Putting It Together: A Fan Review of Sondheim’s 90th Birthday Tribute
Wendy Mitchell
At 8 pm last night, unironically a Sunday, I stood in my kitchen frozen to our television set with my mouth agape and my hand over my heart; waiting. My husband sat at the table looking at me as though he was contemplating either darting out of the room or having me put on a psychiatric hold as the minutes ticked by. Knowing there were technical difficulties, reading tweets, hearing the opening credits, seeing Raul Esparza speaking silently, and the feed being cut; there I stood, undaunted for an hour and ten minutes.
The opening night of any normal show is bound to have its expected kinks, and let’s be honest; this was not a normal show. Broadway is closed. We are all isolating from one another. Nothing is normal right now. Which may be why this tribute, this show, honoring a man who, as a lifelong theater geek, I consider a musical God; meant more than ever, and why at 9:10 pm EST last night over one hundred thousand people had not given up and nearly six hundred thousand people have watched it as of the writing of this review.
Stephen Sondheim’s work, absent Sweeney Todd and Into the Woods, might well be considered some of the most underrated in the industry by the younger generation. Seeing performers include their own children in last night’s performances (Neil Patrick Harris’ kids during “Witches Rap”-Into the Woods were a deadpan delight) left us with immense hope that when the stages reopen across the world, children and art will always remain together.
Those of us who are now “old guard”, who still remember Gypsy before the word took on a different meaning, took one look at the list of friends and former cast members (Chip Zein, Bernadette Peters, Mandy Patinkin, and Patty Lupone to name a few) involved in this two-hour-long tribute/benefit for ASTEP (Artists Striving to End Poverty) and lost our collective minds all week long in anticipation. And once they got going, it was everything we needed it to be, especially with all of (*gestures wildly*) this going on. In fact, Meryl Streep (along with Christine Baranski & Audra McDonald) performing “Ladies Who Lunch”-Company were giving us all the Zoom meeting/quarantine vibes.
Take Me to the World: A Sondheim 90th Birthday Celebration, was hosted by Broadway.com and streamed live on Youtube; featuring pre-recorded birthday wishes, performances, and absolute nuggets of nostalgia from some of Sondheim’s closest friends and colleagues. What grabbed my attention first was the title of the live event itself.
One of my favorite shows ever written by Sondheim, Evening Primrose, is also one of his lesser-known works. The show originally aired on television in 1966 and starred Tony Perkins (Psycho) as Charles, a struggling writer who decides to avoid the real world in favor of living in a department store. He quickly realizes he is not alone, meeting an entire group of other people who have been living in the same seclusion and have developed a set of rules to maintain their secrecy. Complications arise when Charles falls in love with Ella, which is expressly forbidden. Take Me to the World, is the song the lead characters sing as they escape the department store and go back to live in the real world. A fitting and clever title while we are all feeling isolated, literally and figuratively, Esparza took us to the world last night and producer and live host, as well as with his own performance of the song.
“The art of making art is putting it together,” so sayeth the man himself. And this was art. Some of the greatest performers of all time, paid tribute to Sondheim’s body of work with performances in their own homes (or outside in an empty park, as Mandy Patinkin did, moving everyone to tears with “Lesson #8” Sunday in the Park with George) and all technical difficulties were forgotten.
Heartfelt and soulful moments abounded over the course of two hours and included Chip Zein reprising his climactic performance of the Baker with “No More”- Into the Woods and with tears in his own eyes, clutches the hat he wore in the show to his heart. I’m fairly certain it was at this very moment that I personally lost myself in a sea of ugly crying.
And of course, one of Stephen’s favorite friends and perhaps one of the most beloved actresses of Broadway, Bernadette Peters closed the show with an a capella version of “No One is Alone”- Into the Woods and reminded us that even far apart in isolation, we are connected through love and music.
And in between my own personal highlights and favorites were moments of joy, humor, levity, and tears and insurmountable talent from so many people whose lives have been touched or talent made better for having been in the presence of Stephen Sondheim, as is everyone who has ever experienced his body of work, his genius, or his kindness.
And for everyone else, we were given a gift last night, a beautiful reminder that theater and Broadway are not gone; the ghost light stays on for us all, with the ensemble encore performance of “I’m Still Here”- Follies. Raul Esparza and Randy Rainbow both tweeted after the live stream ended, and together, they summed up the night beautifully:
If you haven’t had the opportunity to watch Take Me to the World: A Sondheim 90th Birthday Celebration yet, you can find the entire show below: