Sondheim Supplement #28
An exclusive Follies Essay, a Road Show crossword, and more...
Happy Friday, everyone!
This week, we have a Bounce/Road Show-themed crossword for you, an exclusive essay on “Don’t Look At Me” from Follies, more from our latest conversation with Regina Co, a look back at our essay on “Beautiful” from Sunday in the Park with George, and there’s our survey of This Week in Sondheim, too.
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Lyric of the Week Essay: Don’t Look At Me
No, don’t talk to me.
Ben, I forget,
What were we like? It’s so hazy!
Look at these people,
Aren’t they eerie?
Look at this party,
Isn’t it dreary?
I’m so glad I came.
Early in Follies, “Don’t Look at Me” introduces Sally Durant Plummer at her most brittle, disoriented, and emotionally exposed. “No, don’t talk to me / Ben, I forget, / What were we like? It’s so hazy!”, she sings. These lines capture the essence of her inner storm: caught between nostalgia and numbness, craving connection but terrified of the very encounter she’s sought out. Her thoughts come in jagged fragments, half-performative and half-panicked, as though the past is too fragile to hold directly in the light.
“Don’t Look At Me” is replete with cocktail party anxiety, and delivered with a forced brightness that barely masks despair. When Sally says, “Look at these people / Aren’t they eerie? / Look at this party / Isn’t it dreary?” she’s projecting her discomfort outward, unable to process her own emotional vertigo. The repetition of “look”—at the people, the party, then abruptly, “don’t look at me”—signals the deep ambivalence at her core. She implores Ben to see, but can’t bear to be observed.
This contradiction defines Sally’s entire approach to the reunion.