Mia+Callahan

=Stephen Sondheim=

Street
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“The Ballad of Sweeney Todd” is sung by the company at the beginning of the musical “Sweeney Todd”. As the opening piece, this song has the responsibility to set the tone for the entirety of the performance, which is dark, sarcastic, and humorous. The production is about a barber named Sweeney Todd who seeks to avenge his wife, whom he believes to be dead, by killing the man who doomed her. Naturally, “The Ballad of Sweeney Todd” is thus extremely foreboding. The Marist theater performed “Sweeney Todd” in January of 2009, and by far the most memorable song for me was this, the opener. The entire cast came out and stared, zombielike, at the audience, as they sang of the dark tale ahead. The overall feeling was exceedingly creepy, especially as the song neared the end. The section in the middle, in which the cast repeats “Sweeney was smooth, Sweeney was subtle, Sweeney would blink and rats would scuttle,” build up enormous tension which is magnified by the crescendo into the repeated wails of “Sweeney.” At this point, the company has made it exceptionally clear that Sweeney Todd is one to be feared. After this chilling climax, the leading man himself steps forward to deliver some of the final lines before the completion of the song. He sings of himself in third person, which only adds to the unsettling tone prevalent throughout the piece. The song then ends eerily, the cast coming in again in full, singing almost at a whisper for the final phrase, which includes an uncomfortable pause before the last word. At its completion, “The Ballad of Sweeney Todd” has accomplished its role of bringing the audience into the world of the play: in this case, a dark, ominous world of revenge, murder, and a tale of lost love.

Let me sing
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“Green Finch and Linnet Bird” is sung by Johanna, a woman trapped in a tower by her master. In contrast to “The Ballad of Sweeney Todd”, this song is one of hope and of wide-eyed curiosity. The scene involves Johanna looking out her tower window at a cage of birds who, despite their being trapped, continue to sing. She feels a connection with the birds, as she too is trapped against her will. She expresses her perceived kinship by singing back to the birds, asking them why they choose to sing. She, too, wants to learn to “sing” in her confinement, and looks to the birds as mentors or teachers. Interestingly, the sound of “Green Finch and Linnet Bird” is rather similar to the tweeting of a songbird. This is further exemplified by the song’s highest note, a D6, which is in the third space above the staff of the Treble Clef. Not only is this note exceptionally difficult to hit even for a first soprano, but it connects the song with the high-pitched whistling of the birds. Overall, “Green Finch and Linnet Bird” is a song of innocence and purity, both of which are qualities that Johanna possesses. Its contrast with the dark tone of the play mirrors her contrast to the characters around her. She seems to be the only one in the production who has maintained her youthful wholesomeness. In addition, her song is one of longing. She desperately wishes to escape her tower, as she has not been allowed to leave, due to her master’s extreme possessiveness. She envies the birds’ ability to fly, and is puzzled by their willingness to remain seemingly cheery when that ability is taken from them. She wants to learn to sing, not literally, but to appreciate life despite her confinement. The song’s brighter, more positive qualities really make it stand out in the otherwise ominous play.

Maria.
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“Maria” is arguably one of the most well-known songs from the musical //West Side Story//. The context: Tony and Maria have just met, and it appears that they have immediately fallen in love, despite their opposing backgrounds. This ballad is sung by Tony, who seems to be so enamored with this girl he has just met that even her name is beautiful to him. It begins with the word “Maria” being spoken, before the actor transitions into his song. Repetition of that name is used quite obviously throughout the lyrics, as to emphasize the subject of Tony’s infatuation. It appears to the audience that he simply cannot say (or rather, sing) her name too many times, because it is “the most beautiful sound [he has] ever heard.” The song starts off soft, but its volume increases rapidly as Tony is caught up in the utter magnificence of this girl he is suddenly in love with. Interestingly, near the end of the song, which is really rather short when compared to //West Side Story//’s other numbers, the speaker compares the sound of her name to two contrasting but all the same wonderful things. Saying “Maria” loudly is like “music playing”, as it has been throughout the ballad. On the other hand, saying it quietly is “almost like praying”, which exemplifies just to what extent Tony reveres and admires Maria. Her being is transposed into her name, and thus the word “Maria” brings complete fascination to the speaker. As the number comes to a close, it ends in a cyclical manner, in pretty much the same way in which it began. The first two lines are simply reversed and repeated as the last two lines of the song. This gives a feeling of completion and closure to the song, and also can be taken to represent the perpetual nature of Tony’s love, as circles are often symbolic of eternity.

Somewhere!
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The song “Somewhere” is a tribute to the endless optimism and hopefulness present in the youth of the world, and specifically in Tony and Maria. This duet between the lovers connects them in their wide-eyed and somewhat naïve hope that they can escape their differences and be together some day. This place that they describe is their own little world, an idealistic hideaway from the world which has been so cruel to them both and has denied the legitimacy of their love for each other. At this point in the production, though they are determined to spend their lives together, they are unsure of exactly how this can happen. This uncertainty is shown by the repetition of the words “somewhere” and “somehow”, which are nonspecific but hold the pure hope that they share. Their situation is unstable and not at all secure, and yet they refuse to let go of their belief that they will one day make it. The questioning nature of the song is further emphasized in the music itself, which includes cadences that have a feeling of being incomplete, as if they are waiting for an answer, a conclusion, just as Tony and Maria are. Those who know //West Side Story// well would probably see ”Somewhere” as a very depressing duet, considering the production has the farthest thing from a happy ending. Despite its tragic finish, however, this song does not give off any sense of foreboding or foreshadowing of catastrophe, which only adds to the sense of youthful optimism prevalent in the number. Audience members who are unfamiliar with the musical could easily be lured into a sense that Tony and Maria will make it, because the hopeful emotions in their duet are rather contagious. It is difficult to successfully impose such positivity into a musical with such a notably heartbreaking conclusion, and yet Sondheim was able to do just that.