Sondheim at the disco

Abstract

Songs from Stephen Sondheim’s musicals have occasionally left the theatre to circulate through popular culture – and, in some unusual instances, they have even made their way to the dance floor. This article examines three disco adaptations of Sondheim show tunes: ‘Send in the Clowns’ by Grace Jones, ‘The Ballad of Sweeney Todd’ by Gordon Grody and ‘Losing My Mind’ by Liza Minnelli. Informed by histories of queerness and cultural production, the author interprets these dance tracks as reflections of queer life in the 1970s and 1980s, from gay liberation and radically camp exuberance to the homophobic ‘disco sucks’ backlash and the devastation of AIDS. While casting a critical eye on the artistic merit of these cover versions, the article argues that taking Sondheim from the Broadway stage to the discotheque can create new understandings of the meaning and social significance of a great songwriter’s work.