Yesterday, I started reading "Finishing the Hat" by Stephen Sondheim. This is the first of two volumes of his lyrics and backstory writing and creating each. I started just paging through it, reading through Gypsy, Company, A Little Night Music, West Side Story, Sweeney Todd...
The man is so intelligent, his use of language is amazing(God! The man is God!) and the stories he has in this book are just amazing little pieces of musical theater history. How he surprised Cole Porter with a lyric in "Together Wherever We Go" and how Jerome Robbins wondered "Everything's Coming Up Rose's WHAT?" how "Rose's Turn" grew out of a "dream ballet" concept by Robbins, which he didn't have time to create - absolutely incredible. He also wrote a sidebar, which I found fascinating, about the way that he writes - stretched out on his bed, with a ruled legal pad (with 32 lines, no more, no less) and a very particular kind of pencil.
This morning, I listened to some of these, just to hear the words and the music. I can't wait to dive into the rest of the book.
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