Stage Musicals 1970s II: Concept Musicals

History of The Musical Stage
1970s II: Concept Musicals
by John Kenrick
(Copyright 1996-2003)

Sondheim & Prince

Fosse

(The images below are thumbnails – click on them to see larger versions.)

Sondheim & Prince: "A Spark to Pierce the Dark"
The souvenir program for Stephen Sondheim's Follies (1971) featured the striking logo that became a familiar icon to musical fans.

After Stephen Sondheim's ambitious Anyone Can Whistle (1964 - 6) failed, he tried working as lyricist with Richard Rodgers on Do I Hear A Waltz (1965 - 220). Although this underrated score has great charm, the experience left both men embittered. After a five year hiatus, Sondheim returned to Broadway as a composer/lyricist with a fresh and exciting approach. Sondheim worked with producer/director Harold Prince and a series of librettists on shows built around a "concept" (ie - single life vs. marriage, historic culture clashes, bittersweet reunions, etc.). Through this central issue or idea, each show could examine numerous characters and relationships. Aided in their first two efforts by choreographer Michael Bennett, Sondheim and Prince saw their innovative concept musicals become the most acclaimed hits of the early 1970s.

Concept musicals are built around a concept rather than a traditional plot. In One More Kiss: The Broadway Musical in the 1970s (New York: Palgrave, 2003), Ethan Mordden defines a concept musical as "a presentational rather than strictly narrative work that employs out-of-story elements to comment upon and at times take part in the action, utilizing avant-garde techniques to defy unities of time, place and action." Once a subject or situation is raised (marriage, love, finding a job, etc.) characters can comment on or illustrate aspects of the subject. There is a storyline, but it is there to illustrate the central concept.

Prince has expressed displeasure with his shows being classified as concept musicals –

"The whole label that was put on our shows, the whole notion of the 'concept' musical, was one that I really resent. I never wished it on myself. It caused a backlash and animosity towards the shows and us . . . It's called a 'unified' show, an 'integrated' show."
- quoted in Craig Zadan's Sondheim & Co., Harper and Row, New York, 2nd edition, 1986, p. 362)

By any name, the musicals that Prince, Sondheim and their various collaborators offered in the early 1970s re-energized the Broadway musical, setting the genre on a soul-searching course that redefined the genre. Theatre historian Foster Hirsch explains how Prince and Sondheim complemented each other –

Prince galloping ahead while Sondheim holds tightly onto the reins; Prince the affable public relations man, glibly articulating concepts and trajectories, Sondheim leery of publicity; Prince relishing the activity of the rehearsal process, Sondheim disliking it: out of the fusion of their temperamental dissimilarities they have become modernism's answer to Rodgers and Hammerstein – the makers of the self-reflexive musical.
- Harold Prince and The American Musical Theater (New York: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1989, p. 71)

George Furth's libretto for Company (1970 - 706) used Bobby, a single man seeking love in contemporary New York, to focus on the problems and gentle insanities of five couples – Bobby's "good and crazy" married friends – as well as the various single women vying for Bobby's hand. As Bobby confronts the emotional confusion brought on by his thirty-fifth birthday, he realizes that a myriad of friends are no replacement for taking the risk of loving one person. Bennett's choreography embodied everything from a surprise party to the passion of coitus, and Prince's direction kept this bountiful mix in sharp focus.

Dean Jones headed Company's original cast but was replaced early in the run by Larry Kert. Sondheim's score was pure Broadway with a contemporary edge. Much of that edge came from inventive, literate, dramatically potent lyrics. For example, the often-married character Joanne (played by Elaine Stritch) observed that perfect marital relationships are made by the tactics you employ, neighbors you annoy and children you destroy . . . together. Sondheim's marriage of wit and heart was a vibrant continuation of what Berlin, Porter, Ira Gershwin and Oscar Hammerstein II (Sondheim's mentor) had done in earlier eras. But Sondheim's lyrics spoke for a generation in the midst of a cultural and sexual revolution. As no one else before or since, he gave uncertainty and self-exploration a voice.

In Follies (1971 - 522), the book by playwright James Goldman centered on two former showgirls and their spouses assessing embittered marriages while attending a reunion of performers from a Ziegfeld-esque revue. Sondheim evoked various musical styles of the past. While the melodies had a traditional sound, the lyrics often went right for the jugular, ("Could I leave you? Yes! Will I leave you? Guess!"). No musical had ever taken such a frank look at the painful realities of growing older and abandoning one's dreams. Bennett's innovative choreography was a crucial element, showing characters in a parallel past and present. Follies was not a commercial success, but its magnificent score made it a favorite with theatre buffs.

The original cast program for A Little Night Music (1974). Note the garish logo that Playbill soon replaced with a variation of their old black on yellow format.

