decided on anther song which told the audience essentially neat te ‘ening wat abt George Add ihe the secondo, vee so trestuck ath hestone, which was rginalsunghy Davey Dur by Zoro Most “prays hy Deer ms en lly when we got to Washington we called in Jerome Robbin whose frst comment was: "Everything's ne, plese change the opening namo You've gottotelltheaudience what he evening nabout"Tha' hate “Comedy Tonight” I can emember a matine in Washington wines we layed 0 50 people—that's how disastrous the show war We pth new {pening in the Hat New York preview, andi wes ches ae aught throughout the etre everingat the sume ines the audcnes had recived Inallenc four days eatherin Washington. Thats the difference an opening ‘an make—of course, is abo an advantage to have one soged by Fors Robbins—but atleast ihisonetald the audience what the show was pao te about "ee ace wo opening songs tod in Frum, This fis was sung by Peo log who amacrine aan thee ond lovlope into sor of «sft hoe Love i inthe si Quite ten People everywhere fet gus ‘Some ae hasty, some ate ling, Some are spy somerseling, Lave ing od Anyone GneatchtOn tener ye sept ot arate a Feriectererers meter Cone ti coesiaes pret amu aoe ae BEE es Dranestete irate a eee eee ‘As you can see, that was ine uti didnot prepare you for Davey Burne comingon and doing he hind of tinge di Te following cong what ‘wanted to replace t with. Thad writen sts month belore hess bg, ‘but George did't eit It involved the whole cast, the whole company of score coming out bearing braves, led by Prologus (Zero Moste as they ‘tfered an invocation tothe gods. In the madalett ets ino canon, sort ot ‘ound, but anyway hee they re coming at you with thes beavis Gods ofthe theater, sie on us, You who sit up Hire stern in judgment, smile on us. You who Took down on actors (and who doesn), Bless out ite company and emi ons “Think not about deep concerns. Think not about dark lemmas We offer you rts nd revels, Sule ons fora while “And then they al faced font towards the audience: Gods ofthe theater, smile on us. You who sit out there tern in ucgment, smile onus “Think not about deep concer, ‘Think not about dark dilemmas We offer you res and revels, Bless our play and smile, Forget war, forget woe, Forget maters weighty and great, Allow matters weighty to wai Fora while For this moment, this brie tie, Frown on reason, stile on thyme Forget pomp, forget show, Forge laurels, helmets and crowns, Receive aves, ars au clowns Fora while Fortis brief moment, this brief span, Colette the sate of man Forgot war, forget woe, Fooget greed and vengeance and sin ‘And let mime and mockery ia For a while, Gods ofthe theater, smite on ws ‘Gods ofthe theater, bess our efforts, smile on us. ‘This part f thes 0g the canon; i offer you song ad dance, a offer you nites and revels, Grace and bea, Joy and laughter Sly dogs, Wi contusions, Happy endings Tee please you, ‘les bar pay Smile our way, Sil this moment, then at length Go, and with a new-found strength ‘Resume war, Resume matiets weighty and great, Resume man's impossible sae, But now sie For thi moment, “hs bet oy Beets Bey the “Sn y. ayers, so by phen ‘har‘The next snjorinfluene in my lake-wsting life was Bunt Shevelove, He ‘oman who has wallen yee, he docatt wre them any more, which ia {reat las He a once aaoet of whitehaired boy on Brondway Decase he Yrrote some ofthe sketches and ics and dreted a show called Sill, Wonder, which was asics dstne. He then spent fo yeas of hi Me ‘wating a show called A Month of Suge based on a play called Excursion, fnditflopped, Fora number of yees he wrote industri shows an worked Inteleviston. After West Si Story approached Burt and asked him ithe felt, ready to walle another musi, and he had this iea fora Roman comedy, Something he