By near-universal consensus, Stephen Sondheim was the greatest musical theater composer of his generation—celebrated, among other things, for the wit, sophistication, and intricacy of shows from West Side Story to Sunday in the Park with George. A less well-known avenue for his brilliant creativity was his lifelong fascination with designing and constructing intricate puzzles and games: from treasure hunts and crossword puzzles to parlor and board games.
Matching Minds with Sondheim is a journey into this rich but largely unmapped aspect of the composer’s creative life, illuminating how Sondheim’s playful designs delivered moments of clarity and connection for his friends and colleagues. For the first time, this book offers an enthralling tour of what Sondheim described as his “puzzler’s mind,” helping readers to better understand the man, his work, and—if they accept the challenge—themselves. Gaming expert and theatre fan Barry Joseph draws from over eighty years of Sondheim’s activities, collecting his extremely rare and never-publicly-seen puzzles and game designs, scores of original interviews with the celebrity friends who played them, deep dives into Sondheim-related archives from around the country, and analysis from both puzzle designers and theater professionals from around the world. Matching Minds will do more than describe Sondheim’s work: It will allow readers to match minds with the maestro by attempting to solve Sondheimian puzzles and bring Sondheimian games into their own homes.
Barry Joseph
Available On:
Gaming expert and theatre fan Barry Joseph draws from over eighty years of Sondheim’s activities, collecting his extremely rare and never-publicly-seen puzzles and game designs, original interviews with the celebrity friends who played them, deep dives into Sondheim-related archi…
Part of Essential Musicals series. Takes a chronological look at the ten musicals that have won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Deep diving into the development of each show, unpacking the creation, production, and reception of each musical. Each chapter traces a differ…
A panoramic study of NYC across all of Miller's oeuvre, exploring how Miller transformed the defining experiences of his youth and early adulthood - formed on the streets and in the neighborhoods of the New York boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens - into art. 238 pages.
Composer-lyricist and teacher Craig Carnelia provides musical actors with a step-by-step guide to making their sung performances more truthful, vivid, and full of life. Using a technique developed over decades of teaching the professional community of Broadway actors and students…
Composer-lyricist and teacher Craig Carnelia provides musical actors with a step-by-step guide to making their sung performances more truthful, vivid, and full of life. Using a technique developed over decades of teaching the professional community of Broadway actors and students…
Two-volume set features the original theatrical script with rare images of the original cast, and an oral history of the Rocky Horror Picture Show phenomenon featuring never-before-seen archival material from its creator (and original Riff-Raff), Richard O'Brien. With never-befor…
Oral history of the 1967 novel for teens, turned blockbuster film turned Tony-winning musical, and commemorated with a newly opened museum. Includes interviews with Rob Lowe, Ralph Macchio, C. Thomas Howell Leif Garrett, David Arquette, Dennis Quaid, and more.
This first volume in a series of deluxe Hirschfeld poster books contains art drawn from life before the opening night of each of Sondheim’s productions. On the reverse side are rare, ancillary images from the archives, as well as an introduction by Bernadette Peters, an essay by…
The original stage work BIG MAN: A NEW MUSICAL, currently in development, will release the show's second single “Wander” in streaming and digital formats featuring Kevin Chamberlin.
The New York City Center Gala production of Bat Boy: The Musical (New York City Center Cast Recording) is available in digital and streaming formats.
You can now get a first listen to two new singles from the upcoming album Beau: The Musical recording.
Theatre Communications Group will publish an anthology of more than thirty plays by women+ playwrights, a civic initiative from the Flynn Center with the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize examining democracy in America.
Audible has a packed slate of new releases and live programming arriving this September, featuring everything from conversations with Barack Obama and a return to the fan-favorite Bobiverse to Colin Kaepernick's deeply personal story and more.
