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No One Is Alone (song)

October 21, 2023

"No One Is Alone" is a song by Stephen Sondheim from the musical Into the Woods, performed toward the end of Act II as the piece's penultimate number.

Production Edit

During the show's tryouts at the Old Globe theatre, this song was absent. The LA Times recounts: "At that point, there was simply a spot in the 'Woods' script that said 'quartet for Cinderella, Red Riding Hood, Baker and Jack.' During intermission at a Wednesday evening performance, Sondheim showed up with 'No One Is Alone.' He played it for the cast after the show that night, and it was part of the score by Friday. The next day Sondheim and Lapine left for New York."[1] There was initially an issue over whether the song had been inspired by a preexisting poem.[2] James Lapine explained to LA Weekly that he killed the Baker's Wife in Act II because in real life, tragedies happen to human beings, and quoting "No One Is Alone," "Sometimes people leave you halfway through the woods".[3] Stephen Sondheim liked the duality of the title, which trumped the alternate title of "No Man Is An Island".[4]

In 1994, lyrics from the song was emblazoned on a signed charity t-shirt for the Minnesota AIDS Project.[5]

Rob Marshall recounted a story where he heard President Barack Obama quote the song during a speech at the 10th anniversary of 9/11, which inspired him to direct the film version of the stage musical.[6] Half of the number was cut for the film.[7]

Context Edit

In the musical, this song is sung during Act II, as the four remaining leads (Baker, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack) try to understand the consequences of their wishes, and begin to decide to place community wishes over their own. In the musical, the song is interrupted by the arrival of the Giant, but the uninterrupted version appears on the cast album.

The song serves a dual purpose to demonstrate that even when life throws its greatest challenges, you do not have to face them alone and there are still people who love you, and secondly that each of your actions are not made in a bubble and that you are not guaranteed to be the protagonist of your own story.[4][8]

Critical reception and analysis Edit

In 1987, Frank Rich of The New York Times described the song as "cathartic" and "beautiful", and thought the song's "terrifying opening admonition" of mother cannot guide you as a callback to the frantic rant in the Gypsy number "Rose's Turn".[9] In 2014, the publication's Stephen Holden suggested that the song was a " double-edged lullaby" due to "acknowledg[ing] that everyone is ultimately alone" while asserting that the "shared understanding of that isolation makes life bearable".[10] The LA Times thought the song was "remarkable".[11] While claiming that the song has the potential to come across as "unearned sentimentality", Vanity thought the crew of the original stage version managed to turn the song into an "affirmation of the newfound society of sorts that represents a clearing in the woods".[12] New York Magazine thought the song was the closest to being a self-contained tune, as opposed to the others which come across as musical "foreplay".[13] The Cambridge Companion to the Musical suggests the song is a "benevolent anthem to outsiders".[14][15]

The LA Times also commented on the switch from "individually sought wish-fulfillment" to "togetherness" that becomes realised in this song.[16] Chris Bay described the song as a "magnificent double duet" in his essay A Look Behind Into the Woods.[17] In Don Whittaker and Missy Wigley's essay Once Upon a Time to...Happily Ever After, cited the song's universal theme that permeates throughout Sondheim's work, from Bobby in Company to George in Sunday In The Park With George to Fosca in Passion.[18] Into The Woods cinematographer Dion Beebe asserted that the song accurately sums up the struggles and challenges of life: "you will lose people in the Woods as you go and your expectations will change as you experience the joys and sadness of life."[19] The book You Could Drive a Person Crazy: Chronicle of an American Theatre Company stated that the second meaning of the reassuring and positive song, which is a warning and caution for how one's actions affect others, "raises this show out of the ordinary".[20] The book Sondheim and Lloyd-Webber: The New Musical and New York Magazine both suggest the song has an aural resemblance to The Candy Man.[21][13] The song has the form of AABA.[22] The song is frequently compared with You'll Never Walk Alone from Carousel,[23][24] which You've Got to Have a Dream: The Message of the Musical rejects.[23] In analysing how the second act relies on a sense of accumulated community wisdom, Reading Stephen Sondheim: A Collection of Critical Essays draws ties between this song and an earlier number called It Takes Two,[25] which was originally included as a reprise in the Act II finale in the pre-Broadway tryouts.

Bustle ranked the song at #2 in a ranked list of songs from the film version.[26] The book Walking in the Wonder: A Memoir of Gratitude for a Lifetime of Miracles' states the number is the "hit song" of the show.[2]

Covers Edit

The song was covered in the Glee episode "Bash", in which Kurt Hummel's friends rally around him after he is the victim of a gay bashing, while trying to defend another gay man from being attacked.[27]

Jazz artist Cleo Laine recorded a version of the song for her album Cleo Laine Sings Sondheim, which secured Jonathan Tunick the 1988 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)/Best Background Arrangement.[2][28]

The film version of the song was nominated for an OFTA Film Award for Best Music, Adapted Song, along with two other numbers from the production.[29]

Judy Collins recorded a cover of the song on her album "A Love Letter to Sondheim" in 2017.

