Monday, July 6, 1998
Biography in tune with Sondheim
BOOK: Author manages to depict struggle without any undo
sensationalism
By Cheryl Klein
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Biographer Meryle Secrest titled her comprehensive exploration
of musical theater’s most talented voice "Stephen Sondheim: A
Life." A more appropriate name, however, might be, "Stephen
Sondheim: A Mind."
After devouring a very readable 407 pages, the lingering
impression is not one of chronology or adventure, but of the
complicated psyche that can alternately bestow songs upon
Cinderella, a stripper or a serial killer.
Secrest opens with a peek at the composer and lyricist’s family
tree, granting particular attention to Sondheim’s mother, the
anguish-inducing Janet "Foxy" Sondheim. Both hypochondriac and
pathological liar, she never recovered from being abandoned by her
husband, turning instead to her son as a both a source of affection
and a pawn in her games. The relationship screamed dysfunctional
and whispered of near-molestation.
Rather than take a sensationalistic approach, Secrest consults
the textbooks to explain, as sympathetically as possible, the
causes of Foxy’s behavior. She returns to this choking family tie
when examining some of the female characters in Sondheim’s
musicals, a reminder of the close link between an artist and his
work (a motif throughout the biography).
The mother-son dynamic comes as close to tell-all as Secrest is
willing to go, targeting the book to theater-goers, musicians and,
more broadly, anyone fascinated by creative minds. She intricately
details the evolution of each of Sondheim’s works, from the lyrics
to "West Side Story" (at age 25), to his dark sung-through "Sweeney
Todd" and his clever twist on fairy tales, "Into the Woods."
Secrest expertly infuses these behind-the-scenes vignettes with
historical information on the ever-changing Great White Way and
original reviews of the productions. The biographer is clearly a
fan of her subject, but refrains from gushing, letting Sondheim’s
work and the words of his contemporaries speak for themselves. She
doesn’t shy away from the blemishes in a career fraught with
brilliance, recalling Sondheim’s 1981 flop, "Merrily We Roll
Along," and various spiky outbursts characteristic of the sensitive
and sometimes insecure musician.
The in-depth examination of Sondheim’s projects intelligently
blends psychology, aesthetic criticism and lively anecdotes. The
reader becomes conscious of Sondheim’s perpetual desire to bring
shadow and nuance to what many dismiss as a "fluffy" medium, but
emerges equally aware of his good-natured sparring with his
longtime friend, playwright Arthur Laurents.
Toward the latter portion of the book, this technique becomes
something of a list, devoting just a few pages to "Into the Woods"
and other recent projects, perhaps due to space or deadline
constraints. This is a disappointment to readers who, several
chapters before, cheered when the critics raved about "Company" and
chuckled when "A Little Night Music’s" orchestra changed the name
of the song "Every Day a Little Death" to "Every Page a Little
Breath."
Scattered less smoothly between these otherwise finely crafted
artistic segments are rare glimpses into Sondheim’s personal life.
Secrest does her best to satisfy the reader’s natural curiosity,
but Sondheim himself admits he spent much of his life building
walls around himself.
"I never got into real trouble with people. I was able to
maintain my friendships because that’s all they were," the musician
confesses. A list of