Williams College Celebrates Stephen Sondheim's Impact on Musical Theater
As Sondheim turns 90, the college's most famous alum is sung, dramatized and debated in a jam-packed series open to the public.
Stephen Sondheim's yearbook photo (photo courtesy of Williams College); Anthony de Mare performance poster.
The upcoming celebration of composer Stephen Sondheim at Williams College in Williamstown, Mass. is for a.) Sondheim fans; b.) Broadway musical enthusiasts; c.) people seeking free (or almost free) vocal, orchestral and chamber music concerts, a theater production, and an academic symposium related to Sondheim and Broadway. Not to mention a related exhibition of Sondheim’s experience at Williams.
I’m betting you’ll fit into at least one of those categories.
It’s a very Sondheim-celebratory year, owing to the composer and lyricist turning 90. But Sondheim is also a Williams Class of 1950 graduate, and to honor his life and legacy that have influenced generations of people throughout the world — including countless Williams students — the college is presenting a series of events titled Sondheim@90@Williams, most happening between March 5-12.
The series has been a few years in the making, said Williams music professor Anthony Sheppard. Two years ago, when he offered his Broadway musical course for the first time, he reached out to Sondheim to ask if there was any way the composer would be willing to speak to the class. To his surprise, he said yes.
“He spoke via Skype to my class the entire period,” Sheppard said. “He had a great time, the students had a great time. It was the highlight of the course.”
Sondheim is the blind seer at the left in a Williams production of "Oedipus Rex." Photo courtesy of the Sawyer Library at Williams College.
Last spring, when Sheppard started thinking about repeating the class, he realized that he’d be teaching it as Sondheim turned 90, and during the year of his 70th reunion. Sheppard, thinking the college should do something to mark these occasions, started inquiring campus wide if there was interest.
“In every case, whoever I asked, they said yes,” Sheppard said. “The theater department was happy to put on a brand-new play about Williams during the time Sondheim was there. They also reached out to Cap & Bells, the student-run theater group — which Sondheim was a member of — to present a production of ‘A Little Night Music.’ All of the scholars I asked instantly agreed to participate, and each of the alumni performers I invited said yes.”
First up, on March 3, the Department of Music presents pianist Anthony de Mare, a contemporary music champion, who will perform “Liasons 2020: Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano, Celebrating Stephen Sondheim at 90.” (He will also be giving a master class, open to the public, on March 2.) On March 5, the Williams Chamber Players — faculty musicians — will perform one of Sondheim’s early piano works, Concertino for Two Pianos, a piece that the precocious composer wrote as an assignment for his professor, Robert Barrow, as well as pieces that influenced him.
On Friday, March 6, the alumni concert will offer Sondheim solos, duets and ensemble numbers. The graduates, from 1999-2018, all have impressive bios (with Broadway and TV cred among them).
The symposium, which is open to the public, runs March 6-7, with academics from throughout North America speaking on topics such as “Finishing the Line: Wit, Rhythm, and Rhyme in Sondheim;” “'Who’s That Woman?': Performing Gender in Sondheim’s Musicals;” and “Sondheim and the Actors Studio: Early Contacts, Later Resonances.” One of the speakers, James O’Leary, is a Williams alum.
At rehearsal for "Our Time," Omar Sangare, one of the play's creators, shapes a scene with True Pham '23. Photo courtesy Williams College.
The Williams Department of Theatre gets into the act with “Our Time,” a new play exploring Williams College in the time of Sondheim, written by Ilya Khodish (’08). Performances are March 5, 7, 12, 13 and 14. The Cap & Bells’ “A Little Night Music” will be offered March 6-8.
The coda to the series, on March 13, will be The Berkshire Symphony presenting its premiere of a commissioned work composed by Kevin Kaska based on Sondheim’s music. And finally, on view throughout March is the exhibition “Sondheim Memorabilia from the College Archives” at the Sawyer Library.
Although Sondheim himself is not able to attend (there are, after all, many 90th-birthday events happening around the country), Sheppard has been in touch with him off and on.
“He was flattered and embarrassed,” Sheppard said.
Full calendar lineup for Sondheim@90@Williams is available here.