The American jazz composer Fred Hersch composed a piece "No One Is Alone" for Liaisons: Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano inspired by the Sondheim song.[30]

The song was performed by Mandy Patinkin as Satan in the Touched By An Angel episode "Netherlands" when he tempts Monica to climb to the top of a cliff and jump off.

Bernadette Peters, who originated the role of the Witch in the Broadway production, sang the song for Take Me to the World: A Sondheim 90th Birthday Celebration.

References Edit

  1. ^ ISENBERG, BARBARA (8 January 1989). "Sondheim Isn't Quite Out of the 'Woods' : The composer/lyricist hones his present musical even as he plunges into new projects" – via LA Times.
  2. ^ a b c Wright, Jannie (2011-06-01). Walking in the Wonder: A Memoir of Gratitude for a Lifetime of Miracles. AuthorHouse. ISBN 9781456755959.
  3. ^ Weston, Eve (2014-12-29). "Does Into the Woods Punish a Wife for Adultery and Not a Husband?". L.A. Weekly. Retrieved 2016-11-28.
  4. ^ a b Gordon, Joanne (2009-06-16). Art Isn't Easy: The Theater of Stephen Sondheim. Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0786748242.
  5. ^ The Advocate. Here Publishing. 1994-07-12.
  6. ^ "The Surprising Way Barack Obama Inspired 'Into The Woods'". Huffington Post Australia. 16 December 2014. Retrieved 2016-11-28.
  7. ^ Robinson, Joanna. "Listen to Meryl Streep, Anna Kendrick, and More Sing the Entire Into the Woods Soundtrack". HWD. Retrieved 2016-11-28.
  8. ^ "Stephen Sondheim Stage: Into the Words".
  9. ^ "Stage: 'Into the Woods,' from Sondheim". The New York Times.
  10. ^ Holden, Stephen (2014-12-24). "'Into the Woods,' Disney's Take on the Sondheim-Lapine Classic". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-11-28.
  11. ^ DRAKE, SYLVIE (9 March 1993). "THEATER REVIEW : 'Into the Woods' Makes for a Potent Revival" – via LA Times.
  12. ^ Wolf, Matt (7 December 1998). "Review: 'Into the Woods'".
  13. ^ a b New York Magazine. New York Media, LLC. 1987-11-16.
  14. ^ Learning, Gale, Cengage (2016). A Study Guide for Stephen Sondheim's "Into the Woods". Gale, Cengage Learning. ISBN 9781410349798.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ Everett, Nicholas; Laird, Paul R. (2002-12-09). The Cambridge Companion to the Musical. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521796392.
  16. ^ SULLIVAN, DAN (14 November 1987). "Notes of Praise for 'Into the Woods'" – via LA Times.
  17. ^ "Stephen Sondheim Stage".
  18. ^ "Stephen Sondheim Stage".
  19. ^ Desowitz, Bill (2 January 2015). "How They Turned Sondheim's 'Into the Woods' into a Post-9/11 Metaphor (VIDEO) | IndieWire". www.indiewire.com. Retrieved 2016-11-28.
  20. ^ Miller, Scott (2002-01-01). You Could Drive a Person Crazy: Chronicle of an American Theatre Company. iUniverse. ISBN 9780595263110.
  21. ^ Citron, Stephen (2001-01-01). Sondheim and Lloyd-Webber: The New Musical. Oxford University Press. p. 307. ISBN 9780195096019. No One Is Alone into the woods.
  22. ^ Craig, David (2000-04-01). On Singing Onstage. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 9781557839879.
  23. ^ a b Bradley, Ian C. (2005-01-01). You've Got to Have a Dream: The Message of the Musical. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 9780664228545.
  24. ^ Greenspan, Charlotte (2010-09-01). Pick Yourself Up: Dorothy Fields and the American Musical. Oxford University Press. p. 186. ISBN 9780199723089. No One Is Alone into the woods.
  25. ^ Goodhart, Sandor (2013-10-28). Reading Stephen Sondheim: A Collection of Critical Essays. Routledge. ISBN 9781136525957.
  26. ^ Thomas, Leah. "All 18 Songs in 'Into the Woods' Ranked From Worst to Best". Retrieved 2016-11-28.
  27. ^ "'Glee' Recap: It Gets Harder in NYC as Show Addresses Gay-Bashing and Race". Billboard. Retrieved 2016-11-28.
  28. ^ "Cleo Laine Sings Sondheim - Cleo Laine | Awards | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-11-28.
  29. ^ Marshall, Rob (2014-12-25), Into the Woods, retrieved 2016-11-29
  30. ^ Huizenga, Tom; Tsioulcas, Anastasia (December 17, 2015). "Our 10 Favorite Classical Albums Of 2015". NPR.

