Editing Stephen Sondheim (section)

== Other projects ==
==={{anchor|Conversation with Frank Rich}}Conversations with Frank Rich and others===
The [[Kennedy Center]] staged a 15-week repertory festival of six Sondheim musicals—''Sweeney Todd'', ''Company'', ''Sunday in the Park with George'', ''Merrily We Roll Along'', ''Passion'', and ''A Little Night Music''—from May to August 2002.<ref name=kencen>{{cite web |url=http://www.sondheimguide.com/concerts3.html#Kennedy |title=Sondheim Guide listing for Kennedy Center Celebration, 2002 |publisher=Sondheimguide.com |access-date=October 18, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929024138/http://www.sondheimguide.com/concerts3.html#Kennedy |archive-date=September 29, 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Jones, Kenneth. [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/its-a-hit-kennedy-centers-sondheim-celebration-is-already-half-sold-103944 'It's a Hit! Kennedy Center's Sondheim Celebration Is Already Half-Sold"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924195804/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/its-a-hit-kennedy-centers-sondheim-celebration-is-already-half-sold-103944 |date=September 24, 2015 }}, playbill.com, February 13, 2002.</ref><ref>[http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/newseason/sondheim/cast.html "Sondheim Cast"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016040946/http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/newseason/sondheim/cast.html |date=October 16, 2015 }}, kennedy-center.org. Retrieved May 17, 2015.</ref> The Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration also included ''Pacific Overtures'', a junior version of ''Into the Woods'', and [[Frank Rich]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' speaking with the composer for ''Sondheim on Sondheim'' on April 28, 2002.{{r|kencen}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/newseason/sondheim/ |title=Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration |publisher=Kennedy-center.org |access-date=October 18, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190112210210/http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/newseason/sondheim/ |archive-date=January 12, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> The two men took their discussion, dubbed "A Little Night Conversation with Stephen Sondheim", on a West Coast tour of different U.S. cities<ref>{{cite magazine |author=A. M. Homes |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/03/ontheroad200803 |title=On the Road: Rich evenings with Sondheim |magazine=Vanity Fair |date=February 22, 2008 |access-date=October 18, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111129134330/http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/03/ontheroad200803 |archive-date=November 29, 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.independent.com/news/2008/mar/06/stephen-sondheim-and-frank-rich-stage-em-little-ni/ |title=''Santa Barbara Independent'', Interview with Sondheim about the talks, March 6, 2008 |work=Santa Barbara Independent |date=March 6, 2008 |access-date=October 18, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111227140511/http://www.independent.com/news/2008/mar/06/stephen-sondheim-and-frank-rich-stage-em-little-ni/ |archive-date=December 27, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> including Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Los Angeles,<ref>{{cite web |author=Student Affairs Information Systems, webmaster@sa.ucsb.edu |url=https://artsandlectures.sa.ucsb.edu/Details.aspx?PerfNum=889 |title=UCSB listing |publisher=Artsandlectures.sa.ucsb.edu |access-date=October 18, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111009112315/https://artsandlectures.sa.ucsb.edu/Details.aspx?PerfNum=889 |archive-date=October 9, 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.magazine.ucla.edu/depts/happenings/stephen-sondheim/ |title=UCLA listing |work=UCLA Magazine |publisher=Magazine.ucla.edu |access-date=October 18, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807170054/http://magazine.ucla.edu/depts/happenings/stephen-sondheim/ |archive-date=August 7, 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.frankrich.com/schedule.htm |title=Rich schedule |publisher=Frankrich.com |access-date=October 18, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005051321/http://www.frankrich.com/schedule.htm |archive-date=October 5, 2011 }}</ref> and [[Portland, Oregon]] in March 2008,<ref>{{cite web |first=Rebecca |last=Webb |title=Stephen Sondheim |publisher=[[KINK]] |url=http://www.kink.fm/pages/1614757.