Stephen Sondheim's Gesamtkunstwerk: The Concept Musical As Wagnerian Total Theatre
Stephen Sondheim's Gesamtkunstwerk: The Concept Musical As Wagnerian Total Theatre
Stephen Sondheim's Gesamtkunstwerk: The Concept Musical As Wagnerian Total Theatre
by
DIANA CALDERAZZO
M.A. University of Central Florida, 2005
Summer Term
2005
2005 Diana Calderazzo
ii
ABSTRACT
Stephen Sondheim, famous for writing such musicals as Company, Into the Woods,
Sweeney Todd, and Assassins, is often referred to as the originator of the modern concept
musical. Despite varying definitions of the concept musical, it is generally agreed that the form
theory the idea of total theatre proposed in the nineteenth century by composer Richard
Wagner.
My thesis will argue that the similarity between Sondheims concept musical and
Wagners total theatre is more than purely theoretical; it is practical as well, involving structural
parallels such as leitmotif, minor chord development, and intricate lyricism. Congruently, many
intellectual levels also recall those utilized by Wagner over a century earlier.
These similarities not withstanding, Sondheim, as a contemporary artist, creates work that
has often been described in terms of theoretical movements that post-date Wagner, including
desconstructionism and Brechtian theatre. While these terms certainly describe some
differences between the work of Sondheim and Wagner, I will argue that their existence with
regard to Sondheim does not preclude a Wagnerian approach to the contemporary composers
work. Elements of deconstruction and Brechtian alienation may, in fact, be linked back to
Wagner in specific manners. My thesis will explore these connections, concluding that an
approach to the work of Sondheim in the vein of Richard Wagner may suggest a successful
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I fondly dedicate this thesis to Mom and Dad, who have always encouraged me to
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I wish to acknowledge the dedication and undying support of my advisor and mentor, Dr.
allowed me to reach many milestones in my academic career, and she remains a source of
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
MUSICAL.45
LIST OF REFERENCES.............................................................................................................. 71
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CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
have been critically debated worldwide in essays, reviews, academic journals, classrooms,
popular periodicals, internet chat rooms, and interviews with Sondheim and those with whom he
has worked. Among producers, directors, actors, critics, and audience members who address his
work regularly, Sondheims shows have become the topic of complex discussion of theme and
structure in the modern musical. It seems that in becoming the subject of such analytical debate,
stimulating experience. In 1998, Robert Brustein commented on the implications of the barrage
Refrains such as this say a great deal about whats been happening in university
classrooms these days. It says even more about whats happening to our culture when the
fourteen works of a highly talented composer for the New York musical theatre a temple of
high art primarily to those who vote for Antoinette Perry awards are treated with the same
Brustein articulates the idea that Sondheims musicals have traditionally been addressed
as a form of high art to an extent that is unprecedented when discussing musical theatre.
Sondheim, then, is at least partially responsible for a recent elevation of discussion of musical
theatre in a critical and theoretical context. Given this elevation, it is not surprising that most
published critical and theoretical analyses of musical theatre in history have come about only
within the past twenty-five years, within the Sondheim Era, when musical theatre has begun to
1
It is appropriate, then, to discuss Sondheims work as it exists within the context of
theatre theory. In this vein, Sondheims work has been compared to that of the ancient Greeks1,
shown to resemble Brechts Theatre of Alienation2, and also placed in a postmodern context3. In
addition, several writers have referred to what they see as a correlation between Sondheims
concept musicals and the idea of Gesamkuntswerk, or Total Work of Art, proposed by
nineteenth century composer and theatre theorist Richard Wagner. For example, in 1983, Dan J.
Cartmell observed in his dissertation entitled Stephen Sondheim and the Concept Musical that
in some ways the concept musical begins to fulfill the goal of Richard Wagners
Gesamkuntswerk, a composite work where all the arts, especially music, dance and poetry join in
an ideal synthesis as a pure work of art (98). Then in 1990, Eugene Robert Huber wrote a
dissertation entitled Stephen Sondheim and Harold Prince: Collaborative Contributions to the
Development of the Modern Concept Musical, 1970-1981, in which he chose to define the
Sondheim theorist Joanne Gordon also observes that with each musical and lyrical nuance
perfectly matched to the particular character in the particular situation, music, lyric, character
and plot are interwoven into a seamless whole, closer to Wagnerian opera than traditional
musical comedy (7). Similarly, reviewers have referred to Sondheim productions in Wagnerian
1
Barbara Means Fraser, in her essay Revisiting Greece: The Sondheim Chorus, states that the structure of the
chorus in many of Stephen Sondheims musicals resembles the Greek chorus more strongly than a more typical
chorus of the American Musical (223).
2
Thomas P. Adler describes Pacific Overtures as most overtly Brechtian and cites critic Emanuel Azenberg as
saying that Sondheims musicals contain a dose of Brechtian alienation or estrangement (40). Also, many
reviewers have attested to Brechtian elements in Sweeney Todd, including Jack Kroll, who compared the piece with
The Threepenny Opera (Newsweek 3/12/79).
3
Edward T. Bonahue, Jr.s essay, Portraits of an Artist: Sunday in the Park with George as Postmodern Drama
(171-185) explores this view, as does S. F. Stoddards essay, Visions and Revisions: The Postmodern Challenge of
Merrily We Roll Along (187-198).
2
terms as examples of Total Theatre as did Howard Kissel, in his 1979 review of Sweeney Todd
(Womens Wear Daily 3/2/79). Finally, music theorists such as Stephen Banfield tend to agree
that Sondheims concept musicals imply a kind of Wagnerian Gesamkuntswerk (147) and have
noted the utilization of Wagnerian techniques in the construction of Sondheims own work (303
and 305). At various levels of criticism, then, it seems that Sondheims work serves to advance a
basic approach to writing for the theatre, articulated by Richard Wagner over a century and a half
ago.
I am interested first in defining this observed correlation between Wagners Total Theatre
and Sondheims concept musical, then in discovering Sondheims further contributions to the
form within the context of this correlation. In order to accomplish this, in Chapter 1 I will
choose an accepted definition of the contemporary term concept musical and the further
specified reference to Sondheims concept musical. In Chapter 2 I will analyze the parallels
between Sondheims concept musical and Wagners Total Theatre. Finally, in Chapter 3, I will
discuss some analyses of Sondheims concept musical that appear to indicate its divergence from
the theory of Total Theatre, applying contemporary notions of deconstruction and Brechtian
alienation to ultimately emphasize the established parallels between the work of Sondheim and
Wagner. In conclusion, I will articulate the way in which Wagners overall approach to audience
production.
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CHAPTER TWO: DEFINTION OF THE CONTEMPORARY CONCEPT
MUSICAL
Definitions of the contemporary concept musical have ranged widely since the term
became popular in the 1970s, and the identity of the concept musical has evolved during the last
few decades in response to modern audiences growing ability to view musical theatre as a fully
developed, mature form of theatrical expression. Throughout the short history of the concept
musicals evolution, the form has come to embody the presentation of an idea, or concept, in
production for an audience. From the integrated book musicals of the first half of the
twentieth century to the modern developments of Stephen Sondheim, the concept musical has
It is generally agreed that the immediate precursor to the concept musical is the integrated
musical that became popular in America during the first half of the twentieth century. In contrast
to the vaudevilles and musical revues that dominated live musical entertainment at the turn of the
century, integrated musicals eschewed the nightclub number format in favor of the continuous
development of a single main plot. Audiences of the integrated musical could thus view a linear
production in which music, script, and dance were interwoven as tightly as possible in support of
a smooth revelation of the main plot and the characters associated with it (Bordman 485).
Structural elements such as musical underscoring and choreography could then lend weight to
characters motives and roles within the action on stage, reinforcing character and plot. Gerald
Bordman credits Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammersteins Showboat (1927) as one of the most
4
prominent examples of this type of musical.4 In Showboat, a way of life is described and a single
main story dominates the musical. Songs such as Old Man River and Life Upon the Wicked
Stage accomplish more than simply the presentation of vignettes to the audience; they are
representative of specific characters roles pertaining to the story and the ways in which their
lives intertwine within the world of the musical as a whole.5 Audiences may watch such a
production and understand it based upon the causal relationship of sequential events onstage and
characters that continually communicate feelings and actions through song, speech, and
movement. For example, when Julie sings Cant Help Lovin Dat Man, Joe states that he has
never heard anyone but black people sing that song, revealing Julies mixed heritage and
identifying the song as a symbol of who Julie is within the context of the plot presented. Her
identity is significant to the plot because it foreshadows Julies fate of being left alone as a result
of her heritage and past. Later, Julie reprises the song with more emotion, having lived its lyrics,
signifying a simultaneous evolution of character and plot from one point in the musical to the
next. This type of portrayal of linear plot and character development through the synthesis of
music, lyrics, and movement, then, became the trademark of the integrated musical in contrast to
the episodic, revue-like structure of the vaudevilles and flashy musical melodramas of the
preceding decades.
Building upon this foundation, Rodgers and Hammerstein were the next generally
recognized creators to refine the technique of integration with Carousel (1945). In this musical,
underscoring was utilized to an unprecedented extent to introduce seamless transitions from song
4
Eugene Huber also explores integration in Showboat in some depth in his dissertation chapter on this musical. (14-
26)
5
Laurence Maslon, in his book Broadway: The American Musical, discusses these songs as they contribute to the
seamless quality of the musical, which was based on a novel by Edna Ferber (112-119).
5
to speech and vice versa. The underscoring served to combine music and speech patterns in a
way that did more than simply reveal the nature of character and plot; it advanced these elements
within the music and lyrics themselves. That is, beginning with Carousel, characters on the
musical stage would not simply relate their relationships and feelings to the audience through
song; they would actually utilize the songs to advance those relationships and the relevant
themes of the piece. Martin Gottfried provides a detailed analysis of Carousels bench scene,
which he considers to be a landmark in the real-time advancement of plot and theme: lyric
theatre (28) in which spoken text is integrated with sung verse, allowing the words and lyrics to
not only convey a relationship, but to advance that relationship. Here, Julie Jordan and Billy
Bigelow discover their love in alternating speech and lyrics, presenting their audiences with
musically underscored character nuances and descriptive commentary in conjunction with the
real time advancement of the plot itself as achieved by the song If I Loved You. When the
scene/song is over, the characters relationship has advanced to a level different than that at the
beginning. Simultaneously, the songs lyrics illustrate the evolution of one of the main themes
of the show the concept of if and its role in defining the characters dreams and romantic
desires. Audience members are then able to react to the constant evolution of character and story
while reflecting on theme, since all of these elements could be simultaneously developed through
a single song. Real-time advancement of plot and themes explored within song were thus the
driving elements within musicals of this time; and music, lyrics, speech, and movement were
interwoven as in Carousel to contribute to the advancement of plot and theme. By the 1940s, it
was this type of plot-based integrated show that embodied the image of the modern musical.
6
Then in 1947, Rodgers and Hammerstein again created a landmark show in the form of
Allegro, which is often credited as the first concept musical.6 Modeled after Thornton
Wilders Our Town, Allegro tells the story of a small-town American doctor faced with the moral
dilemma of whether to pursue an affluent city career or to devote his life to helping patients less
fortunate. This musical stands out through the fact that the abstract mood, or the concept of
the moral dilemma and the overall challenge presented by such a dilemma becomes more
important than any specific plot or character element. According to Hammerstein, I wanted to
write a large universal story (Green 274), one in which the characters would become more
representational than individual, allowing universal themes to preclude the particulars of plot and
individual character development. Conceptual elements, then, such as moral challenge and the
image of small-town America addressed in the show as a whole thus took precedence over the
The show thus moved the integrated musical into the conceptual realm, since the priority
became the presentation of the universal theme of moral dilemma to the audience, offering
audience members the opportunity to form their own commentary on the thematic issues raised.
That is, audience members were no longer asked to simply follow a linear plot and find the
meaning within it as applied to specific characters, as in Carousel; now they were presented with
an idea, a central concept, and asked to form their own reactions based upon their knowledge of
society as it applied to the universal world of the musical. According to musical historian Denny
Martin Flinn, Allegro was the first musical to lend priority to idea or concept, rather than plot. In
6
According to Stephen Citron, [Critics] often cite Allegro as the first concept musical, or a show written around a
theme (41). Some contemporary directors also take this view, as shown by Washington Post journalist Michael
Toscanos January, 2004, interview with Eric Shaeffer, artistic director of Arlingtons Signature Theatre. Toscano
quotes Schaeffer as saying that Allegro is the first concept musical, a landmark achievement that contributed to
warranting an updated production of the show at the Signature Theatre (The Washington Post 1/1/2004).
