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| Angela Lansbury in Anyone Can Whistle |
1) West Side Story 1957
2) Sweeney Todd 1979
3) Company 1970
4) Anyone Can Whistle 1964
5) Into the Woods 1987
6) Merrily We Roll Along 1981
7) Sunday in the Park With George 1984
8) Gypsy 1959
9) A Little Night Music 1973
10) Follies 1971
Even if his credits as a lyricist to West Side Story, Gypsy and Do I Hear a Waltz? were the sum total of his contributions to the American Musical Theater, Sondheim would rate more than a footnote. As it is, he is the most significant Broadway composer of his generation. Compare him to slightly younger composers such as Andrew Lloyd Wright or Stephen Schwartz and his status seems self-evident. However, his melodic invention is limited compared to his forebears. Frank Sinatra once complained that Sondheim didn't write enough melodies for saloon singers. Sondheim's use of a Recitative style helped him follow his dictum that the songs in a show must support the narrative. This bore fruit in such numbers as "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd", "Company", and "Into the Woods".
I saw a roadshow production of Sweeney Todd with Angela Lansbury and George Hearn that was one of the theatrical highlights of my life. My punk rock side could appreciate a musical in which a mass murderer sings a love song to his straight razors. I would advise giving a wide berth to Pacific Overtures and anything after Into the Woods. The only film version of his mature work worth a toss is Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd.
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