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081226204033/http://www.kink.fm/pages/1614757.php |archive-date=December 26, 2008}}</ref> then to [[Oberlin College]] in September. The ''[[Cleveland Jewish News]]'' reported on their Oberlin appearance: "Sondheim said: 'Movies are photographs; the stage is larger than life.' What musicals does Sondheim admire the most? ''[[Porgy and Bess]]'' tops a list which includes ''[[Carousel (musical)|Carousel]]'', ''[[She Loves Me]]'', and ''[[The Wiz]]'', which he saw six times. Sondheim took a dim view of today's musicals. What works now, he said, are musicals that are easy to take; audiences don't want to be challenged".<ref>[http://www.oberlin.edu/artsguide/convocation-series/1-sondheim-rich.shtml] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090705114133/http://www.oberlin.edu/artsguide/convocation-series/1-sondheim-rich.shtml|date=July 5, 2009}}</ref><ref>Heller, Fran. [http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/articles/2008/10/10/features/arts/aarts1010.txt "Sondheim scores a hit at Oberlin College"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090424071859/http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/articles/2008/10/10/features/arts/aarts1010.txt |date=April 24, 2009 }}. ''Cleveland Jewish News'', October 10, 2008</ref> Sondheim and Rich had additional conversations: January 18, 2009, at [[Avery Fisher Hall]];<ref>Gans, Andrew. [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/123236.html "Sondheim and Rich Will Discuss A Life in the Theater in January 2009"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090107163019/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/123236.html |date=January 7, 2009 }}. Playbill.com, November 11, 2008</ref> February 2 at the Landmark Theatre in [[Richmond, Virginia]];<ref>[http://modlin.richmond.edu/contentmgr/showdetails.php/id/1708] {{dead link|date=September 2014}}</ref> February 21 at the [[Kimmel Center]] in [[Philadelphia]];<ref>[http://www.phillyfunguide.com/event.php?id=23642] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081227000350/http://www.phillyfunguide.com/event.php?id=23642|date=December 27, 2008}}</ref> and April 20 at the [[University of Akron]] in [[Akron, Ohio|Ohio]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ejthomashall.com/eventsearch/event_detail.php?id=544|title=Stephen Sondheim with Frank Rich listing|publisher=Ejthomashall.com|access-date=September 28, 2014}}{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The conversations were reprised at [[Tufts]] and [[Brown University]] in February 2010, at the [[University of Tulsa]] in April,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.tulsaworld.com/scene/article.aspx?subjectid=272&articleid=20100418_272_D4_Thefre754390 |title=Sondheim conversation set for TU |newspaper=Tulsa World |date=April 18, 2010 |access-date=October 18, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119141448/http://www.tulsaworld.com/scene/article.aspx?subjectid=272&articleid=20100418_272_D4_Thefre754390 |archive-date=January 19, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> and at [[Lafayette College]] in March 2011.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lafayette.edu/about/news/2011/03/09/a-life-in-the-theater-broadway-legend-stephen-sondheim-visits-campus/ |title=A Life in the Theater: Broadway Legend Stephen Sondheim Visits Campus · About · Lafayette College |publisher=Lafayette.edu |date=March 9, 2011 |access-date=October 18, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308023022/http://www.lafayette.edu/about/news/2011/03/09/a-life-in-the-theater-broadway-legend-stephen-sondheim-visits-campus/ |archive-date=March 8, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Sondheim had another "conversation with" Sean Patrick Flahaven (associate editor of ''[[The Sondheim Review]]'') at the [[Kravis Center]] in [[West Palm Beach]] on February 4, 2009, in which he discussed many of his songs and shows: "On the perennial struggles of Broadway: 'I don't see any solution for Broadway's problems except subsidized theatre, as in most civilized countries of the world.'"<ref>Maupin, Elizabeth. [http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_stage_theat/2009/02/sondheim-talks-and-talks-and-talks.html "Sondheim talks. And talks. And talks."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130826144038/http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_stage_theat/2009/02/sondheim-talks-and-talks-and-talks.html |date=August 26, 2013 }} Orlandosentinel.com, February 5, 2009</ref>

