Being Alive
Encyclopedia
"Being Alive" is a song from the musical Company
by George Furth
with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
. The song appears at the end of Act II and is sung by the main character, Robert, a 35 year old bachelor who at the show's end “. . . realizes being a lone wolf isn't all it's cracked up to be . . . he declares that he wants to take the chance, be afraid, get his heart broken - or whatever happens when you decide to love and be loved."
"Being Alive" was first recorded by Dean Jones
who originated the role of Robert on Broadway
in 1970. "Being Alive" has become popular outside its original musical setting, and although written for a male part is frequently performed by women. The song has been performed in concert, on the stage, or in the studio by Bernadette Peters
, Patti LuPone
, Barbra Streisand
, Margaret Whiting
, Lea Salonga
, Ute Lemper
, Lauren Samuels
, and Raul Esparza
among others.
“Being Alive” replaced the song “Happily Ever After” which was cut from Company
because it was considered too dark to serve as a closing number. According to cultural critic Jeremy McCarter, Sondheim
has never been happy with “Being Alive” as the finale for Company
calling it “a cop-out.”
by George Furth
with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
. The song is sung by the main character, Robert (Bobby), who is facing his 35th birthday and the prospect of living the rest of his life alone. Prior to singing "Being Alive," Robert reflects on the relationships of five couples, his “. . . good and crazy married friends—Susan and Peter, Sarah and Harry, Amy and Paul, Jenny and David, and Joanne and Larry . . ." along with the relationships he has with three of his “girlfriends—April, Kathy, and Marta . . ." While each relationship has its problems, Robert concludes that life is better lived with someone rather than alone.
who originated the role of Robert on Broadway
in 1970. "Being Alive" has become popular outside its original musical setting, and although written for a male part is frequently performed by women. The song has been performed in concert, on the stage, or in the studio by Bernadette Peters
, Patti LuPone
, Barbra Streisand
, Margaret Whiting
, Lea Salonga
, Ute Lemper
, and Lauren Samuels
, among others. Raul Esparza
was a nominee at the 2007 Tony Awards for his role in Company
and performed the song on the awards show.
had already been recognized with three Tony Award®
Best Musical nominations and two winners . He had musicals like West Side Story
(1958) and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
(1963) already to his credit. When Sondheim came around to “transform the American Musical” with the “concept musical”, Company
would return home with six Tony Awards
of its own. However, "Being Alive" has not always been Company's
famous finale. There were four attempts to fill this gap in the show, and still, according to cultural critic Jeremy McCarter, “Sondheim has never been satisfied with the result, calling [“Being Alive”] ‘a cop-out.’”
The first of these attempts was with a song entitled "Multitudes of Amys", but as Sondheim describes “George Furth [author] transferred the situation in which it was to be sung – Robert’s proposal to Amy – to Act One and the song had to be replaced.” The second attempt was “Marry Me A Little.” Sondheim commented that on this try he knew halfway through the writing process that it would not work for the character, and the only reason he finished the song was as “a favor for a friend who loved it.” The third attempt came with “Happily Ever After” which even made it to the Boston tryout before it had to be replaced because it was “deemed too dark to serve as a closing number.” Hence, Sondheim’s fourth and final attempt was made with "Being Alive" in which he tried to express the same thoughts as “Happily Ever After,” but in a more optimistic way. Finally, "Being Alive" has become the recognized internationally acclaimed closing to Sondheim’s Company
.
Company (musical)
Company is a musical with a book by George Furth and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The original production was nominated for a record-setting fourteen Tony Awards and won six....
by George Furth
George Furth
George Furth was an American librettist, playwright, and actor.-Biography:Furth was born George Schweinfurth in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Evelyn and George Schweinfurth...
with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
. The song appears at the end of Act II and is sung by the main character, Robert, a 35 year old bachelor who at the show's end “. . . realizes being a lone wolf isn't all it's cracked up to be . . . he declares that he wants to take the chance, be afraid, get his heart broken - or whatever happens when you decide to love and be loved."
"Being Alive" was first recorded by Dean Jones
Dean Jones
Dean Jones is the name of:*Dean Jones , an Australian cricketer*Dean Jones , an American actor*Dean Jones , the singer of Extreme Noise TerrorSee also:*Jones...
who originated the role of Robert on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
in 1970. "Being Alive" has become popular outside its original musical setting, and although written for a male part is frequently performed by women. The song has been performed in concert, on the stage, or in the studio by Bernadette Peters
Bernadette Peters
Bernadette Peters is an American actress, singer and children's book author from Ozone Park, Queens, New York. Over the course of a career that has spanned five decades, she has starred in musical theatre, films and television, as well as performing in solo concerts and recordings...
