Stephen Sondheim Reveals Nixed Plans for Gay-Version of COMPANY in a Final Interview

Broadway lost an icon in November when composer Stephen Sondheim passed away at the age of 91. We're still learning more about his genius months later, as a series of in-depth interviews has just been released by the New Yorker, in which, Sondheim candidly discusses varied topics, from abandoned musical concepts to his thoughts on death.

"I don't mind dying. I just hate-I just don't want it to be uncomfortable. And I don't want it to be prolonged," he told D. T. Max. "Dying is so unpleasant. But I do think about it."

One of the many topics up for discussion was the Broadway revival of Company, directed by Tony winner Marianne Elliott, to whom he refers as "maybe the most brilliant director alive." The current revival features gender-swapped casting of its lead character, Bobbi- played on Broadway by Katrina Lenk.

Sondheim revealed that he has turned down previous ideas about changes to the show, including a gay male version directed by John Tiffany. "It just felt forced. The only scene, curious enough, that seemed to work was Bobby and three girls on the park bench as Bobby and three guys on the park bench. The rest of it seemed-it just wasn't written for it."

Click here to read the full interview.

Stephen Sondheim has received an Academy Award, eight Tony Awards (more than any other composer, including a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre), eight Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize, a Laurence Olivier Award, and a 2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 2010 the Broadway theater formerly known as Henry Miller's Theatre was renamed in his honor. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2015.