Sondheim is noted for his brilliance as a lyricist and has written the music and lyrics for twelve Broadway musicals, as well as many other songs. He has composed film scores and has won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for “Sooner or Later,” which was sung by Madonna in Dick Tracy. He won the Tony Award and the Drama Critics Circle Award for best score for Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods, and Passion.

Although he composed many musicals, it wasn’t until 1987s Into The Woods that Sondheim deliberately incorporated rap into his work. Broadway legend Bernadette Peters, performing the lead role of the “Witch,” delivers what has been described as “Broadway’s first rap.”

You see…
Your mother was with child,
And she developed an unusual appetite.
She admired my beautiful garden,
And she told your father that
What she wanted more than anything,
In the world, was…
Greens, greens, nothing but greens:
Parsley, peppers, cabbages and celery,
Asparagus and watercress and
Fiddleferns and lettuce-!
He said, “All right,”
But it wasn’t, quite,
‘Cause I caught him in the autumn
In my garden one night!
He was robbing me,
Anoying me,
Rooting through my rutabaga,
Raiding my arugula and
Ripping up the rampion
My champion! My favorite!-

Although the origins of rap in the U.S. can be traced back to the 1970s, by 1987, the genre had a firm grasp on the industry. Some of the best rap lyricists that year were ruling the airwaves, including Rakim, KRS-One, Chuck D, and Big Daddy Kane. And, it was in this environment that Sondheim boldly dropped this gritty genre that was born and nurtured in the streets into the traditionally pretentious environs of theatre. That kind of cockiness and swagger alone could earn him a ticket into the rap hall of infamy.

In an excerpt from the introduction of the legendary composer and lyricist’s book Look, I Made A Hat: Collected Lyrics (1981-2011) with Attendent Comments, Amplifications, Dogmas, Harangues, Digressions, Anecdotes and Miscellany, Sondheim discusses using rap in his works. “But not until rap became omnipresently popular did I try to make it work: I imitated it in a passage for the Witch to sing during the opening number of Into the Woods. But I was never able to find another appropriate use for the technique, or perhaps I didn’t have the imagination to.”

However, he also notes a comparison between rap and theatre that possibly hadn’t been discussed before.

“Of all the forms of contemporary pop music, rap is the closest to traditional musical theater (its roots are in vaudeville), both in its vamp-heavy rhythmic drive and in its verbal playfulness,” he says.

It can be argued that Into The Woods wasn’t Sondheim’s first foray into rap as writer Lloyd Evans in a recent column recounted that the way Sondheim composed some of his earlier lyrics is similar to how rap artists compose theirs.

“The rhymes are too haphazard to reveal a scheme or pattern. They just crop up at random like serial killers in a rural community. Rap artists use the same method. They improvise their verses while keeping a lookout for verbal replications, and as soon as one appears it gets dumped in the first available slot,” Evans says.

As an example, he cites a number from Saturday Night which was Sondheim’s first professional endeavor as a composer and lyricist.

I said the man for me
Must have a castle.
A man of means he’d be,
A man of fame.
And then I met a man who hadn’t any,
Without a penny
To his name.
I had to go and fall
For so much less than
What I had planned from all
The magazines.

Although Sondheim has incorporated rap into theatre and some of his lyrics follow a similar methodology as a rap artist, rap isn’t natural for him like it is for Miranda in Hamilton. However, it would be highly entertaining to hear Drake spit some Sondheim lyrics over a Boi-1da track.

The post Is Stephen Sondheim Theatre’s Original Rap Lyricist? appeared first on Broadway Black.

This production is not only a beautiful telling of this story, but it allows for something that the recent film version did not — the inclusion of people of color in the cast. Too often in tales of the future, presumed antiquity, and even the realm of fantasy, artists of color are seldom seen. Sadly, this has been a long-standing tradition on stage and screen with a resolution only really beginning within the past decade.

Ken Page employs the humor and charisma that audiences enjoyed in Ain’t Misbehavin’ in his portrayal of “The Narrator,” and Heather Headley’s powerful and beautifully crisp voice wraps around Sondheim’s delicious music as  “The Witch.” The incredible ensemble fully inhabits a multi-dimensional set designed by Michael Schweikardt and bold, outstanding costumes by Andrea Lauer.

The outdoor Muny Theater in St. Louis has almost 11,000 seats, with 1500 of them offered free of charge for this production. Therefore, in every performance, audiences from all walks of life will not only be able to see an impactful story about humanity, they will be able to see humans of a different hue tell it — even some that look like them.

Directed by Gary Griffin (The Color Purple), this classic musical fable about wishes, choices, and consequences will run at The Muny in St. Louis’ Forest Park until July 27. For tickets and more information, visit www.muny.org.

Happily, The Muny has provided an extensive trailer for those of us who will miss this extraordinary production. Check it out below!

The post Look & Listen: Into The Woods with Heather Headley & Ken Page appeared first on Broadway Black.

UPDATE 5.14.15 : This production will no longer feature Chuck Cooper. Find out more info as to why HERE!

This summer, The New American Theatre Co. NY will present a benefit concert of SWEENEY TODD by Stephen Sondheim staring Tony Award winners Chuck Cooper in the title role and Lillias White as ‘Mrs. Lovett’. Rounding out the cast is an ensemble of color featuring Clifton Oliver as ‘Anthony’, Britney Coleman as ‘Johanna’, and Arbender Robinson as ‘Tobias’. The concert will be directed by Artistic Director, DaMone.

 In a recent video interview on the NATCNY website, Cooper explains how he has wanted to play this role since seeing it portrayed by George Hearn, but quickly accepted the fact that he would never get the opportunity. Happily, that is no longer the case. The mission of NATCNY is expansion and inclusivity in American storytelling and this production fits perfectly.
Sondheim is perhaps one of the most esteemed and revered creators in the American Musical Theater. His work consistently presents artistic and dramatic challenges to all who encounter it and is highly respected in the theater, and now film community.

Furthermore, in recent years, audiences are beginning to see diversity in the actors portraying these iconic roles. This event promises to give a fresh and historic take on the tale of the Demon Barber; one that will hopefully lead to more color in the vast and beautiful world of Sondheim.

The benefit concert of SWEENEY TODD will be Monday August 10th at 7:00pm at The New American Theatre Co. NY
1332A Atlantic Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11216
For tickets and more information, visit www.natcny.org

The post Sweeney Todd In Color With Lillias White appeared first on Broadway Black.