, Patti LuPone
Patti LuPone
Patti Ann LuPone is an American singer and actress, known for her Tony Award-winning performances as Eva Perón in the 1979 stage musical Evita and as Madame Rose in the 2008 Broadway revival of Gypsy, and for her Olivier Award-winning performance as Fantine in the original London cast of Les...
, Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
, Margaret Whiting
Margaret Whiting
Margaret Whiting was a singer of American popular music and country music who first made her reputation during the 1940s and 1950s.-Youth:...
, Lea Salonga
Lea Salonga
Lea Salonga-Chien is a mezzo-soprano singer and actress from the Philippines well known for originating the lead role of Kim in the musical Miss Saigon, for which she won the Olivier, Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics and Theatre World awards.She was the first Asian to play the roles of Éponine and...
, Ute Lemper
Ute Lemper
Ute Lemper is a German chanteuse and actress renowned for her interpretation of the work of Kurt Weill.- Biography :Born in Münster, Germany, Ute Lemper was raised in a Roman Catholic family. She joined the punk music group known as the Panama Drive Band at the age of 16...
, Lauren Samuels
Lauren Samuels
Lauren Samuels is an English singer/actress and was a contestant on the 2010 BBC UK TV series Over the Rainbow. Since appearing on the show she has gone on to appear in West End theatre, including playing the lead role of Sandy in Grease.-Background:Samuels was born Lauren Bonner...
, and Raul Esparza
Raúl Esparza
Raúl Eduardo Esparza is an American stage actor, singer, and voice artist noted for his award winning performances in Broadway shows...
among others.
“Being Alive” replaced the song “Happily Ever After” which was cut from Company
Company (musical)
Company is a musical with a book by George Furth and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The original production was nominated for a record-setting fourteen Tony Awards and won six....
because it was considered too dark to serve as a closing number. According to cultural critic Jeremy McCarter, Sondheim
Sondheim
Sondheim vor der Rhön is a municipality in the district Rhön-Grabfeld, Bavaria, Germany. It is administrated by the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Ostheim. As of 2002 it had a population of 1123, and covers an area of 18.58 km².-History:...
has never been happy with “Being Alive” as the finale for Company
Company (musical)
Company is a musical with a book by George Furth and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The original production was nominated for a record-setting fourteen Tony Awards and won six....
calling it “a cop-out.”
Context
"Being Alive" appears at the end of Act II of the musical CompanyCompany (musical)
Company is a musical with a book by George Furth and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The original production was nominated for a record-setting fourteen Tony Awards and won six....
by George Furth
George Furth
George Furth was an American librettist, playwright, and actor.-Biography:Furth was born George Schweinfurth in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Evelyn and George Schweinfurth...
with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
. The song is sung by the main character, Robert (Bobby), who is facing his 35th birthday and the prospect of living the rest of his life alone. Prior to singing "Being Alive," Robert reflects on the relationships of five couples, his “. . . good and crazy married friends—Susan and Peter, Sarah and Harry, Amy and Paul, Jenny and David, and Joanne and Larry . . ." along with the relationships he has with three of his “girlfriends—April, Kathy, and Marta . . ." While each relationship has its problems, Robert concludes that life is better lived with someone rather than alone.
Act I
- It all begins early in the musical when Robert visits Sarah and Harry’s apartment. “Trading barbs while sneaking bites and sips, [Sarah and Harry] tease Bobby for his inquisitiveness and lack of romantic commitment . . . Robert then visits Peter and Susan in their terrace apartment. To Bobby’s surprise, they happily announce that they’re getting a divorce" .
- "Later, Bobby spends a late night with David and Jenny, smoking pot while the kids are sleeping. David proclaims his love for her [Jenny] and marriage in general. Moved by this, Bobby vows that he’s ready for a big change . . . Bobby wonders how well any of his friends really know their spouses."
- Next, Robert visits Amy and Paul on their wedding day, where “. . . the bride-to-be is noticeably frazzled. Her fiancé, Paul, is driving her nuts with his patient assurances, so she frantically pushes him away with jokes and jibes, and finally calls off the wedding. Paul leaves, dejected, and Bobby, in a moment of impulsiveness, proposes to Amy. Amy admonishes him, reaffirms her commitment to Paul, and runs off to get married."
Act II
- Next, Robert brings one of his girlfriends, April, a flight attendant, to his apartment where they make love. "Later, he brings Marta to Peter and Susan’s apartment, where even she is amazed at the couple’s new situation: divorced, they are happy living together . . . At a nightclub, Joanne . . . mocks Bobby’s detachment and offers to have an affair with him. Having shocked him into self-realization, she leaves." At the show’s conclusion, Robert’s friends remind him he is not getting any younger, referring to the candles on his brithday cake with the comment “Add ‘em up, Bobby. Add ‘em up." They urge Robert to “want something, want something.” His friend Harry proclaims “You’ve got so many reasons for not being with someone, but Robert, you haven’t got one good reason for being alone.” Finally Robert sings out that “alone is alone, not alive.”
