I’m deeply moved that Merrily We Roll Along takes its final Broadway bow today. Though I’m far from New York and haven’t visited since before the pandemic, the clips, interviews, and Tony Awards have let me feel the tangible love and chemistry among the enormously talented cast. The love and light emanating from this show since it opened at NYTW in 2023 have been truly magical, allowing me to experience its brilliance even from afar. (The live show has been recorded for future broadcast.)
On Saturday afternoon, I experienced art imitating life when I reconnected with an “old friend” of 25 years whom I hadn’t seen in over a decade. I held loving space and was fully present as he expressed his pain and struggle since his partner of 42 years passed away just over a year ago. His partner and I had connected deeply over theater, especially the work of our glorious musical theater genius, Stephen Sondheim.
As a lover and practitioner of theater, I have vicariously experienced the joy that Merrily We Roll Along has brought to so many during its wildly successful Off-Broadway and Broadway runs. This joy is akin to what I have felt with the work of Stephen Sondheim since I discovered it around age 14, or perhaps even earlier. In fact, my connection to Sondheim’s work goes back much further. I vividly remember sitting in the living room of our South Jersey apartment, watching West Side Story when I was just 6 or 7. I can still see the glorious dancing and hear the music. That experience struck me deeply and remains vivid in my childhood memory.
My mother, who grew up in Brooklyn, attended some Broadway shows, and interestingly, the only Playbill she kept was from Do I Hear a Waltz? I discovered musical theater through her collection of albums that I still have, which included West Side Story and Gypsy. Ethel Merman’s voice on those recordings opened up new worlds for me, further sparking an immediate and enduring obsession with musical theater. In high school, I wrote my first significant paper comparing West Side Story, Romeo and Juliet, and Keats’ The Eve of St. Agnes (I wish I still had that paper!).
I used to borrow cast albums from the library, especially ones I hadn’t heard before. One day, I picked up Sunday in the Park with George. At the time, I didn’t realize it was written by Sondheim. The moment Bernadette Peters began singing on that recording, I was hooked! A friend from community theater gave me a recording of Sweeney Todd one summer between freshman and sophomore year. The instant the whistle blew at the start of the show, I was captivated! Then I discovered Company — obsessed! Next came Into the Woods. I couldn’t get enough of the Original Broadway Cast Recording. Seeing it live was a dream come true — it was my second Broadway show. That night, I even had the chance to meet Chita Rivera, who was visiting her friend Nancy Dussault, one of the witch replacements (the two starred together in the 1964 musical about gypsies, Bajour). My love for Sondheim has spanned 40 years, most of my time on the planet. While I have not seen all of Sondheim’s shows, I have had so many glorious experiences in the theater of Sondheim as illustrated by the images included here.
When Stephen Sondheim passed away shortly after Thanksgiving 2021, I reflected on the profound impact his legacy has had on me. As a closeted adolescent who often felt isolated, discovering and immersing myself in Stephen Sondheim’s words and music felt like wrapping myself in a blanket of joy. Looking back now, I can’t explain it, but I felt a sense of being understood and seen within that world.
I have recently come to feel that many librettos prior ro Sondheim and the latter half of the 20th century have books that are thin and silly. I feel strongly that it is because we have been spoiled by Sondheim’s work along with his protégês and composers that were influenced by him that include Jason Robert Brown, Adam Guettel, Jonathan Larson, Lin-Manuel Miranda, William Finn, Greg Carnelia, Jeanine Tesori, Tony Yasbek, John Bucchino — the list goes on. Prior to Sondheim examples of teams writing musicals with any real psychological depth include Rodgers and Hammerstein and Kern and Hammerstein (Showboat). Of course, this makes senses, as we know Sondheim is a protégé of Hammerstein.
Sondheim delved fearlessly into the human psyche and condition, creating rich, complex worlds and characters that grapple with life’s intricacies and love’s complexities. His narratives weren’t always happy; early on, he was among the few in musical theater who dared to bring shadows into the light, giving audiences permission to look at their own shadows and, perhaps, even heal them a little.
Thank you, Mr. Sondheim. Your legacy is eternal.