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Flinns words, [Allegro] set the course for Harold Prince and Stephen Sondheim, for
presentational numbers, for fluidity, for concept (234). Before this musical, the emphasis in
musical theatre lay within the integration of the elements of music, dance, speech, and theme in
order to tell a seamless story. Beginning with Allegro, however, the emphasis shifted to
integrating music, dance, speech, theme, and story itself in order to support a central mood or
concept. Following Allegro, then, the Broadway musical no longer needed to be plot based;
instead, the concept musicals primary function was to promote a particular ideological mood for
its audience, setting up a format that allowed audiences to adopt universal perspective and thus
thematic idea formulated the need for a structure that allowed each musical to communicate its
concept in its own manner. In developing Allegro, for example, Rodgers and Hammerstein
utilized a Greek structure that featured a chorus offering annotation to the action and advice to
the characters. Consequently, the musical numbers became episodic commentary, somewhat in
the vein of the vaudevilles that preceded the integrated musical. Unlike the earlier vaudeville
numbers, however, these musical numbers were not written to exist in separate contexts; each
number was intended to work closely with speech and movement and other musical numbers to
describe a common theme, as in the integrated musicals. Since these musicals were not driven
by plot, storyline no longer determined their structure, and universal themes described their
meaning for an audience. It seems that the concept musical, then, prioritizes theme and
minimizes plot structure. This was the basic idea upon which concept musicals took shape over
8
According to numerous historians and theorists, the concept shows that followed Allegro
include such diverse productions as Love Life (1948), Hair (1968), A Chorus Line (1975), Cats
(1982), Baby (1983), Starlight Express (1987), and others. Given these shows widely-ranging
characters, plots, presentation styles, and dates of origin, musical theatre analysts have not
surprisingly differed extensively in their attempts to pinpoint a precise definition for the concept
musical. Each of these shows embraces a specific structure to describe theme, as stated above
regarding the elements of Greek drama in Allegro; however, the nature of the relationship
between structure, theme, and concept has been widely debated. Therefore, an analysis of
varying theories is necessary in order to reach a working definition of the concept musical.
The relationship between concept and theme has perhaps proven the most evasive. It
seems that, based upon the above analysis, the term concept could possibly refer interchangeably
to the universal theme addressed in a concept musical, since theme describes meaning. Yet this
is not exactly the case. Richard Kislan, in fact, offers a definition that compares the idea of
concept with that of theme, but he differentiates between concept and theme as follows: The
theme of a musical show is its main idea; the concept of a musical production is how that idea is
embodied or interpreted Concept reaches beyond theme into some statement or image of what
the show means to be, or what it intends to do, or how it will go about doing it (182). Kislan
infers that the concept describes the personality of the show; concept is not simply what the
show is about, but rather what the show is. Concept, then, describes an abstract entity; it seems
in itself intangible, but it finds its existence in the synthesis of other elements of the musical,
such as music, speech, movement, theme, etc Thus, according to Kislan, much of the concept
lies in the very fabric of the show how it is structured and presented to the audience, in addition
9
This definition of concept as the personality of a concept musical is appropriate since it
describes a necessary amalgamation of structure and theme; these two elements are inseparable if
they are to describe a concept. The concept, then, is not structure or theme, but rather the result
of their collaboration. For example, the structure of Sondheims concept musical Assassins
resembles that of the vaudeville, or early American musical revue, thus reflecting the shows
realization of a concept dealing with the turmoil of presidential assassination in America; both
are necessary to the concept and contribute to the description of the piece as a concept musical.
Neither the theme nor the structure of such a piece could fully describe concept on its own. That
but without the vaudevillian presentation style these themes do not describe a concept.
Conversely, a vaudevillian presentation style cannot form a concept by itself; without a reigning
theme, a piece featuring such a style would simply be a turn-of-the century vaudeville consisting
of unrelated vignettes.
Because the nature of the concept musical relies upon structure as well as theme, the role
driven musical, the cause and effect nature of the plot tends to dictate the structure of the show,
meaning that one scene follows another in order to properly relate a story that makes sense to the
audience. When a show is not driven by plot, however, it must employ some other format, or
presentation style, for structuring itself. Therefore, in a concept musical one scene follows
another in order to reflect the presentation style of the show rather than the plot. Ethan
Mordden addresses this point by stating that a concept show is a presentational rather than
strictly narrative work (127). Utilizing the term presentational, Mordden refers to the method
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of addressing the musicals overall identity through structural detail, or presentation. In
Allegro, the presentation style embodies the Greek chorus as described above; while in Assassins
the presentation style is vaudevillian. In A Chorus Line, the presentation style features an
audition structure, since the cast members are auditioning for a show within a show, thus
becoming the show itself. When they tell their life stories to the character of the casting director
during their audition, they are actually presenting those stories for the real-life audience,
providing a direct presentational commentary on the life of a dancer and creating the mood of a
realistic audition. Other concept shows, such as Into the Woods, Cats, and Starlight Express
employ elements of fantasy to introduce concept. In Morddens words, a show such as these, in
which fairy tale worlds collide, the animal world adopts qualities of the human world, and high
tech futuristic characters roller skate on stage, [utilizes] avant-garde techniques to defy unities
of place, time, and action (127). In these cases, it is these avant-garde techniques
characteristic of each show that define the presentation style of the piece. These fantastical
elements describe the shows presentation style, which in turn dictates the structure through
aspect of the concept musical. Because presentation is a key element in the definition of a
concept musical, it follows that a concept musical is not fully realized unless it is presented to an
audience. Kislan, for example, infers in the quote above that a concept piece is only fully
recognized in production (the difference between a musical show, featuring theme, and a
musical production, featuring concept [182]). According to this view the concept is in reality
the realization of the unified vision of composer, lyricist, librettist, director, and designers, since
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each of these creators contributes to the manner in which the piece is presented for an audience. 7
It would be inconclusive, then, to analyze a concept musical from a strictly literary or musical
perspective, because these elements have the potential to lend full identity to the piece only when
This argument seems well founded based upon the aspects of the concept musical
explored so far. It might be argued that no musical, or indeed no play, is fully realized until it is
presented for an audience, but the concept musical is a special case in this respect since one of
the elements that defines it as such is presentation style. In a plot-based musical or play, plot
structure is articulated in its entirety before production; however, in the case of a concept
musical, presentation style is only introduced, to be fully structured and articulated in production.
A concept on paper does not do itself justice as a concept musical in the case of Cats, for
example, T.S. Eliots verse and Andrew Lloyd Webbers music could not fully describe a
concept until combined in production. The inference, then, is that a concept musical must be
Among those theorists that argue that a concept musical does indeed realize itself fully
only in production, it follows that the production team also utilizes the concept as the driving
force from the beginning to the end of the production process. That is, the concept, or reigning
notion described jointly by the musicals structure and theme, must serve as inspiration from the
onset of the pieces creation. This contrasts with the production of a plot-based musical, which
begins with a driving plot onto which a directors concept is superimposed during the rehearsal
7
Eugene Huber concurs in his dissertation, in which he lists the eight characteristics developed to define and
identify the concept musical (269). Central to these characteristics are the roles of the director, who functions
almost as co-author (270) and the set designer, who creates an environment within which the musicals theme is
extended (270-271). Both these aspects take on significance only when the show is produced.
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process. Dan Cartmell refers to this factor as the point of inception, or the point in time at
which the concept comes into use More conventional musicals begin with a script or libretto
and musical numbers basically established at the start of rehearsals to which the director attaches
a concept. A concept musical begins with a concept which then stimulates the writing,
organization and style of the libretto and music (96). For example, during the production
process for A Chorus Line, emphasis is placed on the overall concept of characters who are
auditioning for positions in a dance chorus, representing those who have pursued careers in show
business through the ages. Their specific stories are individual, but moreover they are
representative of the mood of the life of the Broadway dancer, the concept of the musical itself;
and it is this mood, rather than an individual focus on plot or character, which drives the piece
from its conception to its realization on stage. Thus, point of inception dictates that the concept
functions from the writing of the piece to its realization in production as the defining element
that serves to synthesize all other aspects of the musical. As a result, the audience becomes
enveloped by the driving idea that forms the concept, as it is reinforced by music, dance, speech,
Since the concept or mood of the musical serves as the source of overall inspiration in
production, it has been widely debated how much emphasis story or plot should receive within
the integration of a piece as a whole in order for the piece to remain a Concept Musical. Most
critics and theorists agree that Concept Musicals should integrate music, movement, speech, and
theme fairly equally throughout the piece; but they disagree extensively on the topic of whether
plot should receive equal emphasis or indeed whether plot should exist at all. Martin Gottfried,
who is often credited with being the first to apply the term Concept Musical, wrote that such a
musical is a show whose music, lyrics, dance, stage movement and dialogue are woven through
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each other in the creation of a tapestry-like theme (rather than in support of a plot) (McEntee
95). Gottfried thus infers that plot does not figure strongly within his definition of the Concept
Musical. He cites Sondheims Follies as a significant example, since the musical is primarily a
montage of memories, relationships, and the flavor of a bygone era. Scott Miller, however,
writes that some Concept Musicals possess a central concept that is most important but still
employ a linear plot (187). Thus, according to Miller, the plot, or book, of the musical may play
Richard Kislan agrees that the concept musical may contain a plot, or sequence of
actions designed to bring out the drama in character, idea, and situation, but he differentiates
between story and plot as follows: Plot does not mean story. Plot implies a specific chart of
events; story implies the tale that is told (179). Kislan states that a plot is a sequence of actions
that move the situation forward, while a story is a linear development of events, and that while a
Concept Musical may involve a plot it does not incorporate a story. According to this definition,
story implies a stronger cause-and-effect relationship between events than does plot; thus, a
concept musical employs plot to advance situation, but causality is not as strong as it would be in
a story-based musical. From an audiences perspective, then, the production is relevant not as
it reveals what happens next, but as it continually builds on the conceptual imagery presented.
At this point it seems that definitions of the concept musical become overly fastidious,
requiring varying manipulations of the same terminology. Essentially, the main requirement
remains that the overall mood, or concept, acts as the driving force for all elements of production
and that those elements work in relatively equally distributed capacity to support the concept.
Whether story or plot or both are present seems irrelevant under the condition that the concept
drives both the production process and the audiences experience. It would in fact be difficult to
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describe a show in which no causal action takes place. (Even Follies can be said to possess a
story based around four people who look for their pasts but rediscover one another in the
process.) Thus, it seems a concept musical may employ a story or a plot in the same capacity as
music, lyrics, movement, and environment on stage to support the overall mood or concept of
the piece.
embodying a synthesis of universal theme and structure. Because structure plays such a
prominent role in the realization of concept, the musical relies on a presentation style that defines
its structure for an audience, making the concept musical a form that is only fully realized in
production. As such, the concept musical follows its concept from beginning to end of the
production process, resembling its predecessor, the integrated musical, in synthesizing music,
Through years of defining itself, then, the Concept Musical has evolved from shows such
as Jerome Kerns Showboat to the musicals of Rogers and Hammerstein to the creations of
Andrew Lloyd Webber and others and finally to the work of Stephen Sondheim, who is
considered by many to be the perfector of the modern Concept Musical. According to Joanne
Gordon, Concept was a word coined to describe the form of the Sondheim musical, (7)
indicating that without the work of Sondheim, the term would have no reason to exist. Glenn
Litten concurs that conceptual musical was a term invented by journalists to characterize the
unique style of theatre that since Company... Hal Prince had been staging (332). Thus, Litten
indicates that director Hal Prince, who worked with Sondheim on six of his major musicals,
15
found his first inspiration for the Concept Musical in Sondheims Company. Richard Kislan,
too, states that the best examples of the concept musical have come from the creative
collaboration of Stephen Sondheim and Harold Prince (254). Whether or not these statements
are verifiable, they attest to the theoretical association of Sondheim and his director Hal Prince
with the Concept Musical and lead to the question of why Sondheims shows are constructed in
such a way as to be considered the epitome of the modern Concept Musical, a form that has been
finding its identity since the second quarter of the twentieth century.
As the perfector of the modern Concept Musical, Stephen Sondheim has taken the criteria
for this form of theatre to levels not previously explored. Sondheims innovations include
Bonahue, Jr. (171). Bonahue is referring to Sondheims ability to incorporate influences from
varying cultures (Pacific Overtures), time periods (Follies, Sunday in the Park with George, and
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum), and genres of entertainment (melodrama in
Sweeney Todd and fantasy in Into the Woods) in his musicals. These varying references are
significant because they embody Sondheims technique of borrowing elements from history to
find the inspiration for his conceptual foundations. That is, Sondheim has, to an unprecedented
extent, incorporated artistic forms from varying historical periods to describe the universal nature
Overtures bridges a gap between cultures; Follies, Sunday, and Forum juxtapose the past with
the present; Sweeney Todd and Into the Woods parallel legend and fairy tale with real life. As a
result, Sondheims developments in this area have been observed as being neoimpressionistic,
16
as quoted above, as well as postmodern8 and deconstructive9. It becomes evident, even
without an attempted definition of these theoretical terms here, that Sondheim introduces a
perspective in his musicals that defines his work as uniquely contemporary. In addition to
synthesizing music, movement, speech, plot, and theme as in the integrated musicals and concept
musicals preceding his, Sondheim also synthesizes time periods, cultural and historical events,
Pastiche, for example, is a technique that Sondheim utilizes to borrow musically from
varying genres and time periods. Pastiche refers to Sondheims integration of specific musical
styles within a single musical, such as the waltz in A Little Night Music or circus and Latin
rhythms found in Company, bringing together these varying elements of musical style to assist in
provoking impressions of modern life. In Company, for example, the commentary centers on
alternated with musical references to traditional rhythmic couples dancing. In Into the Woods,
Sondheim utilizes mocking rhythms, mimicking ballads, and childhood chants to make a
statement about the inevitably collaborative nature of human existence in constant conflict with
the childish selfishness and greed that define so many of our actions. In drawing upon these
various musical influences in his works, Sondheim juxtaposes the traditional and the
contemporary, again lending a new level of emphasis to the presentation of universal themes
8
S. F. Stoddard explores this view in his essay Visions and Re-visions: The Postmodern Challenge of Merrily We
Role Along (187-198) as does Edward T. Bonahue, Jr. in Sunday in the Park with George as Postmodern Drama
(171-186).
