Tags: Stephen Sondheim

This is all fairly unprepared. I am just going to talk, and I am just going to ramble. Some of the thoughts will be incomplete, some will be pontifical. And contentious and dogmatic and opinionated. I’m going to talk only about theatre lyrics, lyrics in a dramatic situation on a stage in terms of character, not pop lyrics....

The following is the transcript of an ad lib dissertation from 1977 on “The Musical Theatre” in response to questions at a Dramatists Guild Special Projects session. The transcript was edited for publication [in The Dramatists Guild Quarterly, Autumn 1978] with the approval of Mr. Sondheim.

TERRENCE MCNALLY:  It’s hard to imagine what the musical theatre would be like in 1985 without the efforts of the four gentlemen sitting here with me, the authors of West Side Story. In our theatre community, they are held in great, great respect and much love. West Side Story is the one time these four extraordinary talents came together. I’d like to start with the germ of the idea, the first time somebody said, “Hey, there’s...

For clarity, the panelists say “Steven” when referring to Steven Sater, “Stephen” when referring to Stephen Schwartz, and “Steve” when referring to Stephen Sondheim. Stephen Sondheim: Thank you all for taking part in this roundtable. To begin with I want to urge everyone to speak in rhyming couplets so that the readers will be convinced that we know what we’re talking about. [Laughter] Let me ask each of you if...