"I'm The Fragment Of The Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

                                     Aside from Tennessee Williams, none other than Stephen Sondheim could take such words, and turn them into poetry. And then combine them with music connected to a story that would challenge any performer rendering it to do his or her best work.

                                        That statement alone would serve as my testament to Sondheim, whom, like Harold Prince, I regret never having met.   Some of his work would prove achingly personal.

                                            When "Sweeney Todd" debuted in 1979, I was a mere twenty-four, but worse, my mother was in a hospital near my hometown in New Jersey--dying of lung cancer, at 64.  It was an awful time for all of us, but especially my father and I.  I had bought the 'Sweeney' ticket in advance, and did not want to go.  My mother insisted.  So, I went, and was blown away.  Over the course of time, especially while Len Cariou and Angela Lansbury were in it, I went to see it seven times.  The sheer majesty of the work accounted for this, but along the way I realized it was one particular line, pertinent to me at that time.  It was in the Act Two "Johanna" triplet, when Sweeney sings, "If only angels could prevail, we'd be the way we were."  I felt exactly that way during this time, and wanted that more than anything.  To this day, that line elicits tears.  But it was a coping mechanism I used to deal with my mother's death, and I wish I could have thanked Sondheim.

                                                "Merrily We Roll Along," which I saw twice during its short 1981 run, was another personal show of mine.  I feel I have lived both ends of it.  I was in my twenties when I saw the Original, and it hit me differently, then.   I loved the score, but the poignancy and heartbreak did not hit me.  Now, in my sixties, the last fifteen minutes of this show tear me apart.  From "Opening Doors," to the end, I think how far I have come, and I want to say to those youngsters now, "You have no idea what you are in for."  Not to mention several productions having seen, and several cast members having met, starting with a coworker in the NYU bookstore, who we all knew was auditioning for something, but did not know what, till she was cast!  Wow!

                                                       It is so hard to write this post.  Sondheim leaves behind a vast legacy that will live on, but the notion of him being gone has not quite sunk in.  Yes, he was 91, though I never thought he would die.  But, then, I suppose, being reunited with Harold Prince, some tremendous works should emerge in the Hereafter.  I hope to see them, maybe even be a part of them.

                                                         He will always be a part of us, darlings.

                                                         "Till the days go by."

                                                           You are probably wondering what songs I will post here as most emblematic of Sondheim.  Here they are:

                                    "FOLLIES--" My favorite of his works. Listen to it all, but take                                                                      special note of Dorothy Collins and John McMartin singing my                                                               favorite song, "Too Many Mornings."  How gorgeously it flows.

                                                                                               

                                              Glynis Johns doing "Send In The Clowns."  Never has                                                                                  been done better.

                                          "Our Time", from 'Merrily'.  The Original Cast sings to                                                                                    set the gold standard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!