For the first post of the year, I was circling around ideas, and as I was trying to find what to start 2025 off with for this blog, I know there are movie musicals to watch, or albums to listen to, and so many directions to go, and as I paced the floor, I watched a video and it mentioned Stephen Sondheim, suddenly the wheels began to turn. There are so many songs, shows, and more to talk about with one of my biggest inspirations to be a creative. The late great man known for going against the grain, inspiring others, conveying emotions through powerful music in memorable stories. Inspiring many others and myself to embrace their own creative sparks, even if it does not follow the norm, he may have not written as he referred to as "hummable melodies" but he wrote music that stuck with people by using powerful lyrics, touching scores, and feelings that were as real to the audience as they were to the ones singing them on stage.
To me, it is hard to find a mood not to listen to at least one of Sondheim's shows. From "West Side Story" and "Company" to even "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum" and "Into The Woods". My personal favorite is a tied between "Merrily We Roll Along" and "Sunday In The Park With George". There are so many songs and shows to love.
One song that resonates with me is simply entailed "Sunday". This powerful song, starting quiet and growing into a moving song about art itself, being a moment of creative triumph right before the curtains fall and intermission begins. This song has moved me to tears on many occasions because of how simply beautiful it is. I always feel myself getting lost in the perfect balance of melody and the lyrics. The song itself is a work of art to be admired as the actors form a known and famous piece of art on stage as the song plays out. A beautiful blend of music and visuals, but even on it's own the song moves me.
This is just one example. ONE. The work this man put out can take a whole year to cover in detail, and then need to be added on to for years and years after. The amount of famous writers and creators from Jonathan Larson to Lin Manuel Miranda and countless others. He is as important to theater as Rodgers and Hammerstein, with movies, filmed live on stage productions (which he began the concept of), and revival upon revival of his work. Josh Groban, Barbara Streisand and many other singers have not only cited by performed his songs.
His songs never cease to inspire, and I don't think they will anytime soon. Works that were not always commercial successes but have stood the test of time in countless ways. Whether it was about a group of fairy tale characters seeking their dreams in a dark wood, or an artist trying to capture a perfect Sunday in a park on an island in the river of France. Sondheim's words didn't need an extravagant setting to resonate with audiences across decades, just the perfect words matched with unforgettable and powerful scores.
Never an ordinary Sunday or moment can be found.
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