Another musical titan gone: Composer & lyricist Stephen Sondheim passed away today.
https://variety.com/2021/film/news/stephen-sondheim-dead-sweeney-todd-1235120388/
Plenty of obituaries will tout his many accomplishments and trumpet accolades, and I'll contend that most -- but not all -- are well-deserved. (For example, I believe his insistence that half-rhymes or imperfect rhymes are "lazy" is pure bullsh*t.) Yet he still qualifies as genius, especially as a lyricist, but also as a composer.
btw, my one interaction with Sondheim took place in the late 1980s when I was cast in a staged reading of a new musical theater work that was being presented at the Dramatists' Guild in a private performance for Sondheim. My character -- a high school student who embraced Dadaism -- spent most of the show wearing a pair of plaid boxer shorts on his head. After the performance, and just before Sondheim ripped into the composer and librettist relentlessly, he offered "Your cast was rather spirited, though I daresay a few members may have been type-cast."
Rest in Peace, maestro.
https://variety.com/2021/film/news/stephen-sondheim-dead-sweeney-todd-1235120388/
Plenty of obituaries will tout his many accomplishments and trumpet accolades, and I'll contend that most -- but not all -- are well-deserved. (For example, I believe his insistence that half-rhymes or imperfect rhymes are "lazy" is pure bullsh*t.) Yet he still qualifies as genius, especially as a lyricist, but also as a composer.
btw, my one interaction with Sondheim took place in the late 1980s when I was cast in a staged reading of a new musical theater work that was being presented at the Dramatists' Guild in a private performance for Sondheim. My character -- a high school student who embraced Dadaism -- spent most of the show wearing a pair of plaid boxer shorts on his head. After the performance, and just before Sondheim ripped into the composer and librettist relentlessly, he offered "Your cast was rather spirited, though I daresay a few members may have been type-cast."
Rest in Peace, maestro.
