SONDHEIM MAKES HIS ENTRANCE AGAIN #2

Sondheim revivals are especially appropriate for reimagination, Mr. Nunn continued, because Mr. Sondheim was busting through theatrical conventions starting with his lyrics for “West Side Story” (1957) and “Gypsy” (1959).

Stephen Sondheim“When I first went to see ‘Next to Normal,’ ” Mr. Nunn said, referring to the current Broadway musical about a family’s struggle with depression and loss, “I thought it was a stunning achievement that probably would not have been attempted if Sondheim had not shifted the frontier about what could be achieved by musical theater. And when we revive Sondheim, if done well, the frontiers can move imaginatively again.”

André Bishop, who was artistic director of Playwrights Horizons when the original productions of “Sunday in the Park With George” and “Assassins” were produced there, said that directors were reconsidering not so much Mr. Sondheim as the shows themselves.

“I vividly remember people rushing to the exits during the original ‘Sunday in the Park With George’ on Broadway, putting their heads in their laps and groaning during the initial production of ‘Assassins,’ ” said Mr. Bishop, who is now artistic director of Lincoln Center Theater. “These shows are now considered classics, and it did not really take very long for them to assume that status. Critics and audiences and directors have caught up with Steve.”

Likewise one of Mr. Sondheim’s longtime collaborators, the director and book writer James Lapine, said that the better productions of Mr. Sondheim’s work were not reverential or museum pieces.

“I think it speaks to Sondheim’s inventive work that his shows are and will probably remain challenges to directors and allow for experimentation without overwhelming the material,” said Mr. Lapine, who is preparing a new revue of the composer’s songs, “Sondheim on Sondheim,” for Broadway this spring.

Mr. Sondheim said he believed he had been well served by the revivals so far, including those that received mixed reviews, like “Night Music,” or even unfavorable notices, like “Pacific Overtures” in 2004 and “Follies” in 2001. He has never felt a need to step in and somehow rescue them, he added, and other than casting decisions, is careful about giving notes to directors. His concerns with “Night Music” had to do with the darkness of some lighting arrangements and some diction in need of sharpening. The only disappointment in a major revival that he could come up with involved the choice of theater (Studio 54) for “Pacific Overtures” because the sightlines and other aspects of the house’s configurations “were wrong for what was a beautiful production.”

Theatergoers who are seeing “Night Music” for the first time are having the experience that he intended when he wrote the score and lyrics for the original 1973 production.

“The piece is there, the piece is there,” he said about the current revival production. “I’m just pleased that somebody wants to do it, and that it gets a chance to be seen again, especially since some of these shows had very limited runs the very first time out. It’s a greater pleasure when these pieces get another outing.”

And while keeping tabs and offering perspective on revivals would be enough for a day job, with the two theater books as his night job, Mr. Sondheim is still at it writing new songs. “I’m just nibbling at shows,” he said. As for a new full-length musical? “Certainly hoping so,” he said.