Stephen Sondheim passed away on November 26, 2021 but the immortality of his songs has never been in question. Right now, there is a multi-decade film of Merrily We Roll Along being filmed under the direction of Richard Linklater—starring Paul Mescal, Ben Platt, and Beanie Feldstein—in “real time”—which will then be edited backwards. A filmed version of the Broadway smash revival starring Jonathan Groff, Daniel Radcliffe, and Lindsay Mendez played in cineplexes through the end of last year but can still be livestreamed. Also in 2025, countless tribute shows by artists like Melissa Errico, Beth Leavel, and the granddaddy of them all, Sondheim Unplugged, graced cabaret and club stages internationally, and Broadway saw Old Friends, a Cameron Mackintosh tribute. Jonathan Bailey and Ariana Grande will bring Sunday in the Park with George to the West End next summer. 

This past fall, no fewer than three tribute albums have been released; they vary greatly in style, sound, and success:

Steve Ross—Steve Ross Sings Sondheim (with friends)

In 2015, legendary singer/pianist Steve Ross released Good Thing Going, his first Sondheim recording. It is well worth a search and offers his crisply delivered, personal earlier takes on any number of classic songs – so much so, that I hoped that this new album would have a more adventurous repertoire but apart from a couple of lovely surprises that is not the case. There are some terrific arrangements on display, well played by Dennis Buck, and while uncredited, the arrangements were probably by Buck and Ross.  

I will get to the “friends” in the title in a moment but first a few of Ross’s memorable tracks, beginning with an emotionally-wrenching “Good Thing Going” (from Merrily We Roll Along), with memories bathed in fragile regret. The irrepressible animation of “All I Need is the Girl” (w/Jule Styne, from Gypsy) is classic Steve Ross, who all but trademarked effervescence in the finest of New York’s nightclubs. “Remember” (from A Little Night Music), in his beautifully phrased version, flashes its pedigree as a relative (no matter how distant) from “I Remember It Well” from Gigi.  One of his unearthed treasures is “I’ve Got You to Lean On”( from Anyone Can Whistle) which he pairs nicely with “You’ll Never Get Away from Me” (w/ Styne from Gypsy). A real find is his medley of two rarely done songs from Do I Hear a Waltz (w/ Richard Rodgers), “Someone Like You” and “Stay,” with a lovely intro lifted from A Little Night Music’s “The Sun Won’t Set.” 

The “friends” on the album are singers Laura Lavelle and Benjamin Weil. One would have thought that just their proximity to their host would have given them some phrasing help, picking up Ross’s style by musical osmosis, but that is not the case. They each insist on holding the end notes of every line (especially irritating on duets and trios where Ross decidedly does not) which only exacerbates the phrasing, vibrato, and pitch problems that circle their performances. Lavelle gets a reprieve of sorts in a dramatic “Losing My Mind” (from Follies). Weil likewise gets to relax a bit on “Nothing’s Gonna Harm You” (from Sweeney Todd) until his declamatory, forced delivery does him in.

This is one for completists (of Ross and/or Sondheim) but I would recommend the 2015 release.  

Produced by Steve Ross and released on Harbinger Records.

Jimmie Herrod— Pretty Is What Changes

Most will be familiar with singer Jimmie Herrod from his electrifying appearances on America’s Got Talent, starting with his brilliant audition, “Tomorrow” from Annie, ignoring judge Simon Cowell’s insistence that he sing any other song. Others may know him from his tours and recordings with Pink Martini. For his first full-length solo recording Pretty Is What Changes, he has chosen Sondheim, with a vengeance. The obvious intent is to take the master in a direction he is rarely taken, with arrangements that vary from unusual to just this side of unrecognizable but his clarion vocals and effortless, expansive falsetto in addition to his spectacularly individual phrasing are up to the task. A truly adventurous song selection helps immensely, and co-producer John Beasley’s accompaniment and orchestrations are constantly thrilling.

A look at tracks like “A Bowler Hat” and “There Is No Other Way” (from Pacific Overtures), “Beautiful” (from Sunday in the Park with George), and “Wait” (from Sweeney Todd) reveal that his song choices are as adventurous as his attack on them. “Losing My Mind” (from Follies) descends into a scat section that reinforces the title. His “Kiss Me” (from Sweeney Todd) is worthy of Kurt Weill, filled with wild melodrama and vocal pyrotechnics. A moving, contemplative “Stay with Me” (from Into the Woods) is mesmerizing. A wildly romantic and swooning “Pretty Women” (from Sweeney Tood) comes closest to its original form but even here Beasley’s piano and Herrod’s octave-leaping place it on the same rarified level as the rest of the recording. The delights of “Everybody Loves Louis” (from Sunday in the Park with George) are a complete surprise, while the rhythmically complex “Nothing’s Gonna Harm You” from Sweeney Todd) has an almost Eastern feel that is captivating.

For this Sondheim aficionado, the success of Jimmie Herrod’s Pretty is What Changes is astonishing.  I am not sure what non-Sondheim listeners or purists will think, but I love it!  

Produced by Jimmie Herrod and John Beasley and released on Herrod‘s indie record label.

Ian Shaw—Stephensong: Ian Shaw Sings Stephen Sondheim

Ian Shaw has long been considered one of the UK’s finest jazz and cabaret performers and, as a singer and recording artist, has created an impressively large and varied body of work (including previous tributes to Joni Mitchell, Fran Landesman, Ray Charles, and David Bowie) while his career as an actor reaches full flower in his clear, personal, unique storytelling within songs; his choices and interpretations reflect his life as an activist and a gay man.  All of this leads us to his perhaps inevitable investigation of the songs of Stephen Sondheim. His partnership with pianist Barry Green is a true collaboration and makes each number a conversation between two artists.  They bring strength, style, sweat, intimacy, heart, and soul to the entire project. Treating each song (untethered from the musicals that spawned them) as a monologue delivered by the same man gives the project a power and energy that transforms it. 

Right from the top, “Everybody Says Don’t” (from Anyone Can Whistle) takes on a political depth. That in turn makes “No One is Alone” (from Into the Woods) take on societal echoes with “…things can come out right now. We can make it so.” as an extension of the opening number. His vocals are a blend of actorly simplicity and musical sophistication that sets him apart from a lot of his contemporaries. And it is a hard heart that will not be moved by his gentle falsetto at the climax of the song. His almost innocent longing in “Take Me to the World” (from Evening Primrose) is heartbreaking. The rising strength of “Marry Me a Little” has a heady mix of demand, desire, and desperation. The urban dreamscape of “Another Hundred People” has a moving urgency, underscored brilliantly by Green’s piano. The usual histrionics movingly downplayed for most of “Being Alive” adds to the success and connection of this unspoken trilogy from the life of a gay man from Company (which the composer never allowed to happen on stage).  

Green’s truly inspired accompaniment on “Good Thing Going” (from Merrily We Roll Along) and the simple honesty of Shaw’s delivery make this my favorite version of an oft-recorded and performed song. The raw emotion and need in “Anyone Can Whistle” likewise sets it apart as a desperate confession. “Children Will Listen” (from Into the Woods) in this instance is informed by all that has come before and becomes a lesson learned. And that lesson becomes evident in a deeply moving, grown-up “Somewhere” (w/Leonard Bernstein, from West Side Story).  Stephensong is Ian Shaw’s masterwork—but there is still time for many more to come.  

Executive produced by Charlotte Keech and released on Silent Wish Records.

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