9
Stephen Banfield refers to deconstruction in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Form (92).
17
Related to this unprecedented synthesis of historical elements to support an overall
concept, Sondheim has taken the ironic juxtaposition of ideas within his shows to a new level.
That is, in describing a comparison between cultures, time periods, and genres in his musicals,
Sondheim often calls attention to the blatant contrasts between traditional and modern practice
on a thematic level. According to Joanne Gordon, the old forms, the well-loved styles
[reincarnated by Sondheim] remind us of what the theatre can do and what society once was.
The satiric lyrics inform us of what our lives now are (10). Gordon infers that this combination
of sentimental forms, such as the traditional music styles described above, with biting
commentary on modern life serves to suggest thematic irony to an extent to which many
audiences in the 1970s were not accustomed. Among the jarring juxtapositions Sondheim
introduces is a psycho-killer singing a love ballad to his razors (Sweeney Todd) as well as a
group of presidential assassins harmonizing lyrics referring to the American dream (Assassins).
Through Sondheims ironic juxtaposition of ideas such as these, traditional and often nostalgic
images are lent new meaning within a contemporary context, prompting audiences to question
the themes presented from new and often intellectually challenging perspectives.
unprecedented audience emotional reaction to the contrasts presented in his concept musicals.
According to Joanne Gordon, the often shocking images such as those described above in
Sweeney Todd and Assassins engage audiences in an emotionally cathartic experience, and in
support of her opinion, she quotes Hal Princes as follows: Who says to be entertained means to
be tickled?... I think its more stimulating to be upset. I try to be a part of what I see. And I go
to the theatre to see a little blood drawn (5). One of the results of producing Sondheims
18
synthesizing contrasting elements in this way, Sondheim seeks to take his audiences on an
emotional journey, one that perhaps simulates the terrifying excitement of a well-designed
haunted house or roller coaster, introducing bitingly ironic impressions of modern life in contrast
One other key element of the emotional intrigue associated with Sondheims musicals
identifiable quirkiness that elicit empathy from their audiences; simultaneously, however, the
same characters remain representative of human nature in an overall sense, supporting the
universal nature of the Concept Musical as described above rather than demanding individual
focus. A key element of this achievement centers upon Sondheims technique of allowing his
characters to discover themselves in the presence of the audience rather than describing
themselves to the audience. Joanne Gordon quotes Sondheim as saying that other writers write
songs in which a character explains himself. This is self-defeating. A song should reveal the
character to the audience, but the character does not have enough self-knowledge to describe
himself in these terms (11). Thus, Sondheim seeks to create characters with which audiences
can identify emotionally during those characters discoveries. When observing Sondheims
work, the audience is then able to follow the character through his/her self discovery process,
sympathizing with the character and applying his/her individual learning experiences to a more
comprehensive and universal understanding of contemporary life. In this way, then, Sondheim
appeals not only to his audiences intellectual understanding but also to its emotional sensitivity.
The characters in Into the Woods, for example, lead audience members in an understanding of
the interdependency of human nature as they discover that no one is alone. As audience
members, we sympathize with the challenges these characters face and the lessons they learn; in
19
doing so we also understand those challenges as representative of a universal struggle.
Sondheims characters, then, operate with his ironic juxtapositions to resonate emotionally and
intellectually with audiences, introducing to the concept musical a complexity unique to work of
this composer.
Sondheim, then, has developed what is currently considered the epitome of the
increasingly sophisticated form known as the concept musical. His musicals, it seems, draw
of cultures, time periods, and creative genres. In doing so, his works suggest enhanced levels of
both intellectual and emotional engagement on the part of audiences. Sondheim creates his work
to jolt his audiences emotionally and intellectually, yet to appeal to them on a comparatively
advanced universal level. Hence, by the 1970s American musical theatre had entered what
Ethan Mordden terms The Age of Sondheim (31). Through his original approach, Sondheim
presents audiences with a unique prescription for the contemporary Concept Musical.
20
CHAPTER THREE: THE CONCEPT MUSICAL -- SONDHEIMS TOTAL
THEATRE
diverse historical references, jarring juxtapositions, and depth of character to reach its audiences
emotionally and intellectually, appears to be the type of work that offers audiences a total
theatre experience, utilizing a term originated by the nineteenth century composer Richard
Wagner. Several musical theatre analysts have referred to Wagnerian aspects in Sondheims
work and even defined Sondheims concept musical as a contemporary realization of Wagnerian
total theatre;10 but they have yet to analyze Sondheims work in a Wagnerian context. A closer
look at Wagners theories of total theatre indicates more than a casual parallel and begins to lead
structural elements synthesized to construct a unified work of art. Specifically, it relies on the
intrinsic elements of music, dance, poetry, and tone, which work in tandem to create an overall
theatrical experience for an audience and are by their natureinseparable without disbanding
the stately minuet of Art (The Art-Work of the Future 780). Here Wagner addresses the
various elements of art as they work together to form a coherent presentation. In referring to the
element of dance, Wagner addresses all forms of character movement on stage, including
walking, sitting, and gesturing, as William Ashton Ellis points out in his translators note to The
Art-Work of the Future: It must be directly understood that by Dance Wagner does not refer
10
Joanne Gordon speaks of catharsis in Sondheims work, stating that this concept is not generally associated with
the American musical theatre, although one happily applies the term to Wagnerian opera (5). Also, Stephen
Banfield observes that Sondheims concept musicals imply a kind of Wagnerian Gesamkuntswerk (147).
21
to the Ballet, or anything approaching it; it is the grace of gesture and of motion which he sums
up in this terse and comprehensive term (95). Thus, dance according to Wagner refers to the
aesthetic of movement in general onstage and will here be utilized interchangeably with what we
now term stage blocking, or stage movement. Congruently, Wagner addresses the element
of poetry, which embodies not strictly verse, but all forms of vocal expression on stage, which
Wagner terms the living word (The Art-Work of the Future 138). To clarify, Wagners poetry
embodies musical lyric and spoken interjection; it corresponds to speech and song in modern
performance. Finally, music as Wagner defines it is self explanatory and refers to the same
concept we understand as music today, embracing melody, harmony, rhythm, etc... On the most
basic level, then, the Music Drama bears some resemblance to the concept musical as described
in Chapter One, since it relies upon an integration of structural elements toward a common end
in Wagners case, the finished work of art and in Sondheims case, the concept of the musical.
More specifically, Wagner also refers to all three structural elements (dance, poetry, and
music) as they are designed to appeal to an audience. That is, dance refers to actual stage
movement rather than written stage directions; poetry refers to the spoken or sung word rather
than the written word; and music is realized for the listener, not simply recorded on paper.
According to Wagner these elements make up the Drama, or Music Drama, which is
designed to be viewed by an audience. Housing live performance, the theatre becomes the
Peoples show-place of the highest human art (The Art-Work of the Future 159). Here, Wagner
indicates his belief in displayed theatrical works of art for audiences to experience. By nature,
then, Wagners Music Drama is a synthesis of elements of performance; and as such it is only
fully realized in production, preempting the same characteristic in the concept musical as
22
In tandem with the synthesized elements of dance, poetry, and music, Wagner proposes
the existence of the element of tone. Wagner writes that tone forms the heart of the work of art
and that it unites the elements of dance, poetry, and music like the sea unites the continents: her
particular character is that of a fluid nature-element poured out betwixt the more defined and
individualized substances of the other... arts (The Art-Work of the Future 110-111 and 150).
Tone, it seems, is an abstract notion that forms the cohesive bond describing the relationship
among the other structural elements; in a sense it is the glue that holds those elements together,
allowing them to form a whole. In fulfilling this unifying role, tone works as the defining
element that establishes the identity of the work of art. In this way, tone suggests itself as a
possible precursor to the similarly abstract notion of concept discussed in Chapter One. It was
noted that Kislan defines concept as the essence of the musical, that which describes what the
work is. Like Wagners tone, concept is not completely tangible, but it unifies the more tangible
elements of the entire work in order to describe the works overall identity. Tone and concept,
then, appear to embrace an equal level of abstraction; and both are intended to embody the
identity of a piece as it is made up of the more concrete structural elements of movement, music,
On the surface, then, Sondheims concept musical embraces basic characteristics that
may describe a parallel with Wagnerian total theatre. Concept, as described in Chapter One,
appears to embody a notion similar to that of Wagners tone both are somewhat abstract but
serve to describe the identity of piece as a whole, whether that piece be a Music Drama or a
concept musical. Also, both Sondheims concept musical and Wagners total theatre infer a
strong integration of the structural elements of dance, music, and poetry not simply as they are
outlined in writing, but as they are presented to an audience. These surface-level similarities
23
warrant a more detailed comparison of the works and theories associated with Wagner and
Sondheim; consequently, the following analysis will address the works of these composers on
In beginning a comparison of the structural elements within the work of both Wagner and
Sondheim, it must be noted that music plays the most prominent role in communicating the
overall identity of both the Music Drama and the concept musical. According to Wagner,
Music [possesses] the unquestioned right of being the chief concern, the only leader of the
dramas tone (Opera Affirms the Separation of the Arts 3); therefore, the structural
development of the music itself becomes a defining factor in determining the identity of a
musical production. Other elements, such as dance and poetry, take a lesser role to that of music
while still supporting the defining relationship of music to tone. Sondheim concurs; when asked
whether his identification with the painter Seurat, around whose work Sondheim composed
Sunday in the Park with George, was primarily intellectual or musical: you know the point is
music whether its frozen architecture, or architecture is frozen music, it doesnt matter its
about structure (Mark Eden Horowitz 103). To Sondheim, then, utilizing the architectural
metaphor, music describes the backbone of the entire piece, and it is the key building block of
the pieces structure. Music, for both Wagner and Sondheim, is the structural element that
appears to play the most important role in defining the makeup of a work of art; and it will
become evident that music plays a key role in describing both tone and concept.
Among Wagners techniques of musical structure are several that later became structural
trademarks of Sondheims concept musicals, the most prominent being leitmotif. Leitmotif, or a
that Wagner utilizes throughout his musical compositions as a means of constructing and
24
unifying a musical whole. Wagner describes his leitmotif as a characteristic tissue of principle
[musical] themes, that spread itself not over one scene only (as heretofore in separate operatic
numbers), but over the whole drama, and that in intimate connection with the poetic aim (A
Communication to My Friends 369). The recurring nature of leitmotif, then, allows Wagner to
structurally tie together otherwise disparate segments of his work, highlighting subtle through-
lines of character, mood, or intellectual theme and thus contributing to the unification of the
work as a whole, the poetic aim. Most of Wagners main characters can be identified through
a corresponding leitmotif that reminds audiences of their motives, intentions, and roles within the
drama, as proven by Thomas S. Greys extensive analysis of leitmotif in Lohengrin, Tristan and
Isolde, Die Mastersinger, and others (349-373). Grey quotes numerous critics observations of
such leitmotif, including that of composer Franz Liszt, who describes the motif associated with
the character Ortrud in Lohengrin as that which winds its way throughout the opera like a
poisonous serpent, now ready to coil about its victim, now fleeing from the sight of her holy
champion (219). Liszt observes the nature of this particular leimotif, then, as it advances and
retreats within the work, revealing individual character piece by piece. Wagner also chooses to
represent entire social entities in this manner, as in the Flying Dutchman, where a recurring
melody describes the presence of the people of Norway when the ship arrives at port. This motif
is not only melodic but rhythmic, utilizing a repeating rhythm to signify the masses. In the same
manner, in this work and in others, Wagner repeats specific harmonies as well. In all of these
pieces Wagners recurring musical refrains, whether melodic, rhythmic, or harmonic, contribute
to an overall tone that establishes the pieces identity, a technique that has since become
25
In discussing his utilization of this same musical technique, Sondheim asserts, Im very
much a leitmotif man I really like the notion that an audience will register certain tunes, or
rhythmic ideas, or even harmonies, with given characters (Mark Eden Horowitz 72-73). Thus,
Sondheim utilizes melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic motifs as Wagner does to unify musically
the entire work. Sondheims characters, from Sweeney Todd, to the Assassins, to almost all of
the fairytale characters in Into the Woods, possess an identifiable melodic refrain that reminds
audience members of their role in the entire works of art, relating again to the identity, or
Wagnerian tone, of the piece. Regarding Into the Woods, for example, Sondheim developed a
master sheet detailing the motifs associated with each character: I determined I was going to
have a whole series of themes and then utilize them, so thats what this sheet is (Mark Eden
Horowitz 81). Thus, Sondheim places emphasis on the careful development of his melodic
motifs for each character. Harmonic and rhythmic motifs are important to Sondheim as well, as
exemplified in his other works. In Assassins, for example, where the interaction of the characters
from varying historical periods is particularly poignant, harmonic progressions are also repeated
to emphasize this interaction. In A Little Night Music, which is written in three-quarter time,
many of the motifs are dominantly rhythmic. Like Wagner, Sondheim also utilizes leitmotif to
describe entire groups of characters, such as Bobbys friends in Company, a fact that will
become more relevant as we begin to discover the emotional and intellectual levels of
First, however, other structural elements may be noted in supporting such a comparison.
