Stephen Sondheim appeared in Sydney this week in support of Kookaburra’s current production of the musical ‘Company’.
‘An Audience with Stephen Sondheim’ was an open interview held at Sydney’s Theatre Royal on Friday July 6 (2007). Speaking with Jonathan Biggins, Sondheim discussed lessons he learnt from his mentor Oscar Hammerstein, the history behind some of his shows, what he gains from working with collaborators and much more.
What follows is the first part of that interview.
Jonathan Biggins:
Welcome to ‘An Audience with Stephen Sondheim’. My name is Jonathan Biggins and it’s my pleasant, if slightly nerve-wracking duty, to introduce a man whose musical and lyrical brilliance has animated world stages so vividly for the past fifty years. Shows like West Side Story, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd to name but a few.
A man whose ability to write songs both challenging and unforgettable has launched a thousand audition pieces in the last twenty four hours…
Whose uncanny gifts for emotional depth, structural complexity and melodic invention have made him a living legend of the musical theatre.
That’s enough about me – please welcome Mr Stephen Sondheim.
* * *
JB: You once said that anyone who achieves eminence in a public profession eventually becomes the ice sculpture in the middle of the room.
Stephen Sondheim:
Yes…and I’m in melt down right now.
JB: Do you ever feel the burden of being a living legend?
SS: No. When I write something I’m aware that people are expecting a lot, so that’s something of a hazard. But I try to ignore that; I try to just pretend that it’s my first show. But otherwise no.
JB: How heavy does a back catalogue of such success weigh on you as you continue to write now? Are you afraid of writing something you’ve written before?
SS: Yes, so I try to always pick something that frightens me. I think a writer should frighten himself, or you tend to write the same thing again.
JB: What is frightening you at the moment?
Well it’s re-writing a show that I’ve been trying to get right for 14 years almost. A show that was originally called Wise Guys and it’s now called Bounce although we may call it something else. It’s had one workshop production directed by Sam Mendes and another actual production directed by Hal Prince in Chicago and Washington. It’s written by John Weidman and me and we love it a lot and we’re hoping to get it done again. Now it’s going to be directed by John Doyle.
JB: How difficult is it to get something right? If this is your third re-write, how hard is it…
SS: Well I’ve never been through this experience before. Usually, it’s not necessarily that it comes out right right away, but it’s one go around. Rarely…Merrily We Roll Along was one show that George Furth and I re-wrote once, but this show is new in that way.
Part 2: …my association with Oscar Hammerstein.
