"Being Alive" and Other Reasons Why Single Life Apparently Sucks...

Greetings, Pals n’ Gals! I am once again swinging the spectrum of musical conversation back to the legendary Stephen Sondheim (I tend to do that). DISCLAIMER: There is a very good chance that every other blog entry I post (or so) will typically have something to do with the Great Stephen.  Furthermore, it has been brought to my attention that I may or may not get a little dramatic/overly poetic when discussing Sondheim’s work. For that, I make no apologies. So if you don’t like it, please visit the Complaints Department.

Lately, while observing the relationships of my married/coupled friends and family (as well as my own), a certain song has been incessantly creeping under my skin and burrowing in my brain. A song that makes me examine the ins and outs, pros and cons, simple and severe, ups and downs of a committed, full-time partnership. I am talking of none other than “Being Alive” from Company.

Company

Music & Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim

Book: George Furth

Broadway Debut: 1970

Tony Nominations-Wins: 14-6

The Show

Company revolves around 35 year-old bachelor, Bobby, and his relationships with his friends (five eccentric, married couples) and casual girlfriends. Originally titled Threes, the show is a concept musical, composed of short, non-linear vignettes, all linked by Bobby's 35th birthday celebration. He surveys from the sidelines as each of the married couples grapple with their respective issues: vices, divorce (sort of), neuroticism, infidelity, weed, and all the little things. The musical examines marriage/relationships and the reasons people come together, divorce, and stay together. With his friends acting as a less-than-attractive model for a committed relationship, Robert hopes for nothing more than an easy, no-strings-attached affair. 

The Song

The song starts with Robert exasperatedly asking, “What do you get?” He observes the pitfalls of being married through his friends and fails to grasp what compels people to allow such frustration and turmoil in their lives.  Robert first points out that in a marriage, there is ALWAYS someone there, sitting in your chair or ruining your sleep.  But then he digs deeper and finds that there’s much more to it. He sees that a relationship means someone not just being in your life, but being a key part of your life. Encouraged by his assorted married friends, he finally realizes the fulfilling and life-affirming rewards of being with somebody and wants that kind of intimacy.  “Someone” turns to “Somebody” as he proclaims that he wants to be part of something that indeed defines being alive.

“Being Alive” reflects the angst and demanding effort as well as the gains and gratification that come from being in an emotionally-intimate relationship. At first glance, nay, most glances, relationships are complicated, messy, and scary. But Robert realizes that there’s more to marriage than just being married. It’s something you work at every day. You fight and argue and cry and lose sleep and stress. Yet despite all its hardships, there is so much to win. You get to have a partner and be a partner.  A relationship is a two-way street, where neither party has all the answers, let alone the right ones.  But you get to search for them together. You bring out the best in each other and thrive together.  That sounds pretty gratifying to me.

The Legacy

Growing up, I never had a serious boyfriend (give or take a two-week We-Held-Hands-Once-So-We’re-Going-Out fling). I didn’t really feel like acquiring one either (hence the apparent lesbian rumors that circulated around my high school… without my knowledge until after I graduated. Sad panda). I’d be surrounded by friends and classmates in “relationships” and think is THIS love or intimacy? This just looks like lust and convenience and cheap jewelry.

I guess I can blame Stephen Sondheim for my early-onset cynicism.  With Company, he assured me (at the tender age of 9) that there was more to life than making out and sex and passive-aggressive manipulation with flavor-of-the-week boyfriends that my peers were accustomed to at the time. I figured if Robert didn’t have his shit figured out at 35, what the hell did teenagers know? ....Not that we ever have everything figured out. We just get better at faking it so we don’t have a meltdown at work (though I’ve been tempted!).

Sondheim has expressed displeasure in concluding the show with this song (seriously, Stephen. What is wrong with you!?), as he deems it a “cop-out.”  He had initially written two other songs to conclude Company before settling on “Being Alive;” both more jaded and sardonic versions of Robert’s ultimate revelations: “Multitudes of Amys” (sung here by the DELICIOUS Aaron Lazar!) and "Happily Ever After" (which eventually turned into "Being Alive" with a slightly more optimistic ending). I personally can’t imagine a song fitting the end of Company better than “Being Alive;” but then again, I’m not a musical genius, just an awestruck spectator. 

So much love up in here, it's disgusting...

Sondheim Rules: Here's Why!

