“Yours, Stephen Sondheim” Ravinia reviewed by Julia W. Rath

[rating=5]The familiar and peculiar genius of composer, lyricist, and conceptual artist Stephen Sondheim was the focus of an extraordinary retrospective at Chicago’s Ravinia Festival. Entitled “Yours, Stephen Sondheim”, this one-of-a-kind concert was dedicated to an artistic giant who suddenly passed away on the day after Thanksgiving in 2021 at the age of 91. This tribute to Sondheim’s dominant role in American musical theatre featured many of his songs taken from famous—and not-so-famous—Broadway productions, such as “West Side Story”, “Gypsy”, “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”, “Anyone Can Whistle”, “Company”, “Follies”, “A Little Night Music”, “Pacific Overtures”, “Sweeney Todd”, “Merrily We Roll Along”, “Sunday in the Park With George”, “Into the Woods”, “Assassins”, and “Passion.”

Soloists, consisting of Brian Stokes Mitchell, Heather Headley, Alexandra Billings, Devin DeSantis, Susan Moniz, and Bethany Thomas, each took to the stage to perform many treasured favorites, backed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Kevin Stites. Headley received a standing ovation for her delivery of “Children Will Listen/No One Is Alone” (from “Into the Woods”) and for “Not a Day Goes By” (from “Merrily We Roll Along”). No program about Sondheim is complete without my personal favorite “Send in the Clowns” (from “A Little Night Music”), and Headley did an impassioned rendition of it. Billings commanded the audience with flamboyance and flair in her presentation of “I’m Still Here” (from “Follies”) and “Being Alive” (from “Company”). Mitchell beautifully mastered the dramatic pulse and clever timing inherent to such numbers as “Flag Song” (written for “Assassins”) and “Sorry/Grateful” (from “Company”). We watched Thomas expertly sing “See What It Gets You” from “Anyone Can Whistle”, a show that apparently was a flop on Broadway. But this song was a rousing success then and now! And DeSantis’s performance of “There Are Giants In The Sky”, was, of course, very comical—and well done.

Sondheim’s music and lyrics are unique in the history of musical theatre. His lyrics generally feature a concatenation of words in rhythmic patter, sometimes combined with made-up words and weird juxtapositions. He often uses a polyphonic repertoire to bring out the different personalities of characters on stage as they interact with each other. His distinctive style of music not only employs a breakaway from scales and scale-wise motion but frequently uses unusual rhythms plus dissonance. There can be humor in the music itself and in the way that it is supposed to be played. For example, the percussionist squeezed rubber duckies to make weird sounds to accompany the song “A Comedy Tonight”; we also saw the clarinetist and the trombonist intentionally make funny noises with their instruments.

In a 2012 interview with Donald Rosenberg of the Philadelphia “Plain Dealer”, Sondheim once explained, “…If you’re going to do a revue of somebody, it’s generally a good idea to have some kind of organizing principle behind it or else it really just becomes, ‘And then I wrote.’ I don’t think it’s very interesting for a director or writer to do something like that. That’s like something set in a nightclub.” It was obvious that the organizers of Sunday afternoon’s concert had methodically followed the composer’s advice.

Thus the organizing principle for the show “Yours, Stephen Sondheim” was framed by typewritten letters that he once wrote to friends, colleagues, family members, and associates. These ran the gamut from messages of thanks, encouragement, admiration, and humor. Sondheim, it turns out, was a scrupulous and ample letter writer. During the concert, his original missives in Courier font with his distinctive signature were flashed on monitors throughout and read aloud by several different narrators. Among other things, we learned something about the advice given to him by his mentor Oscar Hammerstein II as well as the advice that he gave to his nephew on how to improve his songwriting skills. These letters (in combination with program notes) collectively provided us with some glimpse of the man behind the mystique.

It is no coincidence that Ravinia was the setting for this glorious performance, originally conceived and created by host and stage director Rob Lindley. In his perceptive and heartfelt remarks to the audience, Lindley even pointed to the location where the composer might have sat among the crowd if he were still here with us in body. But, as luck should have it, he was most definitely here in spirit and must have been looking down upon us. On an otherwise rainy and overcast day, the skies cleared, and the audience was able to enjoy hearing the music from the comfort of their lawn seats as well from their seats in the (covered) pavilion.

The show ended with two songs from the 1984 musical “Sunday in the Park with George.” (And by golly, it was a Sunday afternoon, and we were all seated in the park! How splendid was that!) The first number “Move On”, with its ironic title, featured Mitchell and Headley as soloists. The last number, called “Sunday”, showcased all of the named vocalists and, in addition, the Chicago Artists Chorale, directed by Tom Vendafreddo. The full complement of these talented singers plus the commanding presence of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra filled the air with music, magic, and majesty: a fitting end to a marvelously constructed and pleasurable salute to Sondheim’s impressive legacy. All I could think of was that the great composer once wrote a song called “God, That’s Good!”

“Yours, Stephen Sondheim” played at Chicago’s famed Ravinia Festival, on Sunday, August 7, 2022. Ravinia Park is located at 418 Sheridan Rd, in Highland Park, Illinois.

This was the biggest program at Ravinia this August in memory of Stephen Sondheim’s life and his music. Two matinees featuring his songs will take place on Saturday, August 20 and 27 in Ravinia’s Bennett Gordon Hall.

For information about the August 20th performance and to purchase tickets, see: https://www.ravinia.org/ShowDetails/2035/saturday-in-the-park-with-sondheim-featuring-lee-musiker.
Reserved seats are $12. Concert starts at 1:00 p.m.

For information about the August 27th performance and to purchase tickets, see:
https://www.ravinia.org/ShowDetails/2040/anthony-de-mare-reimagining-sondheim-from-the-piano.
Reserved seats are $12. Concert starts at 1:00 p.m.

To learn more about Ravinia’s 2022 season (which ends on September 18th), please go to: https://www.ravinia.org/2022Season.

For general information about the Ravinia Festival and their wealth of offerings, visit: https://www.ravinia.org/.

Note that Ravinia Park is the summer home for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.