Stephen Sondheim Interview

Stephen Sondheim talks about his early life and creative process with reference to his many award winning Broadway shows.
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[@mercedes560sel]

This is one of the rare professionals that are pure genius . . . I wish that our culture and media would focus more on these people rather than the crude garbage most folks spend time when viewing any prime-time television or other media . . . we need more of this, desperately.

[@jpetersgoyanks]

Must we curse our darkness to praise our light?

[@lapponia77]

I could listen to this man all day. So wise and humble.

[@GiftSparks]

I totally agree. He is just fascinating. Just listening to him is like being at a master class. The thing that is so interesting about him is how he able to discuss failures in a manner in which he takes a step back and says "Okay, let's see what we can take away from this experience." Yes, he has been very successful, but his career has not been without setbacks.

[@gmaureen]

Interesting to note how seldom he actually opens his eyes wide. I picture (I'm a sight learner) audio tapes running through his head which he then uses to refresh his memories. He's definitely a man who lives by his ears.

[@fullbodiedmovie]

He's talking about "Send in the Clowns" from "A Little Night Music". He wrote it with Glynis Johns in mind as she was better known for her acting rather than singing skills.

[@calicocarter1]

Listening to Sondheim speak is like having buckets of wisdom poured into your brain by the gallon...... And hearing his crossword puzzle analogies XD

[@sheilag.834]

This is a great interview. It's very helpful & inspiring.

[@Nataloff]

I could only follow this because he's given these answers elsewhere. A little context would be nice but thanks for repeating them in one palce

[@dantean]

The ultimate "Genius as NOT a fucking diva." Thank you thank you thank you for posting.

[@bookwoman53]

If you admire him you should read the biography Sondheim. I think it had a green cover. I plan to read his book Finishing the hat.

[@iloverent101]

SAME!! except im not writing a musical but i am in love with stephen!!! hes an amazing composer!!! and good luck with your musical

[@joeferguson2606]

i do appreciate sondheim, but im sad for the day when we lose him. He's gettin up there in age and there arent many or any like him. I have to admit, i dont know much about the new generation of lyric and music composers

[@death2pc]

Can never adequately say enough about this individual......... Words fail.

[@CatProductionStudios]

RIP Sondheim! :(

[@22arashi22]

Thanks for sharing this, I haven't seen it before. Funny how he looks so pained talking about his development as a writer/composer....

[@SilverArro]

I could seriously listen to him speak all day.

[@thescowlingschnauzer]

"Company...doesn't have a plot, but it has a story." Huh.

[@juten6020]

+thescowlingschnauzer It's the same to how a painting can tell a story but doesn't have a plot. There's these small microcosms of emotion that all come together to illustrate this bigger picture. Company has all these small bits that come together, only bound by one thread: Bobby. Bobby and his inability to be intimate with others tells the story of this man who realizes what it means to be alive.

[@samenzwering]

"The king died and then the queen died" is a story. "The king died and then the queen died of grieve" is a plot. - E. M. Forster (not sure I quoted that perfectly)

[@gredangeo]

WHAT A BRO!!!!!!!!

[@ryanburke4633]

I really really really love the music

[@stevesaklad1221]

He's referring to his very first musical written at 15, before he ever got the 4-musical task Hammerstein gave him to learn how to write.

[@amyclarke41]

Excellent

[@carl_lindquist]

Loved this video! All the best!!

[@michaeldoyle6702]

The great Sondheim always looks like he has just woken up with a doozy hangover.
Very elegant speech though and intelligent.

[@meesweetpea]

thank you

[@melisaez]

Incomparable

[@cindiv.5621]

Lori Dunn - at 7:00 he is talking about Oscar Hammerstein.

[@voulakiaora8734]

I wholeheartedly agree about the rubbish being dished out on tv but at least we have TH-cam.

[@ElvisTranscriber2]

17:11 Talking about company

[@jimrick6632]

"I KNOW I HEARD JUDY GARLAND SING THAT SONG "BOYS AND GIRLS LIKE YOU AND ME" IN ONE OF HER PICTURES...ANYONE REMEMBER WHICH FILM SHE SANG THAT SONG IN???? AND THEN IT WAS CUT....

[@nickbigd]

I think she recorded it for Meet Me in St. Louis.

[@MisterMolloy]

God, the people I would kill just to speak to this genius...

[@SergioMusica100]

17:11

[@punisher00109]

take a swing brah

[@al1936ful]

Is this on DVD?

[@monellerichmond7208]

Great interview, but what is wrong with his eyes?

[@Elledee8642]

at 7:00, who is Sondheim referring to

[@oliverbrownlow5615]

Oscar Hammerstein II -- it's a bit confusing because the interview segments jump around a bit without giving us the questions that produced the answers, and without any other transition. Thus, at 7:00 it sounds like the show Sondheim showed to Oscar was SATURDAY NIGHT, his first professional musical, which he has just been discussing. Instead, he suddenly jumps backward in time to talking about the first musical he ever wrote as a teenage amateur, which was called BY GEORGE -- as Steve Saklad correctly stated in his comment, this was before he wrote the four "apprentice" musicals assigned to him by Hammerstein, and of course before he wrote SATURDAY NIGHT.

[@DADA090161]

hope one day this inferwiew translate in French.....