A serial-killing barber crooning sweetly to his murder weapon. A domineering “stage mom” breaking down over her own misspent life. A pair of teenage lovebirds getting married against their parents’ instruction. An artist, painting a hat. What do these seemingly disparate scenarios have in common? It’s what’s coming from these people’s mouths: the beautiful, profound, preternaturally elegant music of Stephen Sondheim.
It’s been slightly over three and a half years since the monolithic composer and lyricist died suddenly at the age of 91, leaving behind as rich a body of work as any. His oeuvre spans some of the most acclaimed and significant pieces of musical theatre ever written – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Gypsy, Company and West Side Story. Both Broadway and the West End have theatres named in his honour, both names unprecedentedly bestowed while he was still alive. Sondheim’s final work, Here We Are, is only now reaching British shores, via an inaugural West End production at the National Theatre.