October 21, 2023
alone, song, alone, song, stephen, sondheim, from, musical, into, woods, performed, toward, piece, penultimate, number, contents, production, context, critical, reception, analysis, covers, referencesproduction, editduring, show, tryouts, globe, theatre, this,. No One Is Alone is a song by Stephen Sondheim from the musical Into the Woods performed toward the end of Act II as the piece s penultimate number Contents 1 Production 2 Context 3 Critical reception and analysis 4 Covers 5 ReferencesProduction EditDuring the show s tryouts at the Old Globe theatre this song was absent The LA Times recounts At that point there was simply a spot in the Woods script that said quartet for Cinderella Red Riding Hood Baker and Jack During intermission at a Wednesday evening performance Sondheim showed up with No One Is Alone He played it for the cast after the show that night and it was part of the score by Friday The next day Sondheim and Lapine left for New York 1 There was initially an issue over whether the song had been inspired by a preexisting poem 2 James Lapine explained to LA Weekly that he killed the Baker s Wife in Act II because in real life tragedies happen to human beings and quoting No One Is Alone Sometimes people leave you halfway through the woods 3 Stephen Sondheim liked the duality of the title which trumped the alternate title of No Man Is An Island 4 In 1994 lyrics from the song was emblazoned on a signed charity t shirt for the Minnesota AIDS Project 5 Rob Marshall recounted a story where he heard President Barack Obama quote the song during a speech at the 10th anniversary of 9 11 which inspired him to direct the film version of the stage musical 6 Half of the number was cut for the film 7 Context EditIn the musical this song is sung during Act II as the four remaining leads Baker Cinderella Little Red Riding Hood Jack try to understand the consequences of their wishes and begin to decide to place community wishes over their own In the musical the song is interrupted by the arrival of the Giant but the uninterrupted version appears on the cast album The song serves a dual purpose to demonstrate that even when life throws its greatest challenges you do not have to face them alone and there are still people who love you and secondly that each of your actions are not made in a bubble and that you are not guaranteed to be the protagonist of your own story 4 8 Critical reception and analysis EditIn 1987 Frank Rich of The New York Times described the song as cathartic and beautiful and thought the song s terrifying opening admonition of mother cannot guide you as a callback to the frantic rant in the Gypsy number Rose s Turn 9 In 2014 the publication s Stephen Holden suggested that the song was a double edged lullaby due to acknowledg ing that everyone is ultimately alone while asserting that the shared understanding of that isolation makes life bearable 10 The LA Times thought the song was remarkable 11 While claiming that the song has the potential to come across as unearned sentimentality Vanity thought the crew of the original stage version managed to turn the song into an affirmation of the newfound society of sorts that represents a clearing in the woods 12 New York Magazine thought the song was the closest to being a self contained tune as opposed to the others which come across as musical foreplay 13 The Cambridge Companion to the Musical suggests the song is a benevolent anthem to outsiders 14 15 The LA Times also commented on the switch from individually sought wish fulfillment to togetherness that becomes realised in this song 16 Chris Bay described the song as a magnificent double duet in his essay A Look Behind Into the Woods 17 In Don Whittaker and Missy Wigley s essay Once Upon a Time to Happily Ever After cited the song s universal theme that permeates throughout Sondheim s work from Bobby in Company to George in Sunday In The Park With George to Fosca in Passion 18 Into The Woods cinematographer Dion Beebe asserted that the song accurately sums up the struggles and challenges of life you will lose people in the Woods as you go and your expectations will change as you experience the joys and sadness of life 19 The book You Could Drive a Person Crazy Chronicle of an American Theatre Company stated that the second meaning of the reassuring and positive song which is a warning and caution for how one s actions affect others raises this show out of the ordinary 20 The book Sondheim and Lloyd Webber The New Musical and New York Magazine both suggest the song has an aural resemblance to The Candy Man 21 13 The song has the form of AABA 22 The song is frequently compared with You ll Never Walk Alone from Carousel 23 24 which You ve Got to Have a Dream The Message of the Musical rejects 23 In analysing how the second act relies on a sense of