Sondheim Featured in Downstage Center Interview Now Available

By: Jan. 04, 2010
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Composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim, who penned the score and lyrics for several critically acclaimed Broadway musicals including SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE and A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, currently running at the Walter Kerr Theatre, is the focus of a new interview on the theatre related podcast Downstage Center. The interview originally aired January 3rd and is currently available for download.

Click here to stream the interview!

Legendary composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim is the guest for the 250th Downstage Center interview. He discusses a wide range of topics, including whether, as many have asserted, he actually dislikes giving interviews and why; his experiences doing Q&A sessions with Frank Rich around the country; how the upcoming Sondheim on Sondheim is developing and how he feels about being the central character in a Sondheim show; his process in preparing the forthcoming two-volume, annotated edition of his complete lyrics, to be titled Finishing the Hat; his reaction to seeing his work done in scaled down versions; how involved get gets with major revivals of his works and whether he makes adjustments to shows long after their original productions; whether he ever gets the urge to write songs outside of the context of musical theatre; why he considers his work on the films The Last of Sheila and Stavisky the two happiest working experiences of his life; who originated the many projects he's undertaken over the course of his career and how he's worked with such collaborators as Arthur Laurents, John Weidman, George Furth, James Lapine and Harold Prince; what he thinks about seeing opera companies produce some of his shows; why he was moved to found Young Playwrights, Inc. and why it's not Young Composers instead; if he has had the opportunity to mentor young composers, just as Oscar Hammerstein has mentored him; and whether of all of his songs, all written for specific characters in specific situations, there are any that most reflect him personally.

The first Broadway revival of A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC starring Academy Award-winner Catherine Zeta-Jones, five-time Tony Award®-winner Angela Lansbury and Olivier Award-nominee Alexander Hanson, opened on December 13, at the Walter Kerr Theatre.

A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC stars Catherine Zeta-Jones as Desirée Armfeldt, Angela Lansbury as Madame Armfeldt, Alexander Hanson as Fredrik Egerman, Aaron Lazar as Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm, Erin Davie as Countess Charlotte Malcolm, Leigh Ann Larkin as Petra, Hunter Ryan Herdlicka as Henrik Egerman and Ramona Mallory as Anne Egerman. The cast also includes Stephen R. Buntrock, Bradley Dean, Katherine Leigh Doherty, Marissa McGowan, Betsy Morgan, Jayne Paterson, Kevin David Thomas, Keaton Whittaker, Karen Murphy, Erin Stewart, Kevin Vortmann.

A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC - featuring a score by Stephen Sondheim and a book by Hugh Wheeler - originally opened in 1973 at Broadway's Shubert Theatre and ran for 601 performances. Produced and directed by Harold Prince, the production garnered six Tony Awards® including Best Musical and Best Original Score. The Sondheim score features one of the composer's best-known songs, "Send in the Clowns," as well as "Every Day a Little Death," "The Miller's Son" and "A Weekend in the Country."

Tickets for A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC are available by calling Telecharge.com at (212) 239-6200, (800) 432-7250 outside the NY metro area, online at Telecharge.com or in person at the Walter Kerr Theatre box office (219 West 48th Street). For A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC group sales, contact Theatre Direct International at 212-541-8457 x 2, or outside the NY metro area at 1-800-BROADWAY x 2. Tickets on Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Thursdays range in price from $52 to $132. Tickets on Friday, Saturday & Sunday range in price from $57 to $137.

For more information visit www.NightMusicOnBroadway.com.

 


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