By Dan Hagen
The young Stephen Sondheim |
In one of history’s synchronicities, the famed Broadway
composer Stephen Sondheim found a childhood family friend in the famed Broadway
composer Oscar Hammerstein, who recognized Stevie’s talent from the start.
In his 1998 book Stephen
Sondheim, biographer Meryle Secrest notes that Hammerstein put the teenaged
Sondheim’s ambitions to the test by creating a singular course of study for
him. He told the boy to write four musicals: the first based on a play he
admired; the second based on a play he thought needed improvement; the third
based on some story or novel that hadn’t already been converted into a play;
and finally, an original story of his own. A task few could accomplish, but the
teacher had gotten to know his pupil, gotten to know all about him.
When Sondheim reached the third herculean labor, he decided
to adapt the Mary Poppins stories by P.L. Travers (The Disney movie was still a
dozen years in the future).
Sondheim completed three-quarters of the project, but could
never make it gel to his satisfaction. “(T)hat is a pity, because his own
portrait of the insufferably perfect governess is much more nuanced and
believable than the one offered by the famous film starring Julie Andrews,”
Secrest observed.
Too bad. Would have been interesting to see what the chilly
sensibility of Stephen Sondheim would have made of that surprisingly chilly
children’s character.
Hammerstein and Sondheim are on the right |
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