A Brief Introduction To Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American songwriter who was born in New York on the 22nd of March 1930. His parents, Herbert and Janet Sondheim, got divorced when he was 12, in 1942. Sondheim then moved to Doylestown, Pennsylvania with his mother. There, he attended George school where he developed interest in practicing songwriting. He also began to learn the piano and organ at a young age. When he got to secondary school, Sondheim began studying the piano more seriously.
A close neighbour of Sondheim was Broadway lyricist, Oscar Hammerstein who soon became his close mentor in the art of musical theatre. When he was 15, Sondheim wrote his first musical, By George, and asked his mentor for feedback. At the time, Sondheim expected Hammerstein to praise his great work, however Hammerstein returned the piece saying it was the worst musical he had read. This inspired Sondheim to improve
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Acts would continuously change from acts such as mind readers to showy acts, to contortionists or cyclists. No act was labelled too eccentric for the audience, as any act was a form of entertainment. They accepted anyone with talent to perform, and there was no was no barriers between race, gender and appearance. Keith and Albee ensured that the plays were clean theatre. They ensured restriction of profanity, and any act which displayed negative or sexual messages.
Successful Vaudeville shows were defined as those shows who could tour for forty minutes. As ticket prices were cheaper, more people would pay money to watch a Vaudeville show. There were three different venues to perform in, they are compared by big venues, medium and small time. The big theatres would be in the best cities with many performances a week and the pay was high. Which is extremely different to small theatres, which could be a group performing in a coffee