had always wanted todo alin facta ide roe with ‘whl he was at Yale Igo tobe good fends with Burt, We've talked ever Since, endlessly, and one ofthe things fhe taught me was that davty of Tanguage was important as well as cart of thought. He believes thatthe bestart always seems efforess—maybe not trae of something ike Gueri, ‘ut tre of yr ering, think. Bur advised me, "Never sari smooth- ‘eas fr eleverncr, Better dll han clumsy” Tages As afl tof tis ‘Suller from theyre weer having really clever, sharp idea which he can’t (uit tint the nus, 4 at there cumaly an the ctrl stuck wth ‘lnging The net result always i thatit does and wi the audience hag to be smooth if you are going to make the point. ‘But writes conversational yes. Here's one fom Marth of Sunday, one that ladnire very much has very simple tne sung bys el in sory shout a group of New Yorkers who goon an excursion ona ferry and the {ereyboat optain decides to take off the South Seas, Instead of ang to the Bros, the patsengers end up on a sland inthe South Seas. One of them is New York aterelry, antl she mesa a guy on board the ship, and they fal in ove, She sings a lyric dat goes as flows: ro in trouble, Lord above, ‘min trouble, Ym in love Is the problem ever solved? Yin trouble, 'm involved Who can fight it who can win, Who can any what should have been? But this Kind of trouble, Where must be touble, the nicest trouble Io be in. Copy ©1951 by ut Shrove. Now, thats simple and tri yi. The use ofthe word “involved” Is what ye wing is all abot, "The third major influence on my yi s Arthur Laurent. We have done four shows togetner—Nest Sie Story, Gypsy, Anyone Cer Whistle an DoT Hear a Waltz? and T hope we will do more. Arthur taught me mostly . Thr tyee 7 playwsiting pipes about iri, mich deeper and suber than Oscar chase Arthur wats deeper ond saber plays tn Oscar The ort {got om Arthur was the notin of ubetext Now tht word tat hed turd tossed around by Actors Std ype foratongtime an ely ater steered Dt what ¥ means simpy give the str something aT think hiss area secre ado sal sce abow ying woul ll this secret about su-text. Watch ow ven some Bane est Jou Acar jut it there, with sing forte bot ly They fst lay te text otal step. A payrght hen he wiles sence pve ome Sub-tenor itv ey shallow scene Wey tat happen wih Wh They ‘nay every god, blithe uston te urace ters no pal, eres {nd of deans onthe Sage This concerns drama ye writing ofcourse Fm not king about the ColePorter nd wens wich get oar ng sot the fetus lay where you areal dein ith corse Thor's esong inolcs ele" Rond You Dil Take which on the surace fsa ad ‘ying, “Oh, L never lok Back onthe pst mean, my gone fst oul be worth” He's ding to con binge ellen the lady es ‘itn point oftheir ippedto edna Now, hears he "ippe-oshreds tat he compa. Ther'slsoa tabbing dissonance nthe Imi anotein the mus Watt you, the audience, helsing not ‘pte Kosher about what ths ey eayng Bat more importante [or something to pay. Toles cotinsaleson in aub-text, a ong cal“ Budden ‘womans ie to hee frmer lover which she sys that every ost ‘onder and she's having tei mes home, shes 0 fap a ‘ed. Nong in the yng, ota single wordtels you theme isnt rue. Nothinginthe muskets you, altough theres ometing athe trchestration. The actress hast telly, anf you wate he dee that Song with intense anger becnuse he el he ae been had, bree she ‘wu fitedby Ben the fxmer love 3 yea into, the whe sang takeson {very peta quality. ont quite what senso be, and Jo theres ‘othing inthe se or tsi that tl you finaly Toathan ‘Tunic, theorchestrstr alo understand something about sent be, cause every phrase tat omg wish elroy her husband, dry, itsal woodwinds, Whenever she refers tere italstings gan, Nok ne percn a thousand would get thi, ut ike the tap of he Sete