Bernadette Peters and Subtext
Bernadette Peters is one of the greatest singing actors of our time and quite possibly in the history of Musical Theatre. This song is from Merrily We Roll Along by Stephen Sondheim and gives us a perfect example of why SUBTEXT is absolutely critical when acting a song. Like most of Sondheim’s pieces, this one offers a great challenge. Throughout the entire song, but especially at the end, the lyrics are incredibly repetitive. In fact, the last minute only includes a few unique words, “day after day after day after day,/’til the days go by,/’til the days go by…” repeated over and over again. When Bernadette Peters performs this song it leaves us a sense of longing, sadness, despair, and maybe just a touch of hope. I am convinced that a performance by a lesser actor would not automatically do the same.
So, how do we handle incredibly repetitive songs? How do we perform them in a way that makes people WANT to watch them over and over again? The actor’s job is to dive deep into the subtext of the song. The subtext is the words left unsaid, the true meaning underneath the sung text. It is easy for subtext to get skipped as we are so busy focussing on the notes, the dynamics, and making sure the song sounds great. However, no matter how great you sound, a beautiful song is not complete until it is truthfully performed. A great exercise to help you dig into subtext is to physically write it out piece by piece. Break the song down line by line, or phrase by phrase and then write the words your character wishes they could say. Write out their truth, or at least the truth as you interpret it. This might line up perfectly with the intent of the lyric, or it might completely contrast. Either way, it will help you make acting choices, and since no one is ever going to read this subtext, there is no way for it to be wrong. This exercise is your PRIVATE acting preparation, and anything that helps you make strong choices is good preparation.
Here’s some example subtext from the beginning of this song. The lyric starts with “Not a day goes by/not a single day,/but you’re somewhere a part of my life/and it looks like you’ll stay.” While the external meaning of these lyrics may seem pretty easy to understand, it is our responsibility to dig deeper and decide what is living under the surface. Perhaps the subtext for these first few lines is “I think about you every day,/every minute of every day,/even though you left, you’re still here,/and I’m terrified I will never let you go.” This subtext should give you something to think about when you perform the song, but you won’t know until you give it a try. If the subtext you chose doesn’t help you connect with the character, change it, after all, this is YOUR acting preparation, finesse it until it fits YOU.
You might be thinking that this type of preparatory work isn’t that important since the audience will never hear it. Don’t fall into that trap! Subtext gives you specificity, it gives you a deeper understanding of what the character wants, what they feel, and what they are fighting against. This type of information will undoubtedly color your performance in a way that audiences won’t be able to resist. They will be drawn to you and they will believe you. Isn’t that the goal?
One last note, when a lyric repeats within the song, the rule is that subtext CANNOT be repeated, it must be unique for each line. Doing this forces you to further explore the situation and the relationships as the song progresses. This is apparent when we watch Bernadette perform the last minute of this song. The words are the same each time she sings them, but they mean something very different to her! We may try to guess what her subtext is, but the truth is we’ll never really know, and that is the magic of live performance. That is why we watch phenomenal performers over and over again. Go ahead, watch this video a few more times a try to guess the subtext, but most importantly, next time you sing a song, do your homework, know your subtext, and take your audience on a beautiful journey, just like Bernadette.
