Stephen Sondheim interviewed by James Lipton in 1994 at The Actor's Studio

Musical theatre students, writers, lovers; This Actor's Studio interview of Stephen Sondheim by James Lipton will inspire and uplift. For those of us that feel a deep loss, this will hopefully comfort and remind us how lucky we were to borrow him.
RIP ❤️
Liz Callaway and Jim Walton performances. 60 minutes.
14:01 Barcelona
19:56 Could I leave you?
27:25 Pretty Women
31:21 Sunday in The Park With George
37:32 Move on
44:42 Send in the Clowns

[@JoeyJavierReyes]

"There is Stephen Sondheim ... and the rest of musical theater."
He remains irreplaceable.

[@fenian123]

I'm not even into musicals and I could listen to this guy all day, he's brilliant!

[@JP-lu9ed]

When the singers turned to him to sing “give us more to see”….that was very touching.

[@maricarmendoza4162]

Thank you, Greenleaf Productions. In my grief, I come back to this interview. How wonderful it is to see Mr. Sondheim so engaging and spirited, so energetic, so alive and well. We are forever saddened by losing him but so fortunate for he has given us so much joy by sharing his genius with us. We love you, Mr. Sondheim. Rest in peace!

[@atdcom]

The one and only. Thank you, Mr. Sondheim.

[@jamescarson6823]

Sondheim's long time accompanist, Paul Ford, at the piano.

[@Gaeill]

He creates with Majesty. Like reading a good book. Student of the great masters of popular song, Kids of eastern European parents . you can hear echos of the shtetl. Magnificent humanity.

[@geraldineclarke5434]

Even after all the decades, I never cease to be amazed at his brilliance. I miss you, Steve.

[@queenofpixels5458]

I always love how he looks at the singers while they are performing. He looks like the proudest papa.

[@MichaelYoder1961]

ZT"l Stephen - you're music inspired and mesmerized me. You're music is your legacy and will never be forgotten.

[@tirecarcare]

Thank your ❤️ Steven!

[@stephaniekeyes2928]

Saw it when he was on and thank you so much, now I can watch it again and again

[@marcussmith5770]

I enjoy all Sondheim interviews, but this one is my favorite, by far.

[@klc4023]

Thank you for sharing this.

[@deckenneth]

George Plympton enthralled in the audience.

[@Autostade67]

While writing his songs for characters (hence the difficulty of lifting many or works out of their shows to sing as isolated singles ) Sondheim also wrote his songs for actors, taking Hammerstein's 'three act' structure into a realm of his own. "The Ladies Who Lunch', 'Could I Leave You?" ''Being Alive', "Getting Married Today'"I Remember', "I'm Still Here', "The Miller's Son' among several others, are all, essentially what Sondheim would, in his own words, describe as 'list songs': textually they don't evolve, they 'merely' describe or list things, but TEXTURALLY - in the hands of the talented actor/singer, they build to an incredible pitch: Joanne's drunken bitterness, Phyllis' seething anger, Bobby's baffled acceptance, Amy's hysterical unravelling, Ella's plaintive recollection of the outer world [an under celebrated lyric: note how everything she recalls is filtered through similes and metaphors of things you can find in a department store] Carlotta's kick-ass anthem to survival, Petra's lusty ambition (and philosophical treatise) to joyously f- her way to the top...these are great, great gifts to an actor who must infuse these qualities into the words.

[@prdeal]

Thank you

[@christinedunning8463]

Thank you - I’ve been looking for this!

[@ilsaramos379]

Thanks for posting. It is quite interesting. It opens up your mind on things you may not have been aware of. Nice to know these things.

[@jcgary]

priceless.

[@ercaral]

Muchas Gracias por tanto bien compartido

[@troygaspard6732]

Great to see Plimpton in the audience.

[@armyman905]

Enjoy this interview. There are 5 or 6 people born with this talent every 50 years. In the entire world

[@publiusovidius7386]

This is from 1994.

[@GreenleafPro]

Thank you. Updated.

[@tadimaggio]

Is there some reason that we couldn't have seen this interview from the beginning?

[@GreenleafPro]

This is all we were able to find.

[@virghammer1]

Understood - thanks tons for posting it, anyway! 💗❤️💗❤️

[@Griffinmc]

Why is the picture TH-cam has up for this video of James Lapine and not Sondheim? Just curious.

[@GreenleafPro]

Oddly, of the three available screen shots TH-cam offered, none of them were of him. We uploaded one, just for you. 😘

[@Griffinmc]

Thank you. Much appreciated.😉

[@bethewalt7385]

It's James Lipton, who's Lapine? 😂😂

[@ellenorchid01]

James Lapine - a brilliant playwright/director- collaborated with Sondheim on many projects including "Into The Woods"

[@guythecat490]

Wrong mics! Damn🎉

[@ndemone]

I’ve never liked Liz singing Sondheim’s music. Her voice has no weight or maturity to me.

[@genedryer-bivins8314]

Wow! I could not disagree more!