The Broadway revival of The Rocky Horror Show will record a cast album, featuring Rachel Dratch as “Narrator,” Luke Evans as “Frank-N-Furter,” Amber Gray as “Riff Raff,” Stephanie Hsu as “Janet,” Juliette Lewis as “Magenta,” and more.
This Ain’t No Disco: World Premiere Recording – Songs from the Musical by Stephen Trask and Peter Yanowitz is out now in digital and streaming formats.
Night Side Songs – the cast album of the transformative new musical produced by Lincoln Center Theater at LCT3 / the Claire Tow Theater – is available in streaming and digital formats now with a music video for My Stuff out now.
The original Broadway cast recording for Schmigadoon! is currently available to stream everywhere you listen to music.
Composer Yu-Peng Chen, known for scoring Genshin Impact, will release a 12-movement symphonic suite for piano and orchestra tracing a journey from birth to farewell.
Night Side Songs – the cast album, will be released in streaming and digital formats.
BroadwayWorld has your exclusive first listen to Lena Hall singing Lay Your Head from This Ain’t No Disco: World Premiere Recording – Songs from the Musical.
The musical Suffs is being adapted into a young adult novel! The book is written by the musical's writer, Shaina Taub, alongside author Betsy Cornwell.
Tony Award-winning producer and founder and CEO of Broadway Plus, Nathaniel Hill, is releasing a book.
Composer Micah Levy has released a revised, updated version of his orchestral children's album, previously performed by the Dallas, San Diego and Utah Symphonies, for streaming platforms.
Center Stage Records will release This Ain’t No Disco: World Premiere Recording – Songs from the Musical by Stephen Trask and Peter Yanowitz in digital and streaming formats.
That Parenting Musical recently recorded a studio cast album starring Christopher Jackson, Kara Lindsay, Bonnie Milligan, Max Mendoza Crumm, Vidushi Goyal, and Scott Rathbun, with a release date yet to be revealed.
Joy Machine Records will release two new singles from the upcoming album Beau: The Musical (Original Off-Broadway Cast Recording) in August, with a full album due this fall.
Octoverse Media and Warner Music Group's Arts Music will release the cast album of the Lincoln Center Theater musical, with a single from THE LAZOURS' score out now.
Studio Seven Classical has rereleased Robert Miller's MA PETITE FLEUR, a string quartet arranged by David Shenton, in a newly remixed and remastered version.
The Tony Award winning Best Musical Schmigadoon! released its second single from the original Broadway cast recording, “Tribulation,” featuring Tony Award-nominee Ana Gasteyer, the Schmigadoon! Original Broadway Company and the Schmorchestra.
Atlantic Records has unveiled the pre-order for CATS: The Jellicle Ball (Original Broadway Cast Recording), the official companion to the wildly acclaimed Tony Award-winning musical revival.
Empire: Original Off-Broadway Cast Recording has been released in digital and streaming formats.
Atlantic Records will release physical editions of Tony Award-winner Jason Robert Brown’s The Last Five Years (25th Anniversary Live at the London Palladium), starring Rachel Zegler and Ben Platt.
The musical comedy concept album, featuring Chris Sullivan and Kimiko Glenn, is now streaming after its songs and cast drew more than 10 million views online.
Keke Palmer's audio comedy THE WEDDINGS OF LADY MISS JACQUELINE will premiere on Audible, featuring Sheryl Lee Ralph, Danielle Brooks and Zachariah Porter, alongside a trailer for a companion microdrama series.
An EP of songs from Romero & Juliet, a new musical based on elements from Shakespeare’s timeless love story and the zombie lore of filmmaker George Romero, has been released.
The 2025 Broadway Cast Recording of CHESS will be released on CD and vinyl next month.
Two-time Tony nominee Bill Russell has written a memoir chronicling his path from a South Dakota upbringing to a career as a Broadway writer, with a New York book signing planned to mark its release.
TCG Books will publish Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' Pulitzer Prize-finalist play EVERYBODY, now available for pre-order ahead of its release.
