My Musical Theater Voyage of Discovery; The Sondheim Files - West Side Story

THE SONDHEIM FILES

Natch, Stephen Sondheim has his OWN section in my Ipod. I could write for days on Stephen Sondheim; but what musical theater buff couldn’t? I am not a student of the artform. I cannot write like Peter Filichia or Ken Bloom or any of the other experts. I don’t understand the writing of music or structure, the way a pianist or musical professional does – I don’t even understand Sondheim from the point of view of a singer. I feel, though, that it makes me a better judge of what is good and what goes because I have nothing technical to back up any comments I make. All I have is good old fashioned layperson opinion. That makes my opinion pure. It is based, solely, on what I like. That’s a good place from which to come.

Sondheim is like air to me. I, a non singer, get it. It flows in and out of me like air to my lungs or blood in my veins. I have, as a non singer, actually sung some Sondheim and the people behind the piano (except for Ricky Pope who almost always lets anything I sing with him come from me, organically) have usually tried to direct me when I sing Sondheim and I ask them to butt out and let it come from my soul. It tends to work. One of my proudest artistic accomplishments came on a vanity cd I made to give my loved ones at my 40th birthday. I sang 40 songs (some well, some not at all well) and one of them was (can you dig it?) FINISHING THE HAT. You can’t just sing that song – it’s a monologue and you have to feel it. So instead of putting down an instrumental track and singing to it, I had Joe Kinosian play while I sang and we recorded it live. No re-dos; no patching together phrases, no clean up. It was done, live; and it sounds good. My friend, Steve Spraragen, said to me “You have sung Finishing the Hat – I don’t want to hear you say you can’t sing, every again.”

So having compared Sondheim to breathing, it should be obvious that there is a LOT of Sondheim in my Ipod. Since I’ve been working my way backward through the musical theater section of the Ipod, I’ll start with …

WEST SIDE STORY.

Like GYPSY, West Side is one of the most perfect musicals every created. I can ALWAYS watch a West Side or listen to a West Side. It is never not good for me. I love West Side Story; and true love lasts forever. I tried to conserve space in my Ipod by not overdoing it with West Side; but it just doesn’t seem right to delete any tracks. So I have my first West Side recording (the motion picture soundtrack, complete with dubbing by Betty Wand, Jim Bryant and the great Marni Nixon) – the one I bought while in High School, driving my friends crazy by always singing “Anita’s gonna get her kicks toniiiiight”. Your first is always your favourite. I also have the OBC in my Ipod because, let’s face it, it is Miss Chita Rivera, alongside the lovely Carol Lawrence and the wonderful Larry Kert. It has to be listened to, in its’ entirety. It is a crime to not turn on your OBC of West Side Story and play it from start to finish. Every time someone plays West Side Story in an incomplete manner, a fairy falls down and dies (and I don’t mean Tinkerbell); after all..

When you’re a Jet you’re a gay all the way
From your first pirouette to your last tour jete.

Like I said… I love West Side Story – and true love lasts forever.

Do you know what I do NOT love, though; and what I will NEVER put in my Ipod? The operatic studio recording with Jose Carerras and Dame Kiri Te Kanaway. It’s unnatural.

(interesting note: I was shown the EXACT spot the photo of Carol Lawrence and Larry Kert was shot. I stood there. It thrilled me.)