of Lier he Ws thereat lp in forming the son “The’sa song in yp clled “Soene People tat Aku Laurent ad ven me the le for fafa twas gg to be fsa it ong abota ‘oman’ anger-about how some pep seller ths an sone frat btas forme, Ive got to et out of hert—and seemed tome toast bon the surface. What Arthur had wanted hero play, which Thee’ calcd ie{hat she wantsa plague that’s hanging on the wal behind her father’s head tis worth 88, which s what she needs. She is using the entre songasan ‘xcs forborrowing money rom, and where does falforthesong, the goes and takes the plaque. Here agin, the sub-text gives the actress fomething to play. She em play the money and the plage “Arthur the callaborator wih whom ve worked the closest. He's taught sna great deal about matching dct with Meas and continuity of content Healeois tersficon tiles as any good book wrter-olaborator ad beter be fhe works with me, because steal from thermal he te eel Petty" 4 tile of Arthurs snd "Some People” and "Somethings Coming” Any- way, Oscar, Burt and Arthur have been my three major influences. “The Genesis of Songs Tigoabout starting «song first withthe collaborator, sometines ust wlth the book wits, sometimes with the director Wehave long discussons and Take nates, jut general note, and then we decide whatthesong shouldbe bout and ty to make tile IT am waltng the musieas wells hele Sometimes try to get a vamp lst musial atmosphere, an ecorpani ‘ent, «pulse, a melodic den, But usually the fone comes from the seam panimentfigare, and I find thatthe more specie the tsk, the easier. Tf Fomsbody sie writes songabouta lady ina red dress crying atthe endofa tae that's alot easier than somebody saying write a sing about 2 flow ‘who's sony. 1 would lke to quote Oscar on this subject in 2 marvelous {introduction toa book of hs called Lyris: “There sina art ie balance between the benefits of confinement and the benefits of redom. An ats ‘whois too fond af eedom is ikly tobe obscure in hisexpression.” Sowhat yeu want is something specific but not too specific. "Then | usually make 6 list of useful rhymes related tothe song's tpi sometimestusefl phrases, alist ofidas that pop intomy head. Then i 0 ‘makeaprosestalementto the pint, so that won’ get lst. James Godman fnce salina lecture a the New Dramatists that when he goes out of town he poste apiece of paper on his dresser or bathroom mirror so he can se it {very morning. It saye"What ithe ply about” 20 tha inal he tele eweting, where you suddenly have t write forthe actress Yo make 3 ostumechange,youdontlse the pein. find it useful o write at hetop of the pagea couple ofsentencerof what the ongistobeabout no matter Row flimsy Toillustate another thing Ido, I remember I played "Mara for Jerome, ‘Robbing, ande kod thesong fe but got very angry about the pauses. He said, "Maria, Tvejustmet glnamed Maria, and suddenly thatrame wil, reverbe the sme ome", and then there’ ths barand-arhalfpasse What [tn leuppoue to dothere?” Taal, "Wel, mean, he'sjuntwtanding thereon “Copy © Wb ond erm ad Stephen Soa, Rept perio. the stage.” Jerry sald, “But how am supposed to direct him?" Isa, "Wel, ‘cat he ost stand there?” Jery sai, "You've ptt ive me someting for him todo, do you want to stagest?” Choreographers and many dein sontike pauses, but he had a pola here thats very important You shold Stage yournumbers when you ate writing them, Never fst write love ong, and gveit othe director and the choreographer, expecting them to aver ‘That's not their job. That’ ther job afer you've invented. When you've Invented the staging they can do anything they want with completely ‘change i, but they have to have at lsat a Blain, some iden of the theatre we ofthe song. “Company” staged ia my owen hea al the way trough to the second chorus