Being Alive

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Stephen Sondheim has often said he can only write for specific character situations. But it probably never occurred to him while tailoring "Losing My Mind" for a desperate housewife that the lament could apply to a soldier experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder. Or that "Not a Day Goes By" might be sung by a grieving Iraqi war widow clutching a folded American flag in one hand and dog tags in the other. However, these thoughts crossed Billy Porter's mind when he was developing Being Alive, his indisputably well-meaning but ultimately pretentious attempt to adapt the brilliant Sondheim songbook to the African-American experience, now making its world premiere at the Westport Country Pla[...]