Sondheim at Herbst Theater

Posted on Mar 11, 2008 | 1 comment
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This past Sunday was a date I’d been anticipating for months. As part of the City Arts and Lectures series here in San Francisco, Stephen Sondheim sat down with Frank Rich for a thoroughly spontaneous and entertaining hour-and-a-half discussion. Now, I’ve read and heard so many interviews and similar Sondheim talks over the years, so there was very...

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Sondheim's Favorite: "Someone in a Tree"

Posted on Jan 4, 2008 | 0 comments
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It is well known among Sondheim kooks such as myself that Stephen Sondheim’s favorite among his own songs is “Someone in a Tree” from the 1976 musical Pacific Overtures. I love this song too, but it’s never been clear to me exactly why it stands out in particular for Sondheim. Briefly, the song attempts to deal with a particular event...

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"Musical" ≠ "Broadway"

Posted on Feb 24, 2007 | 2 comments
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"Musical" ≠ "Broadway"

I get into such trouble with this stuff: I’m a classical composer who wants to write musicals; I’m a theater composer with Uptown training whose music is weird, unpredictable and unnecessarily difficult. In classical circles, it’s OK, actually. As far as I know, I haven’t been judged negatively because there are musicals in my bio, but in my head at...

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