Putting It Together: The Broadway Musicals of Stephen Sondheim
Jaren S. Hinckley, Music

Stephen Sondheim is often eclipsed in the history books by such great Broadway musical creators as Rodgers and Hammerstein, Rodgers and Hart, Lerner and Loewe, Kander and Ebb, Frank Loesser, Elton John and Tim Rice, Andrew Lloyd Webber, etc., yet his musicals consistently win top awards at the American Theater Wing Tony Awards; one of his musicals won the Pulitzer Prize. His fans are often rabid in their loyalty to him and his works. His detractors are often equally rabid in their criticisms. Why? What do his musicals contain that result in such divergent views?

This course will attempt to answer these questions by surveying the career of Sondheim and focusing on his compositional techniques and lyric-writing abilities. Through close readings students will gain a greater understanding of Sondheim’s creations and his influence on the world of musical theater.