On February 1, 2011, Sondheim joined former ''[[Salt Lake Tribune]]'' theater critic Nancy Melich before an audience of 1,200 at [[Kingsbury Hall]]. Melich described the evening:
<blockquote>He was visibly taken by the university choir, who sang two songs during the evening, "Children Will Listen" and "Sunday", and then returned to reprise "Sunday". During that final moment, Sondheim and I were standing, facing the choir of students from the [[University of Utah]]'s opera program, our backs to the audience, and I could see tears welling in his eyes as the voices rang out. Then, all of a sudden, he raised his arms and began conducting, urging the student singers to go full out, which they did, the crescendo building, their eyes locked with his, until the final "on an ordinary Sunday" was sung. It was thrilling, and a perfect conclusion to a remarkable evening—nothing ordinary about it.<ref>{{cite journal |year=2011 |title=More from Sondheim |journal=[[The Sondheim Review]]|volume=XVII |issue=4 |page=6}}</ref></blockquote>

On March 13, 2008, ''A Salon with Stephen Sondheim'' (which sold out in three minutes) was hosted by the [[Academy for New Musical Theatre]] in Hollywood.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-feb-07-et-quick7.s4-story.html |title=Sondheim salon is a hot ticket|work=Los Angeles Times |date=April 2, 2009 |access-date=July 4, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306120209/http://articles.latimes.com/2008/feb/07/entertainment/et-quick7.S4 |archive-date=March 6, 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIR-olTvKjU&list=PLBB4D7F7A8D337EA6&index=4 |title=A Salon with Stephen Sondheim at ANMT |via=YouTube |date=June 20, 2008 |access-date=July 4, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150523015109/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIR-olTvKjU&list=PLBB4D7F7A8D337EA6&index=4 |archive-date=May 23, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Work away from Broadway===
Sondheim was an avid fan of puzzles and games. He is credited with introducing [[cryptic crossword]]s, a British invention, to American audiences through a series of cryptic crossword puzzles he created for [[New York (magazine)|''New York'']] magazine in 1968 and 1969.<ref>{{multiref2
|{{cite news |last1=Healy |first1=Patrick |title=This Time It's Crosswords (Not Cross Words) That Surface From Sondheim |url=https://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/16/this-time-its-crosswords-not-cross-words-that-surface-from-sondheim/ |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=September 16, 2011 |access-date=November 27, 2021 |archive-date=November 11, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111223539/https://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/16/this-time-its-crosswords-not-cross-words-that-surface-from-sondheim/ |url-status=live|ref=none}}
|{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/crossword-blog/2015/apr/16/1|title=The story of how cryptic crosswords crossed the Atlantic|last=Stephenson|first=Hugh|date=April 16, 2015|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=November 27, 2021|ref=none}}
|{{cite magazine |last1=Parr |first1=Andrew |title=Call Me Steve |magazine=[[Games World of Puzzles]] |date=May 2021 |volume=45 |issue=4 |pages=33–37 |url=https://gamesmagazine-online.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Sondheim_GAMESmag.pdf|ref=none}}
|{{cite book |last1=Pender |first1=Rick |title=The Stephen Sondheim Encyclopedia |date=2021 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |location=Lanham |isbn=9781538115862 |pages=423–425 |chapter=Puzzles, Games, and Mysteries|ref=none}}
|{{cite magazine|last1=Zimmer |first1=Ben |title=Stephen Sondheim Didn't Just Change Musicals. He Changed Crosswords|url=https://slate.com/culture/2021/12/stephen-sondheim-crossword-puzzles-cryptic-west-side-story.html |magazine=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]|date=December 4, 2021|ref=none}}}} {{Excessive citations inline|date=December 2024}}</ref> Sondheim was "legendary" in theater circles for "concocting puzzles, scavenger hunts and murder-mystery games",{{r|master}} inspiring the central character of [[Anthony Shaffer (writer)|Anthony Shaffer]]'s 1970 play ''[[Sleuth (play)|Sleuth]]''.<ref>Producer [[Morton Gottlieb]] shared a manuscript bearing ''Who's Afraid of Stephen Sondheim?'' as the play's working title. [https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/07/19/specials/sondheim-shaffer.html "Theater: Of Mystery, Murder and Other Delights"], ''[[The New York Times]]'' Books, March 10, 1996.</ref> Sondheim's love of puzzles and mysteries is evident in ''[[The Last of Sheila]]'', an intricate [[whodunit]] written with longtime friend [[Anthony Perkins]]. The 1973 film, directed by [[Herbert Ross]], featured [[Dyan Cannon]], [[Joan Hackett]], [[Raquel Welch]], [[James Mason]], [[James Coburn]], [[Ian McShane]], and [[Richard Benjamin]].<ref name="Gordon2014">{{cite book |last1=Gordon |first1=Joanne |title=Stephen Sondheim: A Casebook |date=2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-70210-6 |pages=85–88 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XC9pAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA85 |access-date=December 7, 2021}}</ref>

Sondheim also wrote occasional music for film: most notably, he contributed five songs to [[Warren Beatty]]'s 1990 film ''[[Dick Tracy (1990 film)|Dick Tracy]]'', including the ballad "[[Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)]]", sung in the film by [[Madonna]], which won the [[Academy Award for Best Original Song]]. He also contributed to ''[[Reds (film)|Reds]]'' (both to the score, and with the song "Goodbye for Now"), ''[[The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (film)|The Seven-Per-Cent Solution]]'' ("The Madam's Song", later recorded as "I Never Do Anything Twice"), ''[[Stavisky]]'' (writing the score), and ''[[The Birdcage]]'' ("Little Dream", and the eventually cut "It Takes All Kinds"). For the [[Into the Woods (film)|2014 movie adaptation of ''Into the Woods'']], Sondheim wrote the new song "She'll Be Back" for the character of The Witch (played by [[Meryl Streep]]), which was eventually cut. Sondheim made a posthumous cameo appearance as himself in the 2022 [[Netflix]] film ''[[Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery]]''.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Lee Lenker |first=Maureen |date=November 25, 2022 |title=Angela Lansbury filmed her ''Glass Onion'' role on a laptop: Inside all the ''Knives Out 2'' cameos |url=https://ew.com/movies/glass-onion-knives-out-cameos-stephen-sondheim-angela-lansbury-more/ |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |access-date=November 25, 2022}}</ref>

