NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� A copy of what's being called Stephen Sondheim's first original cast recording has been found on a misplaced CD, capturing the legendary composer's budding skills in a student-led musical while at Williams College in 1948.
Sondheim was an 18-year-old sophomore when he wrote the music for 鈥淧hinney鈥檚 Rainbow,鈥� a show that had just four performances sponsored by Williams鈥� theatrical organization Cap and Bells.
Paul Salsini, a journalist and the author of the new memoir recently found the CD while putting away material he had amassed for his book and realized it contained 鈥淪ondheim鈥檚 first original cast recording.鈥�
鈥淚 played it and I thought, 鈥楳y goodness, this is really rare,'鈥� Salsini, who also founded and edited The Sondheim Review, told The Associated Press from his home in Milwaukee. 鈥淚t's a find.鈥�
The college show had music by Sondheim and a book and lyrics by Sondheim and another student, Josiah T.S. Horton. Sondheim was at the piano and there was no orchestra.
Salsini suspects Sondheim himself recorded one of the shows on an acetate recorder, noting that his mentor Oscar Hammerstein II had urged him to buy such a device. 鈥淚鈥檓 90% sure that Sondheim put this tape recorder next to his piano.鈥�
The show's title has two playful references 鈥� one to 鈥淔inian鈥檚 Rainbow,鈥� which had recently opened on Broadway, and the other to James Phinney Baxter III, president of Williams.
The show was a satire centered on a school named Swindlehurst Prep, whose students are divided into three types 鈥� athletes, wolves and intellectuals. When the president is away, the students go wild. Salsini calls the humor 鈥渃ollegiate.鈥� In one quip, someone says: 鈥淭he students are revolting.鈥� The reply: 鈥淭he faculty isn鈥檛 so good either.鈥�
Sondheim wrote 25 musical numbers for 鈥淧hinney鈥檚 Rainbow,鈥� including a dream ballet. The show had a cast of 52 students 鈥� all men, since Williams didn't admit women until 1971. The budget was $1,035.
Salsini's CD consists of 19 tracks, for a total running time of 1 hour and 20 minutes. Somehow, the disc had gotten misplaced and he couldn't include it in his book, to his regret. He鈥檚 not sure how he got it in the first place. Salsini believes other copies might be out there, although none have been found at the Library of Congress or Williams, in Massachusetts.
The sound quality is pretty poor 鈥� with laughing and clapping sometimes overwhelming the lyrics 鈥� but the find is thrilling, nonetheless. Many of the songs hint at the musical theater giant to become, like the first act's 鈥淗ow Do I Know?鈥� with clever wordplay: 鈥淎nd I asked you when/ And you said I would know!/But how will I know/When I know that you said 鈥榥o鈥�?/I just don鈥檛 know!鈥�
Salsini points to that song as an early example of a theme that Sondheim would return to often. 鈥淭hat is a precursor for so many of Sondheim鈥檚 songs in which he expresses a longing, a longing for love, a longing for affection, that runs through many of his songs in the course of his career.鈥�
Sondheim, who died in 2021, became a giant in musical theater, influencing several generations of songwriters, particularly with such landmark musicals as 鈥淐ompany,鈥� 鈥淔ollies鈥� and 鈥淪weeney Todd.鈥�
Six of Sondheim鈥檚 musicals won Tony Awards for best score, and he also received a Pulitzer Prize (鈥淪unday in the Park鈥�), an Academy Award (for the song 鈥淪ooner or Later鈥� from the film 鈥淒ick Tracy鈥�), five Olivier Awards and the Presidential Medal of Honor. In 2008, he received a Tony Award for lifetime achievement.
鈥淧hinney鈥檚 Rainbow鈥� gave Sondheim an early professional boost. Cap and Bells signed an agreement with Broadcast Music, Inc. for the rights to publish three songs from the score: 鈥淧hinney鈥檚 Rainbow,鈥� 鈥淗ow Do I Know?鈥� and 鈥淪till Got My Heart.鈥�
Salsini, who earned a journalism degree and a master's from Marquette University and returned there to teach, plans to donate all his Sondheim material to , including the CD. It's open to the public, meaning anyone can hear the music. "This belongs there," he said.
But Salsini knows Sondheim well enough to suspect how he would react. 鈥淗e does not like his juvenilia recovered and made public so I don鈥檛 think he would like this out there,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut that鈥檚 not my concern. I鈥檓 a journalist and this is news.鈥�
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Mark Kennedy is at
Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press