including the use ofthe lng word “ove,” ‘which was to go the ast off the elevators and down to the main eee. 1 wanted that o be the iste the elevator snowed, bt ye could wok that out specifically. But knew were Bobby was standing knew ny thead where all the people were Ts had nothing to da with what Michal Bennett eveiualy di with it, exept that he vas delighted! to receive 9 general Beprit which helped him over certain hurdle. He was se 10 fnvent freely becaase he never felt he would be hung the next dy in ‘hearsay having to wonder what todo about blankpoce For example, “who's That Woman” in Filles was a number deslgne fora lady named Sella Deems who hast performed the number in 30 years, The sk gts ‘who wd to perform the number with her are al 30 yes older excep for ‘ne whois den, The number wasto befor Stella ems and ive pls with hole then. [thought that would besnscabre and touching, Th numbded with a challenge dance betwen the two lading ladies who were at theendy of theline Thad the whole thing worked out creely ny ead, including tap dance sects, Mchaeicamealongand thew the wholetng ‘ut and changed it enily in the genesis of song, another important principle that I've always beloved frist content dilate form There's # song in Company called "Getting Married Today." In content, itis about this hysterics pe who doce’ want to get are except tat she's fored toner own ed, soit fggested the counterpoint and the contrast between serene cholrand 8 Iysteral lady, Between the alow and the fast and the serene and the ysterial "Cooking back at the frst page of notes ver made about Campony, see ‘that we sat ern an talked about how totam these ge-act plays ino 2 tlie. We talked about the central character and Hal Prince ait would ‘ernice to haves number called “Company.” Well, “company” ita word {yostcan’tehyme exept Lorena Hart symed itwith "bumpa knee," which Enotmy ind ofehyine—so it wouldtben ile hard to doitana teeta, “Thon Halsuld,"Andalsot wouldikeitt introduce thevarous styles ofthe ‘how, the way we are going to cutback and forth; algo 1 would Uke it to fntroduce the main character and inlude all the other characters also T ‘would ike to we the set” So T replied in my usual rudng wa, "Welltamnotsureiflean, well letmeseeieando hand maybe! cn write the soae Tort know” have my sketch sheets here, Let me read you some ofthe notes I put dovin:"Everybody loves Robert (Bob, Baby)» he Mea of nicknames hhadalrendy occurred tome. Thea had Robertsay, "ve got the bes frends inthe world” and then the line ocurted tome, “You Howe and you ove tnd youl love," and then alling about mariage, “A county Ive never ‘beste, and "Who wants vine-covered cottages, mariage efor Culdeen” [Wall Bob's atitude: "Companion for ile, who wants that” And then he ‘ays, ve got company, love i company, three is company, fiends are Company," and started alist of what company. Then stared toexpand the lines: "Lve ie what you need i company. What I've gots ren is ‘company. Good fends, weird frends, marid sends, days go, Years Bo, fal f company." I stared to spin fee assoclations, and 1 got co “Phones ring, bells bra, doce licks, company, cll back, gta ite,” ent the whole rotion of short phrases, staceato phrase, occured to me. By the fine ot through just stg gensal thoughts, Thad aslo the rythm! te woe lin, a0 that hen was abl fo tn fo the ext pageand stat expandling ‘getinta ole ist of thing! "No es, male. So much, too much, Easy, ‘omy, heats por, the nets descen, private jokes," ll shor phrases—but ‘wnat tame out oft eventually was the frm ofthat song, which worked out better than Thad expected Theat 75 (Claty and Synthesis How he iy work withthe musk aftr cy of expression. \Whena pane f mac ome tan end heh shold ome toon ee there sts pa conf theists co The soul match thera wth a cums scclon perio jum tsp, Phrase, Hares song wrt ford ight vn sae Song) seated "So any Peoples ate aint aac tetwentheyounggt andthe your man withthe verse sungby the pi ‘This git hes aways ben ambtous,thesnnyy waned be fate thin this tch ora tawghhe wae an jstound ot oer Ror that at bse nove wth hin any 1 adhe man for me Ns haves ete ‘an of ans edb, ‘mn of ame dod then met a man who hat any, ‘thot a penny Tons nan Tad wo goad at Forse mh is than What had planed om al The mapasen76 on these “There's the wolaton, In those asf lines. 