by Stephen Sondheim
Knopf, 2010. 408 pages
The perfect gift for the rabid musical theatre fan in your life, "Finishing the Hat" is exactly what its title purports it to be: a collection of lyrics annotated by Mr. Sondheim's opinions and observations from a lifetime in the American theatre. It is these observations that give the book its value - the true aficionado, after all, will already know most of the lyrics by heart.
Covering the major works of the first half of his career (West Side Story - Merrily We Roll Along), Mr. Sondheim goes through his cannon one by one and explains why each of his songs does - or doesn't - work. Song lyrics, like Shakespeare, are never meant to be read, something Mr. Sondheim comments on in his introduction. Fortunately, the same cannot be said for composer's attendant comments, principles, heresies and so forth. The lyricist for "West Side Story" and the composer / lyricist of works like "Sweeney Todd", "A Little Night Music" and "Company" writes in an ironic, self-effacing tone and dissects not only his own talents, but those of the men and women who came before him. He blasts Lorenz Hart and Ira Gershwin; he worships Dorothy Fields and Irving Berlin.
If those names mean nothing to you, it would be wise to check out Cecil Smith and Glenn Litton's "Musical Comedy in America" first: Mr. Sondheim hits the ground assuming you have at least a cursory familiarity with the history of musical theatre. Mr. Sondheim isn't a gossip and there's very little in the way of skeletons from the closets of Broadway's best. He also categorically refuses to comment on any lyricist who is still alive. This is understandable, but unfortunate: there are many modern lyricists who could do with a lesson from Mr. Sondheim, most notably anyone who's ever worked with Andrew Lloyd Webber. Hopefully, though, Mr. Sondheim's guiding principles - "Content dictates form", "God is in the details" and "Less is More" - will at least rub off on the poor soul given the task of bringing the next Hollywood blockbuster to the stage.
The book should be required reading for all writers as well. Mr. Sondheim's three principles are just as important for them, whether they are writing non-musicals or novels. Actors hoping to perform in musicals might also learn a thing or two about the motivation behind the songs; and the eager young director will get a helpful reminder that in a musical, every song needs to be an intrinsic part of the action. Wise and funny, "Finishing the Hat" is a great examination of the theatre by a brilliant theatrical mind. If you can, pre-order the sequel, "Look, I Made a Hat", available in late 2011.
p.s. The title for the book comes from Mr. Sondheim's Pulitzer-Prize winning musical "Sunday in the Park With George" - the song "Finishing the Hat" is sung by an artist obsessed with finishing his work and ends with the line "Look I made a hat / where there never was a hat".
Suggested Links:
Theatre critic J. Kelley Nestruck draws some intriguing parallels between the shooting of Gabirelle Giffords and Sondheim's 1990 musical "Assassins".
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/theatre/shootings-put-sondheims-assassins-into-sharp-relief/article1864308/
Related Books:
Fred Astaire by Michael Freedland
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