accumulated community wisdom Reading Stephen Sondheim A Collection of Critical Essays draws ties between this song and an earlier number called It Takes Two 25 which was originally included as a reprise in the Act II finale in the pre Broadway tryouts Bustle ranked the song at 2 in a ranked list of songs from the film version 26 The book Walking in the Wonder A Memoir of Gratitude for a Lifetime of Miracles states the number is the hit song of the show 2 Covers EditThe song was covered in the Glee episode Bash in which Kurt Hummel s friends rally around him after he is the victim of a gay bashing while trying to defend another gay man from being attacked 27 Jazz artist Cleo Laine recorded a version of the song for her album Cleo Laine Sings Sondheim which secured Jonathan Tunick the 1988 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist s Best Background Arrangement 2 28 The film version of the song was nominated for an OFTA Film Award for Best Music Adapted Song along with two other numbers from the production 29 Judy Collins recorded a cover of the song on her album A Love Letter to Sondheim in 2017 The American jazz composer Fred Hersch composed a piece No One Is Alone for Liaisons Re Imagining Sondheim from the Piano inspired by the Sondheim song 30 The song was performed by Mandy Patinkin as Satan in the Touched By An Angel episode Netherlands when he tempts Monica to climb to the top of a cliff and jump off Bernadette Peters who originated the role of the Witch in the Broadway production sang the song for Take Me to the World A Sondheim 90th Birthday Celebration References Edit ISENBERG BARBARA 8 January 1989 Sondheim Isn t Quite Out of the Woods The composer lyricist hones his present musical even as he plunges into new projects via LA Times a b c Wright Jannie 2011 06 01 Walking in the Wonder A Memoir of Gratitude for a Lifetime of Miracles AuthorHouse ISBN 9781456755959 Weston Eve 2014 12 29 Does Into the Woods Punish a Wife for Adultery and Not a Husband L A Weekly Retrieved 2016 11 28 a b Gordon Joanne 2009 06 16 Art Isn t Easy The Theater of Stephen Sondheim Da Capo Press ISBN 978 0786748242 The Advocate Here Publishing 1994 07 12 The Surprising Way Barack Obama Inspired Into The Woods Huffington Post Australia 16 December 2014 Retrieved 2016 11 28 Robinson Joanna Listen to Meryl Streep Anna Kendrick and More Sing the Entire Into the Woods Soundtrack HWD Retrieved 2016 11 28 Stephen Sondheim Stage Into the Words Stage Into the Woods from Sondheim The New York Times Holden Stephen 2014 12 24 Into the Woods Disney s Take on the Sondheim Lapine Classic The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved 2016 11 28 DRAKE SYLVIE 9 March 1993 THEATER REVIEW Into the Woods Makes for a Potent Revival via LA Times Wolf Matt 7 December 1998 Review Into the Woods a b New York Magazine New York Media LLC 1987 11 16 Learning Gale Cengage 2016 A Study Guide for Stephen Sondheim s Into the Woods Gale Cengage Learning ISBN 9781410349798 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Everett Nicholas Laird Paul R 2002 12 09 The Cambridge Companion to the Musical Cambridge University Press ISBN 9780521796392 SULLIVAN DAN 14 November 1987 Notes of Praise for Into the Woods via LA Times Stephen Sondheim Stage Stephen Sondheim Stage Desowitz Bill 2 January 2015 How They Turned Sondheim s Into the Woods into a Post 9 11 Metaphor VIDEO IndieWire www indiewire com Retrieved 2016 11 28 Miller Scott 2002 01 01 You Could Drive a Person Crazy Chronicle of an American Theatre Company iUniverse ISBN 9780595263110 Citron Stephen 2001 01 01 Sondheim and Lloyd Webber The New Musical Oxford University Press p 307 ISBN 9780195096019 No One Is Alone into the woods Craig David 2000 04 01 On Singing Onstage Hal Leonard Corporation ISBN 9781557839879 a b Bradley Ian C 2005 01 01 You ve Got to Have a Dream The Message of the Musical Westminster John Knox Press ISBN 9780664228545 Greenspan Charlotte 2010 09 01 Pick Yourself Up Dorothy Fields and the American Musical Oxford University Press p 186 ISBN 9780199723089 No One Is Alone into the woods Goodhart Sandor 2013 10 28 Reading Stephen Sondheim A Collection of Critical Essays Routledge ISBN 9781136525957 Thomas Leah All 18 Songs in Into the Woods Ranked From Worst to Best Retrieved 2016 11 28 Glee Recap It Gets Harder in NYC as Show Addresses Gay Bashing and Race Billboard Retrieved 2016 11 28 Cleo Laine Sings Sondheim Cleo Laine Awards AllMusic AllMusic Retrieved 2016 11 28 Marshall Rob 2014 12 25 Into the Woods retrieved 2016 11 29 Huizenga Tom Tsioulcas Anastasia December 17 2015 Our 10 Favorite Classical Albums Of 2015 NPR Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title No One Is Alone song amp oldid 1177663980, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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