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After the Rodgers and Hammerstein revolution, songs became part of the story, as opposed to just entertainments in between comedy scenes.

Stephen Sondheim

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Stephen Sondheim
Age: 94
Born: 1930
Born: March 22
Author
Composer
Dramaturge
Librettist
Lyricist
Musician
Poet
Screenwriter
Songwriter
New York City
New York
Stephen Joshua Sondheim
Scene
Rodgers
Comedy
Entertainments
Story
Scenes
Song
Opposed
Stories
Entertainment
Part
Became
Revolution
Songs
Hammerstein

More quotes by Stephen Sondheim

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What justifies a character singing one idea for 3 minutes on the screen? I get impatient and want the story to carry on. I don't get impatient in the theatre.
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Everyone would like to be on Broadway, cause if a show works, you make a great deal of money and it allows you to write other shows.
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By the time I get through writing a score, I know the book better than the book writer does, because I've examined every word, and questioned the book writer on every word.
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Almost all the shows I've been connected with have been extremely well cast. They're playing the show, not just doing the songs.
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I love the theater as much as music, and the whole idea of getting across to an audience and making them laugh, making them cry - just making them feel - is paramount to me.
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For anyone approaching any one of the cast albums, if they don't like what they hear, it's not the performer's fault.
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Friendship, obligation and greed are not good enough reasons to write anything.
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Math and music are intimately related. Not necessarily on a conscious level, but sure.
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I chose and my world was shaken. So what? The choice may have been mistaken the choosing was not. You have to move on.
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I didn't really want to write just lyrics, but I wanted to meet Leonard Bernstein. Music was always the first reason I was writing songs.
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A song is such a short form ... that 'the slightest flaw seems like a mountain.' And so every song needs to be revised 'til it's close to perfection... But achieving perfection takes a lot of energy.
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I firmly believe lyrics have to breathe and give the audience's ear a chance to understand what's going on. Particularly in the theater, where you have costume, story, acting, orchestra.
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To wish and wait From day to day Will never keep The wolves away.
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You get used to the exact amount of space between lines. You write a word and then you write an alternate word over it. You want enough room so you can read it, so the lines can't be too close.
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I'm interested in the theater because I'm interested in communication with audiences. Otherwise I would be in concert music.
Stephen Sondheim
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The truth is that I don't like rehearsals. I get embarrassed hearing my own work. I assume that the cast is embarrassed to sing the stuff.
Stephen Sondheim
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White. A blank page or canvas. So many possibilities.
Stephen Sondheim
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One difference between poetry and lyrics is that lyrics sort of fade into the background. They fade on the page and live on the stage when set to music.
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Everyone I used to play with has either given up or is dead.
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Generally, the best recording is the original cast, because that's the way the piece grew: integrally, with them.
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