3 December 2020 Stephen Sondheim 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.
3 December 2020 Stephen Sondheim Musicals are, by nature, theatrical, meaning poetic, meaning having to move the audience’s imagination and create a suspension of disbelief, by which I mean there’s no fourth wall.
3 December 2020 Stephen Sondheim In the Rodgers and Hammerstein generation, popular hits came out of shows and movies.
3 December 2020 Stephen Sondheim All the best performers bring to their role something more, something different than what the author put on paper. That’s what makes theatre live. That’s why it persists.
3 December 2020 Stephen Sondheim I’m interested in the theater because I’m interested in communication with audiences. Otherwise I would be in concert music.
