GROSS: I asked Stephen Sondheim how he went about writing lyrics for a show with street gangs, singing and dancing to show tunes. Then you are set with a capital J, which you'll never forget till they cart you away. When company's expected, you're well protected. When you're a Jet, if the spit hits the fan, you've got brothers around. UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: (As characters, singing) When you're a Jet, you're a Jet all the way from your first cigarette to your last dying day. We'll start with a song from the show that launched his Broadway career, "West Side Story," the musical that Steven Spielberg has adapted into a film that opens this month. It was the first of two volumes of his lyrics.
The occasion for this one was the publication of his book "Finishing The Hat," which collected his lyrics from 1954 to '81 and told the stories behind them. He started his career writing the lyrics for "West Side Story" and "Gypsy" and went on to write music and lyrics for such shows as "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum," "Company," "Follies," "A Little Night Music," "Sweeney Todd," "Merrily We Roll Along," "Sunday In The Park With George," "Into The Woods" and "Passion." The interview today was recorded in October 2010, just a few months after the interview we featured yesterday. Stephen Sondheim was such a brilliant and groundbreaking composer and lyricist that we couldn't confine our tribute to just one day.
0 kommentar(er)