Minor chord development, for example, is a technique that Wagner and Sondheim both explore
extensively in their work in order to describe an overall tone or concept. Thomas S. Grey
discusses Wagners utilization of a predominant minor key and its establishment of tone in Act
26
II, Scene 1, of Lohengrin: Friedrichs aria and the concluding duo conspire to maintain a
single tonic (F# minor) which establishes an overarching if not continuously functional
tonality for the scene as a whole, justified by the continuity of scenic and psychic character:
night-time, vengeful brooding, sorcery, and conspiracy (216). According to Grey, then, these
two pieces of music set a tone through the utilization of the dominant F# minor key a key that
appropriates through its minor quality the uneasiness of psychic character suggested by the
conspiracy revealed within the storyline. Significantly, Wagner chooses a minor key in this
instance to reinforce his intention of creating a jarring atmosphere, illustrating the way in which
his utilization of the minor mode supports the fabrication of overall tone.
result of his research on Japanese musical style: I discovered that the Japanese seem to be
about minor pentatonic I thought, whether this is authentic or not, it makes a big difference.
So I made a list here of various ways to utilize that (Mark Eden Horowitz 161). Sondheim
indicates that his research pertaining to Japanese music and his desire to establish a musical
sound that was culturally authentic influenced his decision to write much of this musical in
minor keys, or modes. In reflecting the traditional music of Japanese culture, Sondheims
musical choices lend the piece a specific atmosphere. As in Wagners Lohengrin, the minor
modes here describe an idea or mood that helps to form the identity of the piece. Like Wagner,
Sondheim utilizes minor keys to lend character to his work, helping to describe the identity and
intricate interlocking of musical phrasing with lyrical expression. Wagner sought to choose
lyrics whose phonetic stresses would complement the stresses and rests in his music, again
27
supporting the need for a unified, expressive whole. According to Barry Millington, when
Wagners musico-poetic synthesis is at its most ingenious, interesting melodic lines register
the finer nuances of the text with no unnatural word stresses (27). In this way, the lyrics serve
as an ideal compliment to the music and vice versa, emphasizing the importance of speech, or
poetry, as a contributing factor within the synthesis of the structural elements that collaborate to
describe the tone of the work. Sondheim utilizes this technique as well, explaining that lyrics
go with the music, and stressing the importance of grace, affinity for words, a feeling of the
weight of words, resonances, and tone (Adler 44). Each syllable corresponds to a note of
music, and each stress works in tandem with rhythmic beats, synthesizing phonetic and musical
stresses and rests. Natural stresses, then, are important to Sondheim as they were to Wagner.
Thus, structurally, several of Sondheims techniques appear to recall those of Wagner, who
stressed the importance of intricacy of lyrics as well as leitmotif and minor chord progression in
an effort to contribute to the tone of the piece and thus present a unified work of art.
Operating as they do on the most fundamental level of comparison between the work of
Wagner and Sondheim, the specific elements of structure discussed above lay the groundwork
for a deeper comparison of the work of these two composers, on the emotional and intellectual
levels. Both Wagner and Sondheim sought to communicate to their audiences emotionally and
intellectually, and these efforts are reflected in a similar manner in the works of art as well as in
audience reactions to those works. On an emotional level, Wagner expresses the idea that
structure alone could not engage an audience, and that not the melodic Expression, per se, but
the expressed Emotion should rouse the interest of the hearer (A Communication to My
Friends 372). Thus, Wagner infers that the elements of musical structure discussed above,
including leitmotif, minor chord progression, and melodic lyricism, are rendered irrelevant if
28
they do not somehow contribute to the establishment of an emotional mood expressed by the
piece. Sondheim, discussing his own work, states that a musical must be entertaining or, in the
case of Sweeney Todd, scare an audience out of its wits (6). Sondheim as well, then, is
interested in providing an emotionally engaging experience for his audience. Thus, although the
two composers differed greatly in their methods of describing the need for audience emotional
experience, both articulated a basic need to engage their audiences emotionally. Interestingly,
Wagner expresses deep admiration for Greek theatre and specifically the emotional catharsis that
Aristotle related as necessary to good theatre. Regarding Greek drama, Wagner writes, the
deeds of gods and men, their sufferings, their delights in all solemnity and glee are realized
on the stage (Art and Revolution 33). That is, the extremes of sorrow and happiness are
experienced in the theatre, evoked through dramatic presentation. This bears some resemblance
to the idea of the emotionally cathartic experience described in Chapter One as being
development of Sweeney Todd, expresses admiration for the Greek play Oedipus Rex, due
primarily to the larger than life emotional experience it offers (3). Both composers, it seems,
have made reference to the dramatic work of ancient Greece as a source of inspiration; and both
found the Greek emphasis on emotional engagement useful in their own work.
In evoking emotional response from an audience, then, and the structural elements
discussed above once again play a significant role in both the Music Drama and the concept
musical. Wagner utilizes leitmotif, for example, not only to unify the Music Drama as a whole,
but also to suggest mood for his audience. He writes that In these primary motivs -- being
tangible impulses based on the emotions the poets design becomes more intelligible and is
realized through sense perceptions (Brown 52). Thus, the poets (or composers), approach
29
becomes readable through the refrain (motiv, or motif), imparting a desired emotional response
on the part of the audience, whose emotions are awakened through their sensory perception of
the music. For example, in Die Walkure, Wagner fabricates a repeating musical pattern
associated with the movement of Sieglinde on stage. H. E. Reeser writes, It is clear that
Sieglinde motif which had first appeared [earlier] (140). The repeated melody links the parts of
the piece that are associated with Sieglinde by imitating the characters stealthy movement
pattern, thus representing the mood of the character as part of the mood of the piece as a whole.
Leitmotif associated with Sieglinde in this case stimulates an emotional feeling of suspense and
withheld passion, which the audience can identify as characteristic of this particular Music
Drama. Similarly, Margaret Inwood observes that Seigfrieds motif recalls past events and
emotions, as presaging future scenes (121). According to Inwood, the character of Seigfried,
like that of Sieglinde, is reflected through motifs that evoke related emotional responses on the
part of audiences. In addition, Inwood states that this same motif can recall at various points
emotional threads of hope, grief, and youthful idealism (121). Thus, even a single motif may
suggest varying emotional references in Wagners work as the characters emotions change, so
Sondheim also utilizes leitmotif to establish emotional response from his audience.
When Sweeney Todd enters the stage, for instance, the audience hears the repeated refrain that
introduced this character at the beginning of the play; and the refrain also recalls all the macabre
and chilling sensory and emotional reactions that accompanied the audiences introduction to
Sweeney the sensation that causes Hal Prince to go to the theatre to see a little blood drawn,
as stated in Chapter 1. Sondheim achieves a similar effect in Company, where a circus rhythm is
30
constantly repeated to represent the fond nagging of Bobbys friends, who encourage him to get
married as they have done. In this case, leitmotif allows Sondheim to recall for his audience the
identifiable mood of simultaneous affection and annoyance that accompanies this type of
nagging attention received from those we love, which, like the circus, is temporarily fun but can
lose its allure quickly. Utilizing this repetition of mood through leitmotif, Sondheim appeals to
his audience members sympathy as individuals by allowing his characters and situations to
represent universally recurring images in real life. Also, like Wagner, Sondheim varies the mood
of a single motif within his work. Bobbys friends supply an ideal example, since at different
points in the musical the circus-like motif becomes less nagging and more joyful or loving, and
vice versa. According to Sondheim, music doesnt have any particular literary context, but it
does have the ability to stir a certain kind of emotion (Mark Eden Horowitz 72). Sondheim is
saying that audiences associate certain musical sounds with specific emotions, and he goes on to
state that he adopts these sounds as leitmotif in order to create suspense (73). This allows
leitmotif to assist in dictating the emotional development of the piece as a whole, as with
Wagners Die Walkurie, discussed above. Leitmotif, then, serves the function of recalling an
emotional response that refers to the identity of the musical, much as it does in Wagners music
drama.
Like leitmotif, minor chord progression has served as an emotional stimulant for
audiences of both Wagner and Sondheim. For both composers, minor chord progression is a
repeated technique that creates a jarring feeling of harmonic discord, an effect which suggests an
Lohengrin discussed above illustrate this in Wagners work, evoking a general feeling of
uneasiness that reflects the events within the Music Drama: The whole revolves around a single
31
Haupttonart [predominant key] (F# minor) reflecting a governing mood of evil nocturnal
brooding (Grey 216). The predominant minor key, then, describes the sorrowful mood of the
work in this instance, supporting the disconcerting emotional fabric that Wagner creates for this
piece. Similarly, in Die Walkurie, Wagner utilizes a minor chord to illustrate Brunnhildes
dramatic, revolting response to Siegmunds inquiry as to whether or not he will find Sieglinde in
Valhalla: Brunnhildes negative response coincide[es] with a striking musical disjunction (V7
of E minor resolved deceptively to Eb [D#] minor 6/4)) (Grey 231). The striking minor
chord, or musical disjunction, reflects the emotionally heightened nature of the argument
between these two characters, representing musically the ensuing turmoil evident in the plot. In
Assassins, for example, presents the audience with minor chord structures that are often as
disturbing as its theme. While the Assassins harmonize onstage, the chorus of American
citizens provides moaning backup support in a chilling minor key. Audiences, who do not want
to identify with the harmonizing Assassins for intellectual reasons, are forced then to see
themselves as the American citizens who are singing off-color, a particularly jarring
emotional reversal caused by Sondheims use of the minor key in this instance. This structural
responses such as that of an actor quoted by Matthew Gurewitsch in the New York Times: You
feel a connection with these people that you shouldnt and dont want to (A Shot at
Greatness). It may be noted that Sondheim himself denies that he makes a conscientious effort
to explore minor modes: It seldom occurs to me to write in minor keys (Banfield 273).
Yet, those who analyze his utilization of minor modes infer the role they play in establishing
emotional mood. Banfield, for example, observes an association of chromaticism with the
32
witchs spells in Into the Woods; the minor chords utilized in this case serve to evoke the
unsettling emotional aura surrounding this character (395). Emotional uneasiness, then, is
something both Sondheim and Wagner achieve through the development of minor chord
Also indicating the existence of Wagnerian emotional development within the work of
Critics of both Wagner and Sondheim have observed the universally identifiable qualities of their
characters, and both focus on collective humanity in their work as a relevant contribution to
stimulating emotional empathy on the part of the audience. A work of art is, according to
Wagner, a Universal-human phenomenon, and as such it reflects the idea that the very
Communication to My Friends 277). Thus, the recognizable traits that define characters
(human individuality) are the qualities that lend these characters universal emotional appeal for
an audience. Wagners utilization of the word universal in this context recalls the thematic
nature of the concept musical as discussed in Chapter One; the concept musical, in the vein of
Wagnerian total theatre, prioritizes universal human themes above the exploration of specific
stories. In accordance with Wagners belief in the universal, most of this composers works
explore historical myths and legends (Tristran and Isolde and the entire Ring Cycle, for
example). This resonates with Sondheims choices of universally recognizable material for his
concept musicals, such as the legend of Sweeney Todd and the traditional fairy tale stories
Such references are made in both cases to encourage audiences to recognize the human
qualities represented within the characters onstage. This human emotional recognition is offered,
33
for example, through the character of Sachs in Die Meistersinger, as Chappell White observes:
Sachs part in the great quintet is a meditation unheard by the others. It is his only admission of
his love for Eva, his beautiful morning dream, that he hardly dares explain If the listener
knows the words and applies the emotional mood to Sachs..., the quintet becomes the revelation
of his personality (124). Sachs thus comes to fully realize the emotional concept of love for
Eva in the presence of the audience; according to White, the characters lyrics thus serve to draw
in the audience emotionally. This concept parallels Sondheims articulation, quoted in Chapter
should reveal the character to the audience as the character makes his/her own discoveries,
rather than merely describing what the character already knows about himself or herself. The
surviving characters in Act II of Into the Woods also demonstrate this concept as they share their
real-time realization that no one is alone, reaching to the audience to identify emotionally with
this revelation. This reaching out has been noted by theorists such as Stephen Banfield, who
reverts to critic David Patrick Stearns observation that the reality of the characters contributes to
an illustration of the shows plea for universal brotherhood (385-386). The idea of truthful
characters that make discoveries and speak to the audience on the level of universal emotion,
then, is a key element in the works of both Wagner and Sondheim. In tandem with the structural
elements of leitmotif and minor chord development, character development works toward the
prescription of audience emotional reaction to both the Music Drama and the concept musical.
