Stephen Sondheim and his musical legacy

Stephen Sondheim stands as one of the most revolutionary figures in musical theatre history, fundamentally transforming how stories could be told through song.

Born in New York City in 1930, Sondheim began his career as Oscar Hammerstein II]’s protégé, learning the craft of lyric writing under the master who had helped create the golden age of Broadway musicals.

However, Sondheim would go on to shatter the very conventions his mentor had helped establish, creating a body of work that challenged audiences intellectually while pushing the boundaries of what musical theatre could achieve.

His career began with the lyrics of West Side Story, and continued with Merrily We Roll Along, Into the Woods and Assassins among many others.

What distinguished Sondheim from his contemporaries was his sophisticated approach to both music and lyrics. His songs weren’t simply used to advance the plot of a story, they were intricate psychological explorations. And on top of that, they displayed an intellectual density rarely seen before, containing lots of wordplay and internal rhyme schemes. His melodies mirrored the psychological complexity of the characters and their stories, through his use of unexpected harmonic progressions.

Into the Woods in particular is a prime example of this, deconstructing fairy tale conventions to explore what happens when you actually get what you wish for.

For all of his work, the great Sondheim is viewed as one of the most important figures in musical theatre history, receiving accolade after accolade, including eight Tony Awards, an Academy Award, eight Grammy Awards, an Olivier Award and the Pulitzer Prize. He was also inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1982, and awarded the Kennedy Centre Honour in 1993 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015. On top of this, there are theatres named after him on both Broadway and in London’s West End.

The influence of Sondheim’s work extends far beyond Broadway.

His approach to character-driven songwriting has influenced countless contemporary musical theatre writers, from Jason Robert Brown to Lin-Manuel Miranda. His willingness to tackle difficult subjects, including urban alienation, artistic obsession and political assassination, opened new thematic territories for musical theatre.

And it extends even all the way out here to Sydney with the Hayes Theatre Company regularly featuring Sondheim productions. In 2017, the company staged Assassins followed by Merrily We Roll Along in 2021 and A Little Night Music in 2023.

Now, it is staging Being Alive: The Music of Sondheim which will showcase Sondheim’s songs in a concert format, featuring a three-piece band.

Sondheim’s legacy lies not just in the individual songs he created, but in his expansion of what musical theatre could be.

As described by The New York Times when he died, Sondheim was “theatre’s most revered and influential composer-lyricist” and the driving force behind some of the world’s most celebrated productions.

With songs like Send in the Clowns, Maria and Everything’s Coming Up Roses, Sondheim revolutionised the musical and his influence is still being felt, and will continue to be felt for decades to come.

Being Alive: The Music of Sondheim is now showing at Hayes Theatre. For more tickets, visit hayestheatre.com.au