1 should be good and sore, ‘What am I happy for? Tess the man means more than the means ery Sst) Sap Sandie ied prion f Chop Co, te ‘when you come to that “so much ess than..." and thinkit must be the end ofa sentence, well tha’ what | mean about periodicity, I remember {hat the tune of “One Hand, One Heart” (Bernstein had eigvally written ‘hat tune fr Candide had ony adoted haf note to cach br, just thst steady ‘motion. realized Loould tact ary two-sylabe words tothe song, ithad to ball one-sylsbe words, Las tied, and down in Washingion after my tdlese pleas Lenny put in two litle quarter notes so that Foul put in Ske of my” and "makectour“asin’ Make our.» »hearis.- one eae,” nota great deal but a east ite beter, ‘Words have fost on musien order to become dear to the audience. am talkingobout clay, remember and lity has todo with hat thing talked thouttime Youd gta chance to hea thelr twice ort reat nif the lyie doce stand bounce when the music bounces and se when the ‘musics, itn tJustaquestion ofmir accents, which arebad enough but iit is to crowded and docs ize and fall with the music, the audience ‘becomes confused There's «song in West Sie Stary called “Americ” and thank God fsa spectacular dance because it would get ahand otherwise, Rha 27 wordstothe square inch, Thad this "wonderf”quatrain that went “Tike tobe in Americ. by me in ArescaEverything fre in Americal ora smal fe in America®” Phe “For asl ee” wa ny Tile inger— fncop that the “fri accented andthe “em fies tsa that fat, fSoitwent “or a smnafe in America." Nobody knew what it meant nd evened lesson: you have to consider an actors tongue and teeth. Thave fptten Deller ati Towards the end of rears of Company I wrote "Get Hing Maraed Today” which hat lo of words iit I yas fast because 81 aid the character ex hystei.The [ye was writton uit earful 1 did {hesecond drftin Boston (onditzelly needa thi drat but we had other problems and because Iwas latin witigthe score, as alaysam, Inever {otachanceto polish) By comparing the two dra, eamshow yous ile Eitabout how you alternate vowels and consonants The songs tobe sung, inone breath, though Beth Howland did't do it all in one breath om the ‘tage, Inthe recording, where the microphone was right up dase and she ‘wasnt anus about projecting, she did tal in one breath with no prob- Tem. The characteris. bride treating the audience like the guests at her wedding in church “Copy 57 by Lear Benin an Stephen Sn. epi emi. First Draft Wait a sc, is everybody Here? Because if everybody's Here, want to thankyou Coming Ft appreciate your Going even more. I mea, ou See, we are coming tothe Weaiding, me and Pat Revised Version Pardon me, is everybody ‘There? Boca everybodys for ‘Ther, want to thank youal for Coming to the wedding. Fa ap recat your going even More. T mean, you mst have ots of Remember Utter things to do, nd nota Pau? You know, the msn ‘Word of ito Paul member Tm gonna Pai You know the man Marey, but Im not because | Wouldnt ruin anyone ae Wendertal a he But | Haven even tld him, 301 ‘Thank you all or the gts Tn gonne Mare, but tm not beste ‘Wout ran anyone a8 ondesl as het but 1 ‘Tank you all forthe pits and the flowers, and the flowers, ‘Thank you all, now itsback