Sondheims concept musical are intrinsically related to theme, and these elements work together
response as well as emotional response is a relevant part of Sondheims work, as Joanne Gordon
34
notes when she observes that audience activity [regarding Sondheims musicals] is
intellectual (8). Wagner similarly notes that, In presence of the dramatic artwork, nothing
should remain for the combining intellect to search for, the goal being an instinctive
themes are relevant to Sondheims concept musical, it seems, as they were to Wagners Music
Dramas a century earlier, and a comparison of the work of these two composers without the
inclusion of intellectual elements does not thoroughly describe the resonance between their
works.
In discussing this exploration of intellectual themes in the work of both composers, the
structural elements discussed above, such as leitmotif, again become relevant. In Die Walkurie,
for example, Seiglindes leitmotif inspires not only a feeling of mystery and suspense but also an
understanding of the subtext of love, corruption, and deceit addressed within the thematic threads
of the opera. According to Thomas S. Grey, Wagner mobilizes the latent ambiguity of the term
Motif to signify various interconnected phenomena: broad underlying themes or mythic tropes
within the drama (the power of the Ring, its attendant curse, the sibling love of Siegmund and
Sieglinde, the emotional prehistory of Tristan and Isolde) (319). Thus, leitmotif is a
works in addition to suggesting a cathartic emotional experience. This intellectual aspect was
reflected in a 1951 production of the Ring at Bayreuth, as reviewer Ernest Newman observes:
Most of what is required in the way of tracking out subtle psychological nuances is done by the
music (Skelton 161). Newman goes on to describe the way in which the orchestra appeared to
play the role of another actor in the piece, taking on a sort of narrators position by commenting
musically, through leitmotif, on the thematic elements addressed within the action. In this way,
35
Wagner allows his technique of leitmotif to stimulate an intellectual response among audience
members.
In a similar manner, the jarring and unexpected nature of minor chord progression
contributes not only to an emotional reaction on the part of Wagners audiences, but also to
audiences understanding of the relationship between the characters Friedrich and Ortrud as
follows: the force of Friedrichs rage pushes him, Osmin-like, outside his established tonal
orbit from F# minor into a cadence in F minor Ortrud brings him quietly and firmly back to
his senses, and back to F# minor for their concluding duo (Grey 221). The minor chords,
therefore, signify the tension between the two characters, reflecting the inherent discord within
their relationship; and the switch from F# to F and back again signifies the volatile nature of that
relationship. In this way, minor chords speak to the audience in a manner that emphasizes
nuances of character and the relationships established within the Music Drama.
Sondheim, like Wagner, utilizes minor chord progression as well as leitmotif as vehicles
through which to reach a more thoughtful side of his audience, dealing subtextually with
psychological themes in his work. Thus, the aforementioned leitmotif introduces not only jarring
emotional responses among audience members but also jarring realizations. In Sweeney Todd,
for example, repeating musical motifs constantly bring to mind images of revenge and insanity,
embodied in the character of Sweeney, but representative of society as a whole. Similarly, the
characters in Company, through the circus leitmotif discussed above, present audiences with an
intellectual image of the state of marriage in modern society. Through such an image, Sondheim
suggests the intellectual discoveries of these characters as they find their way through the
alternating moments of blindness and lucidity that define their relationships. Finally, regarding
36
Into the Woods, Sondheim discusses this implication of the intellectual through the structural as
follows: I determined I was going to have a whole series of themes [leitmotif] They all have
little echoes of each other. Sondheim goes on to explain that the similarities, or echoes
describe the common longings of the characters all of them have a wish that something were
different in their lives, much like real human beings rather than fairy tale characters (Mark
Eden Horowitz 81-84). This tends to suggest the thematic relevance of humanism and the
importance of common dreams and desires. In all of these examples, then, the leitmotif
encourages audience members to address thematic conflicts in addition to the emotional response
described above.
Minor chord progression, as in the work of Wagner, serves an intellectual purpose here as
well. As mentioned above, in the case of Assassins, the minor key suggests identification with
those who assassinate presidents, a concept that contributes to a significant intellectual conflict
within the minds of audience members. The disquieting nature of the minor chords sung by the
choral backup against the Assassins harmonizing suggests the concept of viewing the Assassins
as fellow Americans. This idea promotes not only a disturbing emotional sensation as described
above, but also a disturbing intellectual choice for the audience to ponder. That is, the music
offers identification with the assassins; however, it is debatable whether or not this identification
is the correct intellectual choice. Sondheims utilization of minor modes in Pacific Overtures
also carries intellectual weight, since minor modes recall a Japanese musical tradition, paralleling
musically the thematic conflict of East versus West in this piece. Thus, structural elements for
both Sondheim and Wagner serve to unify the work on an intellectual level as well as on an
emotional level.
37
Another element that operates on an intellectual level of communication with the
audiences of both Wagner and Sondheim is these composers utilization of thematic irony within
their work. In their description of universal themes within their work, both have expressed a
need for ironic juxtaposition of conflicting ideas as a tool to point toward thematic relevance.
Wagner, in fact, states that the only form of Mirth which our public of today can understand,
and thus the only form in which an underlying truth can appeal thereto, is that of Irony (A
an underlying truth with which audiences can identify on an intellectual level. That is,
audiences in Wagners time were to learn about life through the ironic experiences of the
characters onstage. In the Music Dramas, irony is most often explored through internal conflicts
experienced by these characters, as Joseph Horowitz observes regarding Tristan and Isolde: The
dramatic scenario combines two contradictory narratives, the one healing, the other lacerating.
Tristan has suffered a breakdown; he is suicidal and amnesic. Dredging up his past, he succumbs
to paroxysms of delirium and clairvoyance. He attains a state of illumination, but the catalyst is
a fathomless decent (118-119). Ironically, Tristan does not realize the feasibility of his love for
Isolde until he is on his deathbed. As a result, the contrasting ideas of delirium versus
thematic irony, illustrating Tristans process of obtaining truth at a cost. Here, Wagner recalls
once again to his devotion to the plays of ancient Greece, in which tragic heroes must reach their
downfall as the cost of obtaining knowledge. Thus, Wagner moves intellectually beyond the
simple love story, exploring irony as a method of communicating messages to his audiences
38
Sondheims thematic irony operates on a similar level of contrast in his concept musicals.
As discussed in Chapter One, Sondheims ironic juxtapositions of imagery form one of the
factors that cause him to be described as the perfector of the concept musical. Like Wagner,
Sondheim utilizes irony to communicate the nature of life and of the process of learning about
life through internal character conflict. Sondheim acknowledges that At least half of my songs
deal with ambivalence, feeling two things at once (Gordon 11). His characters, then, must
learn to resolve conflicting feelings, as does Bobby in Company, who ironically experiences a
longing to share his life with someone along with a desire to retain the benefits of solitude.
Another example of thematic irony occurs in Sweeney Todd: Sweeney, like Tristan, attains new
knowledge the fact that his wife was not dead as he had thought; by this time, however, he has
already unknowingly killed his wife, and it is too late to apply his new knowledge. Ironically
Sweeneys quest for revenge has already caused his wifes death, and all is lost like Tristan,
Sweeney pays a price for his knowledge. Again, Sondheims reference to Oedipus as inspiration
during his development of Sweeney Todd becomes relevant like the ancient Greek character,
Sweeney finds in his new knowledge only his downfall. As in Wagners work, the main
characters final lucidity only dictates his ultimate blindness, reflecting a similar examination of
irony in the tragedies of ancient Greece. Both the ancient Greek play and Sweeney Todd utilize
ironic contrast to reflect thematically similar contrasts in life and the value of understanding in a
Significantly, the use of irony within the work of Wagner and Sondheim suggests other
similarities between the themes explored in their work. The idea of the price of knowledge
regarding Tristan and Isolde and Sweeney Todd is one common theme; however, there are more
widely-encompassing themes regarding the nature of society found in both composers work.
39
Both Wagner and Sondheim, in fact, stress thematically the importance of a cooperative society,
and they both articulate the inherent ironic cynicism of a society in which such cooperation does
not exist. In his essays, Wagner refers to the necessity of the Folk, that is, the unified societal
whole, and its common Need, that for which individuals should strive to benefit all of society.
Utilizing ancient Greece as an example, Wagner states that when all men cannot be free alike
and happy all men must suffer alike as slaves (Art and Revolution 51). Thus, happiness for
the individual cannot be achieved unless the common goal of societal happiness is attained. This
reflects Wagners belief that Germany during his time was not as unified and cooperative as it
should have been; too many German people worked toward selfish goals and not the benefit of
the collective whole of society. Wagner thus stresses the communal nature of humanity, with
emphasis on working for the common good rather than egotistically-motivated goals, and he
points to this theme, utilizing ironic cynicism within his Music Dramas.
For example, according to M. Owen Lee, who analyzes the parallels between Wagners
Ring Cycle and T.S. Eliots The Waste Land, The Ring is a work abounding with such social
commentary and citing the cynicism of a non-cooperative society: [Wagner, like Eliot,] saw
Western Civilization as headed for disaster: he ended his four-part drama about the Nibelungs
with a world-destruction myth that was not part of his sources. While he does not clearly
articulate his belief regarding the cause of this destruction, Lee does go on to cite Wagners
references in the work to Buddhist teachings, inferring the importance Wagner placed on
preserving society by diminishing the ego in favor of the common good (48-49).11 Significantly,
it is the greed and selfishness of the characters in the four-part Music-Drama that lead to the
11
Owen refers to Eliots direct quotes from Wagners operas, Tristan and Isolde and The Ring. Significantly, during
Wagners composition of The Ring, he discovered Buddhism and Schopenhauer and the associated ideas of
community in support of the common will of society.
40
destruction of society. Similarly, in Lohengrin, Elsas selfish curiosity to know her lovers name
despite the warning not to ask results in the disappearance of her lover forever as well as her own
broken-hearted destruction. Again, in this piece, the triumph of egotism over common good
causes disaster for all society, and ironically, especially for those attempting to get ahead. Thus,
Wagners works embody this irony in a reflection of the composers lucid perception of the
drawbacks of egotism in a social environment and the need for an understanding of the goal of
common good.
Sondheim also discusses in his works themes of the necessity of community. In Into the
Woods, the surviving characters learn the importance of working together for the common good
only after experiencing near-nihilism at the hands of a giant who kills most members of their
society. They clearly articulate their newfound knowledge in the song No One Is Alone.
Referring to this song, Sondheim states, I think the final step in maturity is feeling responsible
for everybody. If I could have written, no man is an island, I would have. But thats what No
One Is Alone is about (Gordon 309). Sondheim, then, understood and articulated in this piece
the elements of community that Wagner emphasized. The same theme is present in Sweeney
Todd, in which the title characters overwhelming selfish need for revenge leads to the death of
those he loves and ultimately to his own destruction. According to Joanne Gordon, Sweeney
becomes greater than any individual, yet less than human, a god of wrath corrupted by his own
righteousness (253). This character demonstrates again Sondheims messages to his audiences
regarding the collective nature of humanity, an idea also explored extensively in Wagners Music
Drama.
It begins to become evident, then, as we compare the work and theories of Wagner and
Sondheim, that the contemporary composer utilizes certain elements of structure, emotional
41
catharsis, and intellectual theme that recall those applied by his nineteenth century predecessor.
The elements of movement, music, and lyrics that compliment one another and share an
interrelated purpose within the concept musical are reflective of similar elements in Wagners
total theatre. Concept and tone, while products of disparate time periods, appear to describe a
similar abstract quality that defines the identity of a work of art. Meanwhile, other
characteristics often noted within the work of Wagner, such as leitmotif, minor chord
progression, intricate lyricism, universal character development, emotional catharsis, irony, and
collective themes are now commonly attributed to the work of Sondheim. While it is probably a
stretch of the imagination to argue that Sondheim is a modern Wagner based on these
observations, it does seem reasonable to assert that Sondheims concept musicals do in many
Based upon this comparison, I would also argue that a contemporary approach to the
audience perception. According to Wagner, the existence of total theatre as a unified whole
should create a specific experience for an audience, one that relies upon the emotional elements
In the drama, we become knowers through the feeling therefore, an action can be
explained only when it is vindicated by the feeling; and it thus is the dramatic poets task,
not to invent actions, but to make an action so intelligible through its emotional necessity
that we may altogether dispense with the intellects assistance in its vindication
In Wagners view, then, an audiences intellectual response to the drama depends upon its
emotional response. Full understanding cannot be achieved on the part of audience members
42
unless they have first been touched emotionally, so it is the emotional response that assumes
priority; and the intellectual messages will inevitably take effect. According to this theory,
audiences tend to approach the Music Drama from a position of sympathy, or emotional
identification, with the characters; through this emotional involvement, they are then stimulated
to thought.
