Review: ON SONDHEIM: An Opinionated Guide

As a self-proclaimed Broadway and theatre aficionado, I certainly thought I had a solid working knowledge of Stephen Sondheim. His music and lyrics have spanned a generation and impacted the world with innate complexity and thoughtfulness. In particular, Gypsy has had a tremendous personal impact on my life - as a young dancer, trying to achieve success and now as a writer, finding such delicious harmony in the words. In the seminal love song between Rose and Herbie, "You'll never get away from me, you can climb the tallest tree, I'll be there somehow." Beautiful, sweet, precisely perfect.

On Sondheim: An Opinionated Guide is unlike any other biography I've ever read. What author Ethan Mordden has so deftly crafted is a new form; much like what Sondheim has done himself throughout his impressive career. The book is a thorough academic analysis on all elements that comprise Sondheim's genius - his personal life, his influences and mentors, and an ample study of his creations. How each section informs and invigorates the others creates an intense, comprehensive piece of literature. It's a true must-read for theatregoers, academics and the general public alike, and its unique form is, in part, what makes it so fascinating.

Beginning with Sondheim's childhood, Mordden spends a great deal of time talking about young Stephen and his budding relationship with musical legend, Oscar Hammerstein. What's intriguing about their connection is not their wide age difference, but the deep level of respect and kinship that bloomed between the two. Their individual musical geniuses served as the catalyst to drive their personal relationship forward and helped to enhance their complementary talents; Hammerstein, who "reinvented the operetta" and Sondheim, who crafted an innovative new musical form. It's always interesting to see how external factors influence originality and prodigal brilliance, but I appreciated Mordden's concentration on appropriating their relationship, and this further develops and echoes back throughout the entirety of the book.

The most exciting part of the book was Mordden's in-depth explications of Sondheim's original creations, in chronological order. With each work, he takes painstaking time and care to create for the reader essential understanding that we wouldn't have otherwise known in such an intimate way. Complete with excerpts, photos and historical contextualization, Mordden's opinions are suitably grounded, but still give the reader a chance to have his or her own thoughts.

At times, Mordden's language grows overly verbose, a minor critique on an otherwise densely interesting work. This happens quite naturally given the scholarly approach Mordden has taken with writing this book - which he does excellently, but at times while reading, I wished there was a more effortless quality to his parsing of Sondheim's life.

Mordden takes the work seriously, setting the tone for this in each word he writes, and as a result, we take it seriously, too. It's certainly worth a contemplative read.

You can order Ethan Mordden's ON SONDHEIM: AN OPINIONATED GUIDE here.

To post a comment, you must register and login.