Thank yow al, now its back to the shower to the shower Don't tll Paul, but Pm not geting married today! Dont tell Paul, but 'm not geting marie today! copy S00 by Vaan Mane and ent a re ‘Atos aa ay Mae he Tne Poa Corp Mek NY ‘ype “The second version is much easier to sing, Jut the effort informing the win “wai” the fist word of he Sst dt does something to the ws "gt aay elite tortie wasted, and she sat that mach weer othe fst ot song decd oat ih soi ea the po “pardon.” You don’t sing “Pardon” wih a tong "Py justo par don” witha set"p" and sve some eng someof ie stan os hej Iusces. Al he changes from the firs fo the second draft re eaentaly ‘bout that. Thad second verse to this song that had some vie ok in tat Fcould never salve tin ter ofthe vib ofthe words, Hal always liked butt bothered me because poor Beth was stuck here every night with her ps oer ee toth snd eveything geting lange went like this ins eet = Tat this a tacky te Chapel? Tapologie, we ‘Thought of Presbyterian, but Paul, you know, ls Jewish and my Mother i a Cathoi,£0 ‘Synagogues were out which is ierates aict Segre atom saplta jee atty Shee de ra dram ts anemic Ae tet yy yoo wt tr ie ac atta Ste afr mens beer Seales tno ts ie Sore oats ter oe wee Sie rates Sc guar a ss a Ie tinned tan lt sere or Seen aah oh ta icon umes Ne were oe Salen Papen rae tee aon ak Selene Tingh etl ome sce Tecan tare edhe Bae tt Re ae ey SSeS ae wn Sie antapctasiray cent neeS Sereda teeth ay sinc cee etn et eee siren gs arses Sights rl aos a Favorite Lyric Writers Picking favorit ici i tricky i not imposible busines. When the Dramatis Gul Quartery asked ee fname my favorte yi weiter, made apr © 198 by Cappel & Co, fo. Copyright ened Ud by erin Tene this comment "There ae to many god ones and no perfec ones, There fore let me tnt some preference, tuther than favors, Among present Iyecite Lespecly ike Frank Locae. Any oan wn ste neve set thetine ‘Some iexponae dress manuacare, the way he did in ow Sted deserves am sward” He never wae aad of sting syhing, mo tater how poco was, snd aways come out fanny, My fate four fly are thos fe Hamner’ Caron, Lowers Guo ond [Bot Harbury’ Finn's Rass and Cole Porte’ Ke Me ate These prety wel determine my favorites although would Hk to do then Dorothy Fide, Among the younger js Lespacly Hee Sheldon Har ik and Carolyn Ugh Tal you a ie bit sbout what like abou them, The es thing about Pete, the soa sloshing thing fo te nti foci with words rity wiih words sdy comenon He ed wt fe wrote, tha’ what me, Oscar dd to. Oscar wan able towne stout dreamoandtes| ‘gras and tat bce hela i then and wat Pore ered in tens gossamer wings: Noman on earth can wie postmen” ne ColePorer and nab hasbeen abltoiniate Pater succes becuse they dot bale whet he bev Frank Losers lat re what lime abouthim, "Fugue or Tinhorn”is a senational Me fora song it wor dio win oot of foe, which ven better you gt» tof god keas otoftown), Where Lover wasn ‘ery good wa when he a itng Oxct Hammerstein anh het Hipp Fl He's got a pio tne in hee tat jst would eve he ‘would ever wit: “WarmaloverwarmalloverGome eat ous hat Sie to svarm all ver"real tation Flmnerteln, and edocs ‘work What ik Best soot Dorothy Held her se of clloqutiom and Ierfortesnes, ain "Sunny Side ofthe Stee, whichis jus perfect ana Ig. Hammertinclariy, the ely sip sinement of sng ke "Whats te Use of Wondin? Ir ang he count ena, oo heen complain’, bath goes Whats the ute of wanda? the’ good or he's bad (Orit youlhe the way he wears his hat? Oh, what's the use of won Ihe’ good or i he's bad? He's your feller and you love him ‘hat all dor eto tat Cony ©19 by Nilanson Man. Copp roe Used penton oT me Comp eng op “ais ng” by Fe Ler cpg © 18,16 Frank Mi Cop Ue by “om Al Overby Rank one pigh 56h Mas Cnp Ug eh“Yip” Habungisa mare