For A Little Night Music (1973 - 600), Sondheim and librettist Hugh Wheeler had a central love story, but like its inspirational source (Ingmar Bergman's film Smiles of A Summer Night) that romance became an excuse to focus on numerous characters and relationships. As an aging actress (Glynis Johns) tried to re-ignite a past amour with a married attorney (Len Cariou), love was examined from the perspectives of youth, middle age and seniority, creating a haunting, bittersweet collage. Sondheim composed the entire score in variations of waltz time, so even the music was built around a concept. The show's most popular number, "Send In The Clowns," would be the only time a song with words and music by Sondheim became a best-selling pop chart hit.

The following year brought Sondheim's most daring and inventive musical yet, Pacific Overtures (1976 - 193). The book by John Weidman examined how Japan's culture was wrenched when America forced the isolated islands to open to international trade in 1853. The story is told from a Japanese point of view as broad array of characters take the story through the decades, with a finale set in contemporary times (skipping any mention of World War II). The score was one of Sondheim's most intriguing, including musical haiku and pastiches of Sullivan and Offenbach. Highlights included the extended musical scenes "Chrysanthemum Tea," "Please Hello" and "Someone In A Tree" – each so well crafted that they could have been min-musicals in their own right. Sondheim crafted each of these as a self-contained mini-musical, bringing a separate set of characters to life.

Hal Prince adapted ancient kabuki techniques for the staging, using a mostly male Asian cast. Pacific Overtures was so innovative that audiences did not know what to make of it. An Off-Broadway revival in 1984 won critical acclaim, but did not see a much longer run than the original. Perhaps this unique musical will always be too challenging to win mass approval.

Fosse and "All That Jazz"
The souvenir program for Chicago (1975). Eclipsed by the overwhelming success of A Chorus Line, this cynical masterpiece did not get its due until a 1996 Broadway revival and 2002 film version enjoyed overwhelming acclaim.

Bob Fosse reached his creative peak in the 1970s. While turning out acclaimed films and TV specials, he offered Broadway a series of dance-centered musicals where the concept, rather than a traditional plot, drove the show. Fosse's directorial vision took precedence over the book or score, an approach some co-workers referred to as "Fosse Uber Alles." The results were impressive and popular –

Pippin (1972 - 1,944) used the story of Charlemagne's forgotten son as a flimsy excuse to examine jealousy, sex, war, sex, love, sex, life, sex . . . and sex. Fosse barred composer Stephen Schwartz from rehearsals and started making changes. Thanks to Fosse's erotically charged choreography and teasing TV ad, Pippin ran long and toured far. Critics complained about the weak book, but Ben Vereen scored a personal triumph as the show's sensuous narrator, and John Rubenstein – who introduced Schwartz's "Corner of the Sky" – charmed audiences in the title role. The score by Stephen Schwartz included the popular ballad "Corner of the Sky."
Fosse's sexy choreography was also evident in Chicago (1975 - 898), the saga of two 1920s flappers seeking fame through marital homicide. This concept musical cast a cynical, merciless spotlight on social hypocrisy and media-based celebrity. Fosse helped shape the libretto and staged it in a vaudeville format. Gwen Verdon (in her last musical role) and Chita Rivera were the stellar killers, and Jerry Orbach "razzle dazzled" as their ruthless attorney. The John Kander and Fred Ebb score offered a parade of showstoppers, including "All That Jazz." One of the most brilliant and biting musicals Broadway would ever produce, Chicago was overshadowed by the success of A Chorus Line (see below) and did not win a single Tony. It took a 1996 Broadway revival and a 2002 film version to bring this masterwork the attention it deserved.
With Dancin' (1978 - 1,744), Fosse took concept shows a step further and dispensed with a script, building an entire evening of unrelated dance sequences around nothing more than a gifted cast and a title. He relied on pre-existing, non-theatrical musical sources, like Benny Goodman's jazz classic "Sing, Sing, Sing." The public and critics adored the results, making this one of Fosse's most profitable productions, and one of the ultimate director-choreographer hits. Alan Jay Lerner wired Fosse, "Congratulations. You finally did it. You got rid of the author." With demanding choreography that small theatre companies could never hope to recreate, Dancin' had almost no life after its Broadway run.

The 1970s marked the apex of Bob Fosse's career. Along with his stage hits, he helmed several successful feature films, winning the Academy Award for directing the brilliant screen version of Kander and Ebb's Cabaret (1972). Although Fosse never had another original stage hit after Dancin', his legacy as a choreographer and director would outlive him. In 1999, more than a decade after his death, the Broadway dance revue Fosse (supervised by Gwen Verdon) introduced a new generation to this showman's "razzle dazzle" genius.

Others were creating concept musicals, and one would eclipse the rest of the genre. For more on this "singular sensation," as well as the 1970s passion for nostalgia, continue on to . . .

Next: 1970s Part III - A Chorus Line & Revivals