All of the examples described above can be said to speak to this idea. For example, in
Tristan and Isolde, if audience members do not feel some emotional identification for Tristan in
his plight of despair, then they do not fully understand this plight. Similarly, if audience
members do not feel an emotional connection to the characters in The Ring, then neither apply
spectators do not care about the characters in a work of art on any emotional level, they cannot
Sondheim, for his part, has not clearly articulated this relationship between the emotional
and the intellectual reactions of his audiences, but he has indicated his dedication to both, as
shown above. Joanne Gordon assesses Sondheims approach to the effects of his work on his
audiences as follows: Sondheim is committed to didactic theatre, but [he] recognize[s] that
didacticism must never become overpowering nor unentertaining (4). Thus, Sondheim appears
to give priority to the emotional involvement, or entertainment, of his audience over his delivery
of an intellectual message, although he does not deny the importance of such a message. Like
Wagner, Sondheim appears to aim first for an emotional response, followed by an intellectual
one. It remains to be seen regarding Sondheims concept musicals whether the emotional
response causes the intellectual response, but given the above similarities between the
approaches of the two composers, it seems possible to apply Wagners theory of emotionalizing
43
of the intellect (Essence of Drama Is Knowing Through Feeling 5) to Sondheims work.
Before concluding that Wagners theories on the emotion and the intellect describe an
the key elements that make the work of Sondheim different from that of Wagner.
44
CHAPTER FOUR: THE WAGNERIAN APPROACH TO THE CONCEPT
MUSICAL
There are key characteristics within the work of Sondheim that, despite the observations
composer, Sondheim has inevitably drawn from artistic theories and practices that succeeded
Wagner, some of which originated as a reaction against Wagners ideas of total theatre.
Deconstructive elements and elements of Brechtian alienation, for example, have been noted and
analyzed as characteristic of Sondheims work; both of these terms describe phenomena that
post-date Wagner and that appear to act against the unifying and emotionally engaging elements
deconstruction and audience perception reveals that the defying elements within Sondheims
Deconstruction is a term that critics have associated with certain aspects of musicals by
Stephen Sondheim and that Sondheim himself has described indirectly in his work. Definitions
of deconstruction as a theory relating to theatre have occupied entire chapters, and it will be
impossible to address more than a minute aspect of deconstruction here, and only as it relates to
that applies is the tendency of a work to reevaluate its own origin from preexisting data,
including myth, legend, and aspects of traditional story-telling. From this perspective,
deconstruction addresses themes and stories that originate from within a historical context and
questions their validity within a modern context. According to Mark Fortier, who provides a
45
simplified, yet well-articulated analysis of this aspect of deconstruction, Derrida12 states that
deconstruction involves becoming suspicious of the traditional concepts of history (67). Thus,
a work that deconstructs is often one that addresses concepts (stories, themes, characters) of
previous origin and approaches them from a suspicious perspective, thus stepping outside the
historical realm of these concepts and reevaluating their original purposes from a modern point
of view. Fortier cites David Henry Hwangs M. Butterfly as an example, since it embodies a
retelling of a previous work (Puccinis opera Madame Butterfly) from a modern perspective, one
that questions the validity of various concepts and themes presented in the original work.
Significantly, the emphasis shifts from the love story presented in Madame Butterfly to a reversal
and reevaluation of that love story within the context of contemporary views regarding cultural
primarily in pieces such as Into the Woods, in that it is a modern study of traditional fairytales,
and Sunday in the Park with George, which is based loosely on the life of the famous painter
George Seurat, evaluating this figures life from a contemporary point of view. Similarly, A
Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum addresses farcical scenarios previously related
in Ancient Rome by Plautus; however, it offers its audiences the opportunity to question these
scenarios from a modern perspective. Stephen Banfield observes: Farce revel[s] in the
artificiality and playing along with the genre is of course only a first step toward Sondheims
later deconstruction of it (92). Here, then, Banfield observes that Sondheim imitates Plautus
12
Jaques Derrida is the theorist whose name is most often associated with the theories of deconstruction, and it is his
writing that forms the foundations of most analyses of various aspects of deconstruction.
46
farce; he also utilizes the word deconstruction to suggest Sondheims commentary upon
Plautus original piece. He first states that Sondheim plays along with the farce, employing
farcical elements including the use of over-the-top, or artificial situations, to reflect the work
of Plautus. He then refers to Sondheims later deconstruction of the style of farce, addressing
the composers technique of introducing his audiences to his farce from a modern perspective.
For example, songs such as Comedy Tonight, Everybody Ought to Have a Maid, and Love
Is in the Air question the style of farce as it describes life in Ancient Rome as opposed to life
today. For example, Comedy Tonight prefaces the farcical elements to come by blatantly
listing them for the audience, while Everybody Ought to Have a Maid and Love Is in the Air
question in a tongue-in-cheek manner how Ancient Roman views of issues such as freedom and
love may differ from modern views of those same issues. Sondheim thus appears to compose
these numbers with the intention not only of imitating farce, but also of poking fun at it. In
composing in this fashion, Sondheim calls attention to the fact that ideas addressed in such a
farcical manner, such as freedom and love, may possess different connotations in todays world.
Lois Kivesto states, for example, that [librettist] Shevelove felt that although the emphasis on
Pseudolus desire for freedom in Forum was extremely un-Roman (qtd. in Zadan 68), it was
used for stronger relevance to the modern audience (36). Kivesto is noting Sondheims
sensitivity to the idea that the Ancient Roman slave would not perhaps have viewed freedom in
the way modern audiences do; Pseudolus then becomes an agent for the analysis of freedom
from a modern perspective. The approach Sondheim utilizes is in keeping with Plautus style but
it also suggests a questioning of ancient themes from a modern perspective. Banfield phrases
this observation in this way: Plautuss plays rel[y] on stock responses The heady and
frantic mixture with which Forum climaxes its chase routines is a more modern development
47
(93-95). Thus, Banfield describes Sondheims farce as being more heady, or thought-
provoking, than the pieces upon which it is based; modern audiences will not engage in the
stock responses of Ancient Rome. Thus, rather than simply reproducing the Ancient Roman
farcical style for modern audiences, Sondheim structures Forum in such a way as to invite his
audiences to recontextualize Ancient Roman concepts of freedom of love through farce from a
Similarly, in Into the Woods, Sondheim imitates the traditional fairy tale through his
characters of Cinderella, Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, the Baker and his Wife, and others, all
based upon their original namesakes. He takes deconstructive liberties with the original stories,
however, when his characters interact freely (despite their origins in different stories) and then
find their loved ones and their worlds ultimately destroyed through the actions of the Giant.
Sondheim thus requires once again that his audiences step outside the world upon which the
original fairy tales are based and to view this world within the context of their knowledge of the
world today. Ultimately, in Into the Woods, the fairy tale world does not hold up from a modern
perspective, where themes of humanity and collaboration come into play. As a result, in
discussing just one aspect of the traditional themes called into question in this musical, that of
romance and marriage, S. F. Stoddard states that [Sondheims] stories operate to deconstruct the
romance of wedded bliss (HappilyEver NEVER: The Antithetical Romance of Into the
Woods 210). Stoddard goes on to describe Sondheims subversion of the traditional fairy tale
ending, happily ever after. The word deconstruction, then, is utilized again, this time
pertaining to Sondheims questioning of the fairy tale world from a modern point of view.
A similar purpose is demonstrated in Sunday in the Park with George, through the way in
which this piece chronicles the artistic development of a historical figure, the painter George
48
Seurat. Significantly, the nineteenth century artist who is the main character in Act I is
paralleled physically, emotionally, and spiritually by his modern alter-ego in Act II. In this way,
the original character (from Act I) is allowed to relive his life in a modern context (in Act II),
modern perspective in his work. Edward T. Bonahue describes the George of Act II, the
contemporary George, as the character that affords different insights into the idea of the artist,
offered from the more familiar context of the twentieth century (174). Thus, the George of Act
II offers to modern audiences a lucidity regarding the life of an artist that the George of Act I
cannot offer. Bonahue compares the two manifestations of the same character as follows:
Whereas the artist of the first act holds fast to his principles, his second-act descendent here
reveals that success actually depends on politics, on negotiations of cultural power (175).
That is, the George of Act I cannot survive in the modern world of art without becoming the
more manipulative main character found in Act II, just as the fairy tale characters in Into the
Woods cannot survive when removed from their individual stories and forced to coexist in a
more humanistic world. Here again, Sondheims work appears to feature an element of
deconstruction, analyzing and questioning the position of a historical character from a modern
point of view.
Based upon the analyses above, it seems that the elements of deconstruction found in the
work of Stephen Sondheim ultimately lead audiences to find new meaning in previously
explored themes and stories. In Forum, the audience is forced to reevaluate the ancient farcical
approach to such themes as freedom and love, while in Into the Woods the audience must
recontextualize traditional fairy tale characters that appear to have abandoned the traditional fairy
tale. Finally, in Sunday in the Park with George, the audience must reevaluate the role of the
49
artist in society based upon the differences between the George in Act I and the George in Act II.
Thus, in Sondheims musicals, there is significant weight lent to new points of view as they
apply to previously addressed concepts. This quality in Sondheims work can be seen more
clearly in contrast to the work of his predecessors, including Rodgers and Hammerstein. In the
work of this writing team, for example, the overall intellectual approach to the themes presented
is not a suspicious one as described above; it does not question the validity of those themes.
Instead, the musicals of Rodgers and Hammerstein present a single perspective regarding the
main ideas presented, and they reinforce this perspective throughout the work. The audience is
given a clear image of positive and negative forces at work within each character with no room
to question that image from differing perspectives. Billy Bigelows drinking in Carousel, for
example, is a negative force contributing to the awkwardness of his relationship with Julie
Jordon. Although Billy may be considered a multi-faceted character, Rodgers and Hammerstein
leave no room for doubt which aspects of this character are positive and which are negative from
any perspective within the musical. Sondheims writing, in contrast, does not offer such clear-
cut conclusions. Significantly, in Forum, freedom is achieved at a price; the concept of freedom
is neither wholly positive nor wholly negative, but complex and open to analysis and questioning
approach as discussed above is that of pastiche, that is, the technique of borrowing musical styles
from varying time periods and cultures and utilizing them within a single musical. In Forum, for
example, Comedy Tonight possesses elements of early twentieth century vaudeville through its
presentational style, listing in vaudevillian fashion what types of entertainment the audience may
expect while watching the piece. Meanwhile, Everybody Ought to Have a Maid is, in the
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words of Martin Gottfried, the only old-fashioned showstopper that Sondheim would ever
write (Kivesto 41), hearkening once again to a traditional musical style, that of the
showstopping chorus number of the turn of the century musical revues. Through his
utilization of such musical references, Sondheim reminds his audiences of theatrical presentation
styles throughout history, offering them a frame of reference against which to place the Ancient
Roman farce from a modern perspective. Sondheim achieves a similar effect in Company.
Although this musical is not designed around a fairy tale or historical plot, it does address the
age-old theme of relationships, asking audiences to assess the meaning of relationships in a fast-
paced modern world. Jim Lovenshire provides an analysis of the varying musical styles
Sondheim utilizes in Company, analyzing references to the foxtrot in Side by Side, the waltz in
Someone is Waiting, and Latin Rhythms in Ladies Who Lunch (183). All of these musical
references suggest the dynamics of relationships as represented by couples dances, and they call
to mind evolving approaches to relationships as they can be seen to reflect the changing trends in
couples dancing. Through pastiche, then, Sondheim musically explores varying historical
approaches to the same concept, constructing a musical background against which modern
This idea of suggesting modern commentary on themes and styles previously explored
may appear to conflict with the notion of the concept musical as total theatre, since by its very
nature this somewhat deconstructive technique requires that audiences remove themselves
from their involvement in the piece in order to recontextualize the ideas presented. That is, the
complications Sondheim introduces by analyzing traditional stories and themes from the
suspicious point of view described above may tend to undermine the neatly developed
synthesis of structural, emotional, and thematic elements described in Chapter Two. A three-
51
book study completed at Stanford University by Mary A. Cicora, however, demonstrates that this
suspicious approach does not completely contradict Wagners approach. As noted in Chapter
Two, Wagner emphasizes the importance of audience intellectual response to the theatrical work
presented, and it will become evident that Wagner also encourages his audiences to question
from their own perspectives the ultimate meaning of traditional themes and stories presented in
his work. In fact, Cicora utilizes the term deconstruction with regard to Wagners work in
much the same manner that Sondheims critics apply the term to his work. Significantly, Wagner
dealt with previously related myths and legends, including the stories of gods related in The
Ring, the legend of Tristan and Isolde, and the legend of the seafaring Dutchman in The Flying
Dutchman. Wagner does not simply retell those stories in a foreground of fantasy and spectacle;
rather, it will become evident that he deliberately questioned in his Music Dramas the traditional
themes and stories with which he dealt, revealing in his work the specific aspect of
deconstruction discussed above with regard to Sondheim. According to Cicora, the theory of
deconstruction is based on the assumption that texts are simply not secure in the referentiality
(18). That is, as discussed above, an existing text (or story or legend) does not present reliable
reevaluated within the present context. Cicora goes on to state that One can tailor the theory of
legendary deconstruction Wagner clearly intended to form new myths by using elements of
traditional myths in his music-dramas Wagners works, because they form new myths or
stories out of elements taken freely from traditional mythology, are what one could describe as
second-order myth (19). Thus, according to Cicora, Wagners Music Dramas suggest new
52
traditional myths, much in the deconstructive vein discussed above with regard to the work of
Sondheim. In this way Wagner appears to have actually preempted Sondheims somewhat
deconstructive technique of questioning stories and themes that originate from historically
distant sources.