of whimay, and Lauppose “When 'm NotNear the Girl Love" one the five or ten best yee ever waite. Whats most extraordinary about i you listen 1 the fst eight lines astonished a the ‘ever ins and outs of the dea, and then every sucressive verse has one ist ‘outdon’texpect on andon, endlessly inventive unl exhausted, he stops Hels lso a master ofthe arch shyme. Theres a couplet in "The Wizard of ‘©2" that nobody ele could get away with, when the Cowardly Lion only Had » Heat” sings "would demonstrate my prowessBe man and Seldon aici for gc and charm and pet of ing ‘eisanimpeccabl ic writer. [wrote a private ok int Flies for in, but st gotcut during rehesrels, He wrote s show elle The Body Bost, and ‘was very impresed withthe Tyrie parclarly with one shyme of "feminine wth “lemon in my tea” In eolloguial speech that's OK, bat {ht "feminine ijn that mucho the" nemo," and decided tome day | would improve on The ceiginal version ofthe song “Besulfal ‘Gira thatintroduces the les as they come down the tis in Falls went ke this Painters ave tried with all of thei ill Torcatch the grace OF the feminine Form and face Poets nave ted but try as they wil, ‘They waste thet time Painting ther in ine Terma hye yap ® 71 Valid Mus, ne Beal Ma, ab uhm Mae 5 Eeepany ne Ago odin by Moshe Tne Pung ‘Gap. New rN indy emson 1 guess my favorite st of Iyrcs eve s DuBose Heyward’ for Porgy and ese He wrotealltheonesin Act including "Summertime andy Man's {Gone Now” and bout hal the thers. Some ics he wrote in callsboration ‘with Gerthwin, some Gershrin wrote hill and some Heyward wrote himselfinthe at wo acts. Isa tiny body of work, dozen songs, butevery tne Is perfect, ota single improvement to make can haraly believe how Tl these Iyics are, how they accomplish exaly what they set out 0 do, how emotional they ae, " “And ag also suid in Uhe Qurely, my favorite single ys ine is “Vip” scopy #38, ene 8 by Mate Mayer ne. ihe sha th wd ete by an Rat ne Uae dy pei Harbury’ fom The Eileen Mes"Bver since the day when the wold wasan, ‘onion’. dont know how an ides ike that eve occurs somebody 1s 00 ood Last Lines find it useful to write backwards, and think mest yi writers probably do to when they havea climax, ati punch, a joke. You stata the bottom ofthe page you preserve your best joke tothe as, the ideas should be placed in ascending order of punch. And aneher thing, the lst word ‘ought tobe aga e always bothered Oscar that the ls ine of "What's theUse of Wond'ia?”"Andall the rests tale" and he lays aimed thatthe number everbecame a popular asitshould have Baca talk” ‘ota word thats pracefal fora singer to hold. The "k cats of cores the Sound: It's bast to end with an "ow" or "a," open sounds that the singer {an go with. Two af the most uefa words in the language ae "me" and "be," but unfortunatly they have pinched sounds Tired desperately to fx the end of “The Road You Di Take in Falls ‘The fine | wanted to use wat "The Ben Ill never be, who remembers him" but "him isa tebe sound fora singer told and expat to get any Kind of applause, I think “alk” is O.K. for "Whats the Use of Wendin?” and “hin” Is O-K, for my song, But 13 best to have a ‘more singable word. OF couse, I Tove twisty {love punchy lat lines ‘One of my favors isthe end of» Rodgers and Hart song called “He Was ‘Too Good to Me.” Istarts out “Te was oo good to melHow can Igetalong nowiso dase he stood to mv'ything seems all wrong nove.” It foes on and on, seeming to be 2 Blues, but the lat line ie "He wae too good fo be tue" Talo lke a lye of ine, the end of "ite Lamb” in ihich she sings, °T wonder how old Tams" Another Ts was cua ‘out of Forum in New Haven, "The Echo Song,” (which we pet back in the show in the 1972 revival). I uses axing a specie technique that font efter taken advantage of on the stage. Phila is asking her fds whether she should go off with Hero, or exp her promise to tary omeone else. She believes she ie hearing the genuine reply of the ge amp ete ic npn ih en id es ea mae Sat mes trom 37 ao Mor ne, Baal Mone fe. nd Buren Mi Co. erate ett tte vane gg ae pees ee morn me a raping.