Performances (On Stage, In Concert, Recorded or otherwise)
"Being Alive" was first recorded by Dean JonesDean Jones
Dean Jones is the name of:*Dean Jones , an Australian cricketer*Dean Jones , an American actor*Dean Jones , the singer of Extreme Noise TerrorSee also:*Jones...
who originated the role of Robert on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
in 1970. "Being Alive" has become popular outside its original musical setting, and although written for a male part is frequently performed by women. The song has been performed in concert, on the stage, or in the studio by Bernadette Peters
Bernadette Peters
Bernadette Peters is an American actress, singer and children's book author from Ozone Park, Queens, New York. Over the course of a career that has spanned five decades, she has starred in musical theatre, films and television, as well as performing in solo concerts and recordings...
, Patti LuPone
Patti LuPone
Patti Ann LuPone is an American singer and actress, known for her Tony Award-winning performances as Eva Perón in the 1979 stage musical Evita and as Madame Rose in the 2008 Broadway revival of Gypsy, and for her Olivier Award-winning performance as Fantine in the original London cast of Les...
, Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
, Margaret Whiting
Margaret Whiting
Margaret Whiting was a singer of American popular music and country music who first made her reputation during the 1940s and 1950s.-Youth:...
, Lea Salonga
Lea Salonga
Lea Salonga-Chien is a mezzo-soprano singer and actress from the Philippines well known for originating the lead role of Kim in the musical Miss Saigon, for which she won the Olivier, Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics and Theatre World awards.She was the first Asian to play the roles of Éponine and...
, Ute Lemper
Ute Lemper
Ute Lemper is a German chanteuse and actress renowned for her interpretation of the work of Kurt Weill.- Biography :Born in Münster, Germany, Ute Lemper was raised in a Roman Catholic family. She joined the punk music group known as the Panama Drive Band at the age of 16...
, and Lauren Samuels
Lauren Samuels
Lauren Samuels is an English singer/actress and was a contestant on the 2010 BBC UK TV series Over the Rainbow. Since appearing on the show she has gone on to appear in West End theatre, including playing the lead role of Sandy in Grease.-Background:Samuels was born Lauren Bonner...
, among others. Raul Esparza
Raúl Esparza
Raúl Eduardo Esparza is an American stage actor, singer, and voice artist noted for his award winning performances in Broadway shows...
was a nominee at the 2007 Tony Awards for his role in Company
Company
A company is a form of business organization. It is an association or collection of individual real persons and/or other companies, who each provide some form of capital. This group has a common purpose or focus and an aim of gaining profits. This collection, group or association of persons can be...
and performed the song on the awards show.
Background
By the time "Being Alive" premiered in 1970, lyricist and composer Stephen SondheimStephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
had already been recognized with three Tony Award®
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
Best Musical nominations and two winners . He had musicals like West Side Story
West Side Story (Original Broadway Cast)
West Side Story is the 1957 recording of a Broadway production of the musical West Side Story. Recorded 3 days after the show opened at the Winter Garden Theatre, the recording was released in October 1957 in both mono and stereo formats. In 1962, the album reached #5 on Billboard's "Pop Album"...
(1958) and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart....
(1963) already to his credit. When Sondheim came around to “transform the American Musical” with the “concept musical”, Company
Company (musical)
Company is a musical with a book by George Furth and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The original production was nominated for a record-setting fourteen Tony Awards and won six....
would return home with six Tony Awards
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
of its own. However, "Being Alive" has not always been Company's
Company (musical)
Company is a musical with a book by George Furth and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The original production was nominated for a record-setting fourteen Tony Awards and won six....
famous finale. There were four attempts to fill this gap in the show, and still, according to cultural critic Jeremy McCarter, “Sondheim has never been satisfied with the result, calling [“Being Alive”] ‘a cop-out.’”
The first of these attempts was with a song entitled "Multitudes of Amys", but as Sondheim describes “George Furth [author] transferred the situation in which it was to be sung – Robert’s proposal to Amy – to Act One and the song had to be replaced.” The second attempt was “Marry Me A Little.” Sondheim commented that on this try he knew halfway through the writing process that it would not work for the character, and the only reason he finished the song was as “a favor for a friend who loved it.” The third attempt came with “Happily Ever After” which even made it to the Boston tryout before it had to be replaced because it was “deemed too dark to serve as a closing number.” Hence, Sondheim’s fourth and final attempt was made with "Being Alive" in which he tried to express the same thoughts as “Happily Ever After,” but in a more optimistic way. Finally, "Being Alive" has become the recognized internationally acclaimed closing to Sondheim’s Company
Company (musical)
Company is a musical with a book by George Furth and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The original production was nominated for a record-setting fourteen Tony Awards and won six....
.