Based upon Cicoras findings, then, it seems that Wagners works do not strictly imitate
the mythical stories upon which they are based. Instead, as second-order myth, Wagners
works may be broken down to comment thematically on the traditional myths, just as
Sondheims works comment on traditional farce (Forum), traditional fairy tales (Into the Woods)
traditional views of the artists role in society (Sunday in the Park), and traditional images of
coupling and marriage (Company). As discussed in Chapter Two, Wagners ending of the Ring
Cycle in world destruction is not a part of the original myth; rather, it is a nineteenth-century
thematic commentary upon the conflicts related in the original myth. Significantly, suggestive of
Sondheims fairy tale characters, the characters in Wagners Ring cycle could not ultimately
survive when removed from their mythical world and placed in the more realistic world familiar
to Wagners audiences. Thus, Wagners intent was not to simply present a mythological
structure, but also to stimulate commentary on that structure from a modern nineteenth century
perspective.
Wagner, in providing such commentary, allows his characters to comment upon their
mythical counterparts, much like Sondheims Seurat provides commentary on his alter-ego when
he is reincarnated in Act II. According to Cicora, Wagners characters are allowed the ability of
some-what omniscient self-evaluation. She writes that characters such as Senta, Elsa, Isolde,
Tristan, and Gurnemanz incessantly relate, retell, or reinterpret stories (which are often their own
extratextual past history or the prehistory of the drama they are playing out onstage). Thus,
53
these characters operate on two levels one being the level of the myth from which they
originate and they other being the level of nineteenth century commentary upon that myth.
Cicora concludes that the Music Drama eventually deconstructs the motley concoctions
consisting of pieces of legendary or mythological raw material that Wagner has put together
(19). Cicora is saying then, that Wagner lends his characters the duel role of participant within
the myth and commentator upon the myth. When characters such as Tristran and Isolde recount
upon their role in the myth as a whole and how it may be viewed from a nineteenth-century
perspective. Cicora also utilizes the Dutchman as an example, arguing that as Senta is
conscious of his own legendary existence, so is the Dutchman, strangely enough, aware of his
own paradoxical split reality (49). The Dutchman, preempting in this sense Sondheims Seurat,
exists per se in two realities, with the modern reality providing outside commentary on the
as his characters clearly demonstrate. These characters, then, constantly question their historical
As Cicora explains, Wagner utilizes the irony within his work (discussed in Chapter
Two) in his music dramas to suggest a sort of tongue-in-cheek historical analysis of the myths
with which he deals. She writes that Wagners music-dramas have, in particular, a Romantic
irony with regard to their mythical raw material (15). That is, Wagners irony acts as a tool
through which the traditional myth at hand becomes reevaluated from a modern perspective.
The irony of Tristans discovery of his love for Isolde on his deathbed, alluded to in Chapter
13
Cicora explains this concept as a paradox typical of Wagners work: all [music-dramas] show a dichotomy of
mythology and history, that is, mythological raw material and historical reflection upon its meaning, which actually
propels the dramatic action (14-15).
54
Two, serves as an example. According to Cicora, Tristan at this point becomes increasingly
clairvoyant to the metaphorical, literary-artistic, textual nature of the work of art in which he
exists (136). That is, on some level the character of Tristan reveals an awareness of his role in
Wagners modern myth. The realization or clairvoyance he gains regarding his love for Isolde
within the mythical story at this point stimulates his realization that he is more than a simple
manifestation of the original myth upon which Wagner bases his Music Drama. Tristan at this
point describes two entities the mythical figure upon which the work is based, and the
both the myth and the nineteenth century Music Drama, Tristan can ironically no long survive in
the world of the myth (predating the similar fate of Sondheims fairy tale characters), and he
becomes the embodiment of a commentary on the myth itself from a nineteenth century
perspective. The result of this is, in Cicoras words, that the myth destroy[s] itself
deconstructively (127-128). In commenting on the very legend upon which it is based, then,
Tristan and Isolde argues the non-feasibility of the existence of such a legend in a nineteenth
century context.
Irony, then, serves the element of deconstruction in the work of Wagner by lending new
meaning to the myths explored in the Music Dramas. As stated in Chapter Two, irony is also
characteristic of Sondheims intellectual approach, and it is possible that Sondheims irony, like
upon which he bases his work. In this sense, the irony of Sweeney Todds discovery of truth
regarding the beggar womans real identity as his wife directly preceding his own destruction
may suggest, like Tristans discovery, Todds ultimate understanding that he is not only the main
character within an ancient legend, but a twentieth century embodiment of that character. As a
55
modern commentary upon the original Todd, Sondheims Todd can no longer survive in the
mythical world onstage, and the piece consequently ends with the ensemble pointing into the
audience to indicate the existence of Sweeney Todds everywhere.14 Like Wagner, then,
Sondheim appears to apply irony in such a way as to suggest the type of deconstructive
Finally, while it has not been observed that Wagner utilized musical pastiche, there is
evidence that the nineteenth century composer borrowed from multiple mythical sources in a
single work of art, preempting Sondheims technique of borrowing from numerous musical
styles. Cicora cites Tannahauser as a main example, stating that Tannhauser was the first
drama in which Wagner combined elements of various myths and legends to form his own
modern, synthetic, or second-order mythology (61). Thus, Cicora now utilizes the term
second-order mythology to refer to the new myth that is created when story elements of
numerous legends are combined within one Music Drama. Cicora goes on to describe the poetic
Tannhauser, pointing to Wagners technique of drawing upon these varying sources in order to
fabricate a modern myth that comments somewhat deconstructively upon the original. For
example, the character of Tannhauser himself is based upon a historical figure that achieved
mythical significance through the centuries. Meanwhile, as Cicora explains, the song contest
featured in this Music Drama originates from a legend of uncertain origin, while the characters
other than Tannhauser also embody figures of varying German historical and mythical origin
(61). Cicoras study reveals similarly varied origins and references within the other Music
14
As Joanne Gordon observes, Sondheim has the company move downstage and confront the audience, implying
that there are Sweeneys here, now and always (250). Sondheim thus drives home for his audiences in this manner
the modern commentary based upon the ancient legend.
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Dramas; it becomes evident that Wagner often borrows from numerous sources within a single
work. This technique of borrowing from multiple myths and legends suggests a sort of
mythical pastiche that could be said to form a sort of foundation for Sondheims technique of
musical pastiche. Both provide a foreground through which myths, legends, and previously-told
stories can be reevaluated to suggest new meaning for modern audiences, exemplifying the
Thus, Wagner, who has historically been associated strictly with the idea of synthesis and
unification of elements within his work, has been noted to incorporate elements of
deconstruction as well. It may be argued that in order to achieve this technique Wagner
compromises the emotionally engaging total theatre experience he proposes to create for his
audiences by encouraging them to step outside the music drama in this way, but he does not
completely sacrifice those techniques, as we have seen in Chapter Two. Again, Wagner argues
that the creation of emotional sympathy for characters occurs first within audience members; it
then opens the door for intellectual understanding supported by the type of deconstructive
commentary discussed above. Wagnerian total theatre, then, can be shown to embrace the aspect
of deconstruction that allows it to comment upon the myths and legends on which it is based. It
follows, therefore, that similar deconstructive techniques observed in the work of Sondheim do
problem regarding the comparison between Wagner and Sondheim. Many of Sondheims critics
argue that his work is not emotional but rather alienating, much in the vein of the work of Bertolt
Brecht.
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First, the basis of Brechts alienation theory, or Verfremdungseffekt, infers a lack of
emotional empathy on the part of audience members. Brecht wrote that the artists object is to
appear strange and even surprising to the audience and that the audience should be hindered
from simply identifying itself with the characters in the play (454-455). Brecht, then,
articulated the belief that there should ideally be very little audience empathy with the characters
on the stage, and many of Sondheims critics have expressed the notion that productions of
effect. Thomas P. Adler quotes Emanuel Azenberg as one such critic, who finds shows like
Company and Follies soulless [and] attribute[s] a dose of Brechtian alienation or estrangement
to Sondheims musicals (40). Azenberg thus finds such musicals to be devoid of emotional
content to the point of being cold and nihilistic. John Lahr concurs: Sondheims glib toughness
echoed the mood of the unromantic era. He became a phenomenon new to the Broadway
musical: a laureate of disillusion (Gordon 17). Lahrs opinion, then, is that Sondheims work
lacked warmth, particularly the joy and hope embodied in earlier American musical theatre,
reflecting an era of despair that pervaded during the time of Sondheims writing.
All of these observations are well-founded to an extent and are based in educated
analyses of Sondheims work. It cannot be denied that Sondheims musicals contain elements of
cynicism. Company and Follies, cited above, call attention to the dark side of relationships,
aging, and the passing of time. Assassins blatantly asserts the idea that presidential assassination
is a fact of modern society and not a random element of misfortune. Into the Woods portrays the
deterioration of a fairy tale society whose participants are well-meaning but uncollaborative.
Because of their treatment of such themes, all of these shows reflect what has often been
58
interpreted as a lack of humanity, a characteristic that often inspires a comparison of Sondheim
with Brecht.
In keeping with this idea, analysts have observed what they interpret as Brechts direct
influence upon Sondheims work. Joanne Gordon states that Sondheims musical number The
Advantages of Floating in the Middle of the Sea from Pacific Overtures is probably influenced
by The Song of Commodity in Brechts manifestly didactic play The Measures Taken.
Gordon goes on to analyze the songs references to Japanese societal hierarchy and its lack of
humanity to the point of its being ephemeral and unreal (181), a technique that Brecht also
utilizes to alienate his audiences emotionally in order to call attention to messages of social
didacticism. Similarly, Thomas P. Adler states that the character of Mrs. Lovett in Sondheims
Sweeny Todd, fed solely by profiteering on the misfortunes of others, seems deliberately
intended to recall Brechts Mother Courage (42). Here again, Adler is inferring that this
Ann Marie McEntee notes in her essay on Sondheims Follies that Hal Prince utilized directorial
techniques borrowed directly from Brechts essay, Street Scene (96). There is thus strong
evidence that Sondheims work has often acquired identity through a Brechtian influence, thus
validating the observations of many critics that productions of Sondheims musicals often
The question remains, then, whether or not the kind of Brechtian alienation found within
the musicals of Stephen Sondheim can co-exist with the notions of the emotionally engaging
Wagnerian total theatre discussed in Chapter Two. According to Brecht, the two cannot co-exist:
So long as the expression Gestamtkunstwerk (or integrated work of art) means that the
integration is a muddle, so long as the arts are supposed to be fused together, the various
59
elements will be equally degraded, and each will act as a mere feed to the rest (450). Brecht
states that Wagners unification of elements within a work of art, including music, words,
intellectual themes and emotional mood, precludes the concept of audience alienation, which
requires a separation of elements in order to impart Brechts desired effect of surprise upon his
audience. Modern theatre theorists and analysts of audience perception, however, indicate that
this may not be true and that indeed Brechtian and Wagnerian elements may co-exist within a
It is first pertinent to state that Sondheim himself does not identify fully with Brecht.
While he does not deny that many of his pieces embrace Brechtian elements, he states that
didacticism is not as important for himself as it is for Brecht, and that audience emotional
involvement takes precedence over Brechts alienation effect in Sondheims musicals (Adler 40).
In addition, as noted in Chapter Two, numerous critics disagree with those quoted above, citing
located specific elements of Brechtian technique within his work, the issue of Brechtian elements
as they affect the Wagnerian aspects of the concept musical is worth analyzing.
