Stephen Sondheim: Ten Questions

Stephen Sondheim

Sep 01, 2022

Illustration of Stephen Sondheim © The Al Hirschfeld Foundation. www.AlHirschfeldFoundation.org

1What was your most memorable theatrical experience as a child?

The opening moment of Very Warm for May, a musical by Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern. The lights came up on a lavish Long Island living room as a butler came onstage and dusted the keys of a grand piano, causing a sweeping glissando from bass to treble and I was hooked. I was nine years old.

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Stephen Sondheim

(1930-2021) wrote music and lyrics for Saturday Night, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Anyone Can Whistle, Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, The Frogs, Pacific Overtures, Sweeney Todd, Merrily We Roll Along, Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, Assassins, Passion, and Road Show, and lyrics for West Side Story, Gypsy, and Do I Hear A Waltz? He composed music for the films Stavisky, Reds, and Dick Tracy and for the television production Evening Primrose. His collected lyrics with attendant essays have been published in two volumes: Finishing the Hat and Look, I Made A Hat. In 2010 the Broadway theatre formerly known as Henry Miller’s Theatre was renamed in his honor.