Today, we’re going to talk about who I believe to be one of the greatest composers/lyricists of all time: Stephen Sondheim.  I don’t think this blog can continue without my readers (both of them) knowing how much Sondheim means to me. I have been enamored with his work from a very young age.  Not many grade-schoolers know who Stephen Sondheim is.  I did.  I would watch VHS tapes of Into The Woods and A Little Night Music over and over until I had them committed to memory (I was a bit of a weird kid, if you didn’t already know).

Alas, there are still those who find his work to be overhyped or pretentious (stinkeye on you, Rose!) I say those people are either:

A) Ignorant fools

B) Jealous

C) Taliban

D) All of the Above

I now present 5 reasons why Sondheim is the man. The main man.

1)      He’s Fuckin’ BRILLIANT!

Sondheim’s work is very distinctive in the musical theatre world.  His big break came at 25 (Really, 25?! Are you SHITTING me?!) when he was hired to write the lyrics for Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story (sweet gig, huh?).  Even early in his career, his orchestrations and lyrics are sophisticated and more complex than most pieces on Broadway.

He lifted musical theatre to a higher standard; he stirred and changed the tried-and-true formulas and recipes that theatregoers had come to know and expect. He took your typical happy ending at the conclusion of a story and asked: “Are we really happy?” Into The Woods, for example, spends the entire second act wondering, What comes after Happily Ever After?  Do things always really fit into a perfect little box at the end of this 2-and-a-half hour journey? His musicals make people look inward and think. They may not always end happy, but the characters (and audience) always come away with a substantial experience from the journey…. Or dead.

2)      Lyrics

Sondheim delivers nothing but rich, witty, substantial, carefully-crafted lyrics to his compositions. Even if the show is no good (Anyone Can Whistle originally ran for 9 performances. *Ouch!* But on the bright side, it introduced Angela Lansbury to the theatre world, so not a total crapper!), he selects each lyric to painstaking perfection in order to convey emotion and tell the story.  In this snippet of Company, he marries the music and lyrics with the racing, hysterical, sheer panic a certain bride is feeling on her wedding day, contrasted by her friends’ serene bliss.

3)      He doesn’t pander

I’ll grant you, Sondheim is not always easy to listen to. His score and lyrics are multifaceted, saturated, fast-paced, in-your face, and command your attention. If you want a pretty tune with pretty lyrics, ALW and Frank Wildhorn are a few doors down.  Sondheim doesn’t do that.  He doesn’t just pick up a rhyming dictionary and throw a song together (not that there’s anything wrong with that. I hear “Dust in the Wind” was written in 15 minutes!).  Every note and word is complex and carefully selected to create the desired effect.  It’s never just a gay, musical romp.  There’s always something deeper to take away from a Sondheim show.

4)      He covers the breadth of human emotion

We know that he can write a hell of a love song, but he gives life’s hard parts a very real treatment too.  Sondheim seems able to convey any human feeling we experience; be it unrequited love, devastating catharsis, inner conflict, or even sexual frustration.  Not only does his work encompass any and all emotions, he can cover the breakneck speed in which our emotions can change. In “Epiphany” from Sweeney Todd, Sondheim covers frenzied rage, desperate grief, bloody vengeance, and manic resolve in a span of 3 minutes and you need not question for a moment the height and weight of Sweeney’s emotion.  You can tell from the dark, frantic tone in the music and lyrics that this very twisted barber is about to spontaneously combust. 

5)      He’s FABULOUS!

FABULOUS as in incredibly talented, or FABULOUS as in gay? Well, both.  I mean, gay AND Jewish?  He’s even got Neil Patrick Harris beat on that (I’m convinced that if NPH were straight, men of the world would have a much harder chance of ever getting laid again)!

Get this: a true perfectionist, He has expressed dissatisfaction for the lyrics he wrote for the song “Maria” because he found them "too consciously poetic” and ill-fitting to the character.  Let me repeat this: The guy who wrote the lyrics for one of the most beautiful, spectacular love songs of all time thought he could have done better!!!  I’m pretty sure Steve’s alone on that one!  When I went to a West Side Story Sing-Along last year, I thought I was going to burst into tears when that song came on; it’s so gorgeous!  But he really cares about what he throws out into the world. That’s quite a rare thing in a time when we’ve got Miley Cyrus “twerking” behind Beetlejuice.  He values art and doesn’t compromise his.

At Sondheim’s 80^th birthday concert at Lincoln Center, he quoted Alice Roosevelt Longworth, “First you’re young, then you’re middle-aged. Then you’re wonderful.”  You are wonderful, Mr. Sondheim. You are wonderful!

Why, yes. I AM fuckin' wonderful!