First, Brecht makes it clear in his later writing that his theory of alienation does not
describe a complete lack of emotional participation on the part of his audiences. He writes that
neither the public nor the actor must be stopped from taking part emotionally Only one out
of many possible sources of emotion needs to be left unused, or at least treated as a subsidiary
source empathy (Brecht, Brecht on Theatre: The Development of an Aesthetic 173). Thus,
according to Brechts own articulation, emotional engagement on the part of audiences should
not be eliminated; it should merely not go so far as to allow audiences to empathize strongly with
the characters onstage. Empathy, according to Brecht, causes audiences to compromise their
60
identities by imagining themselves as the characters they are viewing. Empathy thus distorts
audience perspective, interfering with audiences abilities to accurately evaluate the scenarios
onstage; laughing, crying, and other emotional responses on the part of audiences (and actors),
however, are compatible with Brechts theory. Thus, Brechts alienation theory does not
preclude all emotional response on the part of audiences, a fact that indicates that his criticism of
Wagners Gesamtkunstwerk rests more upon Brechts choice of terminology than his complete
Congruently, theorist Hilda Meldrum Brown proposes that the ideas of Brecht and
Wagner are in reality not as disparate as modern practitioners assume and that Brecht, in arguing
against Wagners premise, was expressing distaste toward a theory he had merely heard about
and did not fully understand. Brown finds that there is absolutely no evidence to suggest that
Brecht had ever read Wagners essays and it would seem more likely that his notions of the
Gestamtkunstwerk were culled entirely from secondary sources (73). Thus, Brechts
understanding of Wagner was possibly very limited, and Brown goes on to suggest that Brechts
theories, in responding against a very basic and incomplete image of Wagners writings, actually
To begin, Brown links the production of Brechts alienation effect directly with his
[separation](with its strong disjunctive and anti-empathetic implications and its practical
one of the key factors in denoting Brechts theories from those of Wagner, causes decreased
audience empathy resulting in alienation of the audience from the events on stage. Alienation
then, relies upon separation of elements. However, Brecht also wrote (published in his collected
61
works in 1967), So let us invite all the sister-arts of drama, not in order to create a
Gesamtkunstwerk in which they give in and are destroyed, but so that, along with the drama,
they promote the common task in their various ways (79). Thus, although Brecht eschewed the
term Gesamtkunstwerk, he proposed, as Wagner did, that the disparate elements of a work of art
should work toward a unified goal, or common task. Brechts statement in reality appears to
bear resemblance to Wagners statement that the three primeval sisters [dance, tone, and poetry]
whom we see at once entwine their measures wherever the conditions necessary for artistic
manifestment have arisen (Art-Work of the Future 95). Thus, Brecht seems to agree that no
matter how different they are, the sister arts must ideally collaborate at some point within the
development of a work of art, simply because they strive toward a common goal. Consequently,
if the elements of art must strive toward a common goal, the alienation effect appears weakened,
Several theorists and critics support this conclusion through their questioning of the
alienation effect. Brown concludes that there is a lack of evidence (99) supporting the
alienation theory and that the logic Brecht applies in support of its existence relies upon a
Brecht himself states, all elements must work toward a common goal. This synthesis seems to
preclude the existence of the alienation effect, since commonality of elements tends to elicit
15
Interestingly, Brown discusses a parallel between Brecht and Wagner based upon Brechts extensive use of
Wagnerian leitmotif, discussed in Chapter 2.
62
This conclusion is supported by critical responses to productions of dramas by Brecht,
most notably the audience reaction to the debut of Mother Courage and Her Children. When the
play debuted in 1947, critics reported that audience members were moved to tears in response to
the title characters death, despite Brechts efforts to present Mother Courage as a cold,
unsympathetic woman who epitomized the most inhumane aspects of the war effort. Thus,
although Brecht strove to avoid or lessen audience empathy, audiences identified with Courage
at least to some extent as a human being who suffered herself from the treacheries of war.
sensibility among audience members, as a victim of the war in the play and not merely a
perpetrator. Although this fact does not necessarily support a parallel between Brecht and
Wagner, it does weaken the argument that the ideas of these two theorists describe completely
opposite goals.
It seems then, from several perspectives, that Brechts alienation effect and its related
concept of separation of elements within a work of art are not achieved to a complete extent in
his work. In fact, Brecht himself concurs that it is necessary for the elements of a theatrical
presentation to compliment one another to a certain extent and for audience members to engage
in some form of emotional reaction to that which is presented on stage. Thus, Wagners idea of
total theatre appears to function within the theatre of Brecht, albeit at a most basic level. In
addition, some modern analysts find that even the word empathy, to which Brecht objected
intensely, may be applied to his work. Such an analysis from a cognitive point of view comes
from Bruce A. McConachie, who writes that spectators of live theatre engage in empathetic
projection (Doing Things with Image Scemas: The Cognitive Turn in Theatre Studies and the
Problem of Experience for Historians 581). According to McConachie, this means that
63
spectators tend to project themselves onto the characters they are watching onstage, i.e. putting
themselves in the characters shoes. Spectators tend to imagine themselves as the characters,
encountering the challenges that the characters encounter and experiencing the corresponding
emotions, a natural form of empathy on the part of the spectators. At a recent conference,
McConachie spoke of the ways in which this natural tendency toward empathy on the part of
audience members applies to productions of Brechts plays, concluding that the empathy and
resulting emotional engagement of audience members precludes the alienation effect (Theatre
Symposium). In fact, McConachie expressed the idea that the most immediate audience reactions
to spectacle on stage are naturally empathetic, leading to an emotional response; it is only later
that audiences react intellectually to the themes Brecht presents. This returns us to the
previously discussed parallel between Brecht and Wagner, who, as we know, articulated the idea
intellectual.
It appears, then, that several theorists have noted parallels between the seemingly
disparate theories of Brecht and Wagner regarding audience response. Therefore, observations
of Brechtian techniques within the work of Sondheim do not preclude a Wagnerian approach to
the work of this composer. An example exists within the critiques of the original New York
production of Sweeny Todd. Reviewers such as Howard Kissel found the piece to resemble the
work of Brecht, citing emotional alienation and strict social commentary in what they interpreted
as post-Brechtian theater (Womens Wear Daily 3/2/79). In the same review several
paragraphs later, however, Kissel sums up his impressions as follows: Sweeny Todd is not just a
musical it is total theatre, a brilliant conception and a shattering experience. It seems, then,
that audience members can observe Brechtian alienation and Wagnerian total theatre within the
64
same piece Sweeny Todd demonstrates that emotional catharsis and intellectual stimulation can
work, then, it is possible to conclude that Sondheims audiences become knowers through
feeling (Essence of Drama Is Knowing through Feeling 6), as Wagner articulated the intended
reactions of his audiences. Both Wagner and Sondheim place emphasis first upon stimulating
emotional catharsis within their audiences, and second upon communicating an intellectual
message. Consequently, critics of the productions of Wagner and Sondheim alike have
Bernard Shaw wrote, Here you have a piece of stage management of the true Wagnerian kind,
combining into one stroke a dramatic effect, a scenic effect, and a musical effect, the total result
being a popular effect the value of which was proved by the roar of excitement which burst forth
as the curtains closed in (Skelton 92). Here, Shaw found audiences moved to a level that
elicited a vocal reflection of the emotional response stimulated by Wagners total theatre
experience. Similarly, regarding the Kennedy Centers production of Sweeny Todd at the
Sondheim Celebration in 2002, Laura Hanson writes that it is impossible not get caught up,
with goose bumps no less, particularly during the last twenty minutes of the show The
spectators had no choice but to jump to their feet even before the actors came on for their curtain
call (Hanson 336). Thus, Sondheims audiences, like Wagners, have found themselves moved
to a high and vocal state of emotional excitement. Later, when the emotion subsides they
analyze the work on an intellectual level, as did reviewer Clive Barnes: Todd was here not
merely a bloodstained grotesque, but a victim of injustice and a casualty of class war (New York
Post 3/2/79). As Sondheim desired, intellectual messages were present in the piece, but they did
65
not take precedence over emotional stimulation. As Wagner articulated in the title to his essay,
Brechtian alienation in the work of Stephen Sondheim, then, does not negate the
possibility of comparison between Brecht and Wagner. It seems that theorists have argued that
alienation in its purest meaning does not necessarily exist even within the work of Brecht.
That is, as Brecht himself articulated, elements of a work of art must strive at least to some
extent toward a common goal, and audiences will naturally experience some emotional response
to the characters and action on stage. Thus, while Brecht and Wagner have historically been
viewed as embracing opposite approaches, it seems that elements of alienation and total theatre
can co-exist to some extent. It appears, then, that in incorporating Brechtian elements within his
work, Sondheim does not negate the elements of total theatre already discussed in his musicals.
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CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION
Wagners total theatre is an entity toward which the concept musical has evolved
throughout its development during the twentieth century, epitomized by the musicals of Stephen
Sondheim. Born from the integrated musical, featuring a synthesis of the elements of music,
speech, and movement presenting a unified story, the concept musical grew to embody a similar
synthesis, emphasizing a universal mood or thematic idea rather than a story. The abstract idea
of concept became the determining feature of this type of musicals identity, and because the
concept embodies all aspects of presentation to an audience, the concept musical can only be
fully realized in production. By the 1970s, Sondheim engaged in a development and synthesis of
structural, emotional, and intellectual elements that worked to describe his musicals concepts at
Sondheim begins his interaction with his audiences by stimulating them in their
relationships and challenges of characters that are universal, yet uniquely identifiable. Sweeny
Todd, Mrs. Lovett, the Assassins, and the fairy tale characters of Into the Woods are all examples
of the startling embodiments of human nature Sondheim creates to occupy the stage. Emotional
stimulation is only the first level of audience appeal, however; Sondheim also tackles complex
intellectual themes in these same musicals, which deal with topics of industrialism, social
injustice, and social responsibility. The experience Sondheim creates is indeed a total one,
addressing the emotional and the intellectual and dealing with characters that embody universal
traits.
67
Epitomizing integration, then, Sondheims concept musical appears to beg comparison
with Richard Wagners ideal of synthesis among the arts. It is this general idea of synthesis and
total theatre, stimulating audience involvement on both the emotional and the intellectual level,
which suggests to me a general parallel between the appoaches of these two composers. Upon
further analysis, more specific points of comparison emerge, such as both composers utilization
of leitmotif, minor chord development, and intricate lyricism in order to appeal to their audiences
emotionally and intellectually. Both Sondheim and Wagner also utilize irony frequently within
their work, and both tend to offer social commentary dealing with the drawbacks of selfish
egotism and non-collaboration in a world populated with people from various backgrounds. It is
perhaps these details that have caused passing reference to Wagner in numerous contemporary
Other analyses, however, deviate from the basic ideas of integration and emotional
within the work of the contemporary composer. Recent analyses of the nature of deconstruction
and Brechtian alienation, however, indicate that these observations do not weaken a theoretical
comparison of the work of Sondheim and Wagner. Indeed, Wagner himself, through his
mythical tales he addresses, has also been shown to utilize some elements of what is known in
Brecht and Wagner indicate more evident similarities between the two than are traditionally
assumed.
68
Thus, it seems that the Wagnerian approach to music drama is one that can indeed be
applied to the concept musicals of Stephen Sondheim. The question that remains, then, is what
does this mean for contemporary audiences and critics of Sondheims concept musicals? The
answer is one that requires a reliance on the Wagnerian breakdown describing the relationship
between the emotional and the intellectual experiences of the audience. According to Wagner,
beneficial intellectual realization only results from a successful emotional catharsis on the part of
the audience. Congruently, I would argue that a concept musical by Sondheim is best received
when the spectator first allows himself or herself to be swept up in the emotional journey
Sondheim presents. As shown, this appears to be Sondheims intent and it is also the basis of
discovered in Chapter One, operate on an exaggerated, tongue in cheek level. Sweeny Todd, for
example, is a myth presented in horrific proportions; Into the Woods is the embodiment of ironic
humanism (presented through fairy tales) to the nth degree; and Company is a satiric look at
marriage in the late twentieth century. All of these musicals embrace their exaggeration and
irony as a tool first and foremost to move audiences to laughter and tears. Only after the
It is my argument, then, that the critics of Sondheim who find his work cold and lacking
in emotional sensitivity make the mistake of looking first for intellectual stimulation and
therefore not allowing the emotional elements to first affect them on a tongue-in-cheek level.
Regarding Sweeny Todd, for example, as a strictly intellectual piece is a choice likely leading to
repulsion toward the work as a whole as cannibalistic, completely devoid of any hope for human
nature. The resulting sense of nihilism indicated by critics discussed in Chapter 3 is a natural
69
outcome of this type of serious intellectual approach. It is also this approach that causes these
critics, who allow Sondheims outrageous choices to find outlet first in emotional catharsis,
Wagners theories, then, offer insight into the concept musicals of Stephen Sondheim.
The works of both composers apply the idea of total theatre, allowing emotional catharsis and
resulting in intellectual stimulation among audience members. Thus, as todays audiences view
musicals such as Sweeney Todd, Company, and Into the Woods, a Wagnerian approach may lead
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