‘only when it comes back in the form of an echo. Hera rigs 30 that he hin el conceale, is proving the echoing answers (which appene below in aronthest) to Phila’s questions as she sing Tell me, (Tell me) Dare Task i? (Ask it) ‘Should T love him? (Love hin.) ‘Shall leave with him? (Leave eth him, leave with Nin) Tell me, (Tell me.) ‘Should T leave right now? (Right now.) Theae my heart say, "Let hi ive with me {Live wth me, lve with me) Should I hear my heart and go? (Go! Gal Go!) (Or should worthy, wait here TILT meet my tate here? Tell pe, tll he, I must know. (No! Nol Not) ‘ell me, (Tel me.) ‘Should hla him (Hold hin) Or forget hin (Get hi) ‘nd forego my love? (Go, my love, go, my love!) ‘Thank you, (Thank you) {tive now! (Leave now!) must hurry (ure) SOV say goodbye. (Say goodbye! Say goodbye) ‘Only one more question please, (Pease, pease, pleas!) Does he want me? (Does hel ‘Would he miss me? (Would het) ‘Must pay the debt Toe? (Oh... oh. oh) (Or may’t go with Hero, My beloved Hero, Tellme yes 601 may know. (Noe N Yea Sop ©1971 by Sipe Sonim atom Mu Comp, "era pan anc gs rhe wo) ‘Sed y pemiaion of Cappel tee Another song with als line lke som Anyone Can Wit, called “A Parade Town.” Angela Lansbury sang tas the mayoress ofthe toven who hadlost all her voters and they were cattyngomebody ele around os el shoulders. She sing the first chorus te parade comes on runs eight lover her Then she sings this second chorus: 1 se fags, hear bells, ‘There's a patade in town Tsee cows, T hear yell, Tetra 8 ‘There's «parade in town. Then drums in the ai, {see down inthe equate, I ee marchers marching, Tossing hats the aby Did you hear? Did you 308? ‘Was a parade in town? Were there dram without ma? Was a parade in town? "Cte To dresoe atlas, at my best, ‘And my banners ae “ell me, while T was geting ready, Did parade goby? ‘opt © ty Stephen Sando uo Mae Co ce of pon ‘eighth rh Usd penn a ‘Coppel cone Rhyme ‘Many lyric witers don't understand the diference between rhymes and ‘dente. ina thyme, the vowel sounds thesamebut he intl consonant Is eiferent, sin “way” and “day.” In dent, both the vowel and the consonant that precede he vowel soundare exactly alle, asin consterna- tion” and "protastinton” That nots rhyme, isan hen. Is nok that identities are outlawed, i's jut that they dont pick the ea the oy rhymes do. They dont point up the words 0 you ate going fo use a8 dantity you have to use it careflly. Tey can be monochromatic bul very ‘ef: Oscar notonly Uked to use lenses, he Heed repent words where ‘ordinarily you might thyme, asin “Younger than springine am ayer than laughter am 1" using the exact word ae ite ean. did iin ‘There's. pce for usSomewheres place for ue™” (every tie Lace that [phrase what comes to mind is that goes "There's pce for w,” the word ‘ra is clay the ment important word inthe line, i's one ofthe most crmbarrasing lye lnes ever writen). "You ry to make your shying seem fresh but neitable (guess t's what youtry formal! kinds of waiting, yo ty for surprise but nat so wrenching ‘thatthe listener loses the sense ofthe ine, Lary Haris fl of that ind of ‘wrenching that’s why fmdovmn on his. Thehardst kindof word toohyme {5"'day” because ft makes you concenrateon the content. "Day” i when use my zaymung dictionary, going down thelist ofall thea shymesto find Something that wil express the vag thought in my heads wherens if you, now Tea? mer of patents te pra ates a he Mee ip, Used by permit AI ight ee mati wene