What's Wrong With Superficial?

Surface and substance in Sondheim

Stephen Sondheim’s last word on superficiality was anything but shallow.

Early in the second act of Here We Are, a wealthy socialite named Marianne stands in an opulent embassy salon—the room that will soon become her prison—and sings a paean to surface beauty.

This unabashed celebration of texture and appearance stands as one of Sondheim’s most direct en…