Stephen Sondheim, Theater’s Greatest Lyricist
We were on the subject of “Finishing the Hat” from “Sunday in the Park With George,” one of Sondheim’s most celebrated songs, and maybe the greatest song ever written about the self-induced spell of the creative process.10 In this excerpt from
that interview, just as in his work, Sondheim’s collaborator brought out the best in him:
Weidman: Do you remember you called me the night you finished that song?
Sondheim: You’ve got to have somebody who’ll surprise you and, you know, it’s the old lesson, you’ve got to work on something dangerous.
You think, “Oh, I didn’t know I could — oh, that’s good!” You know, writing’s full of surprises for oneself.
Miranda: Something that’s so essential about your work is that I think you have expanded the terrain of what musical theater can be.