Sondheim collaborated with ''[[Company (musical)|Company]]'' librettist [[George Furth]] to write the play ''[[Getting Away with Murder (play)|Getting Away with Murder]]'' in 1996; the Broadway production closed after 31 previews and only 17 performances.<ref>{{IBDB title|4322|Getting Away with Murder}}</ref>

In 2003, he was invited to serve as guest curator for the [[Telluride Film Festival]].<ref name=Mitchell />

==={{anchor|Mentorship of others}}Mentoring===
After he was mentored by Hammerstein,{{sfn|Zadan|1986|p=4}} Sondheim returned the favor, saying that he loved "passing on what Oscar passed on to me".{{r|youtube.com}} In an interview with Sondheim for ''The Legacy Project'', composer-lyricist [[Adam Guettel]] (son of [[Mary Rodgers]] and grandson of [[Richard Rodgers]]) recalled how as a 14-year-old boy he showed Sondheim his work. Guettel was "crestfallen" since he had come in "sort of all puffed up thinking [he] would be rained with compliments and things", which was not the case since Sondheim had some "very direct things to say". Later, Sondheim wrote and apologized to Guettel for being "not very encouraging" when he was actually trying to be "constructive".<ref name=legacy>{{cite AV media| people = Stephen Sondheim, Adam Guettel| title = The Legacy Project: Stephen Sondheim (In Conversation with Adam Guettel) – Educational Version with Public Performance Rights | medium = DVD| publisher = Transient Pictures |year = 2011}}</ref>

Sondheim also mentored a fledgling [[Jonathan Larson]], attending Larson's workshop for his ''[[Superbia (musical)|Superbia]]'' (originally an adaptation of ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]''). In Larson's musical ''[[Tick, Tick... Boom!]]'', the phone message is played in which Sondheim apologizes for leaving early, says he wants to meet him and is impressed with his work. After Larson's death, Sondheim called him one of the few composers "attempting to blend contemporary pop music with theater music, which doesn't work very well; he was on his way to finding a real synthesis. A good deal of pop music has interesting lyrics, but they are not theater lyrics". A musical-theater composer "must have a sense of what is theatrical, of how you use music to tell a story, as opposed to writing a song. Jonathan understood that instinctively."<ref>{{cite web |author=[[Anthony Tommasini]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/02/11/theater/theater-a-composer-s-death-echoes-in-his-musical.html?src=pm&pagewanted=1 |title=Theater; A Composer's Death Echoes in His Musical|work=[[The New York Times]] |date=February 11, 1996 |access-date=July 4, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170406111532/http://www.nytimes.com/1996/02/11/theater/theater-a-composer-s-death-echoes-in-his-musical.html?src=pm&pagewanted=1 |archive-date=April 6, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Around 2008, Sondheim approached [[Lin-Manuel Miranda]] to work with him translating ''[[West Side Story]]'' lyrics into Spanish for an upcoming Broadway revival.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nymag.com/guides/fallpreview/2008/theater/49532 |title=This Could Drive a Person Crazy |work=New York |first=Jeremy |last=McCarter |date=August 24, 2008 |access-date=April 17, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160318120646/http://nymag.com/guides/fallpreview/2008/theater/49532/ |archive-date=March 18, 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Rebecca Mead">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/02/09/hamiltons|title=All About The Hamiltons|magazine=The New Yorker|author=Rebecca Mead|date=February 9, 2015|access-date=June 15, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170930211838/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/02/09/hamiltons|archive-date=September 30, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Miranda then approached Sondheim with his new project ''[[Hamilton (musical)|Hamilton]]'', then called ''The Hamilton Mixtape'', which Sondheim gave notes on.{{r|Rebecca Mead}}<ref name="Rosen">{{cite web |last=Rosen |first=Jody |title=The American Revolutionary |work=The New York Times Style Magazine |date=July 8, 2015 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/08/t-magazine/hamilton-lin-manuel-miranda-roots-sondheim.html |access-date=June 15, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160617013314/http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/08/t-magazine/hamilton-lin-manuel-miranda-roots-sondheim.html |archive-date=June 17, 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> Sondheim was originally wary of the project, saying he was "worried that an evening of rap might get monotonous". But he believed Miranda's attention to, and respect for, good rhyming made it work.{{r|Rosen}}

Sondheim provided a [[cameo appearance|voice cameo]] for the [[Tick, Tick... Boom! (film)|2021 film adaptation of ''Tick, Tick... Boom!'']], directed by Miranda, for the scene in which a fictionalized version of himself leaves a phone message. Sondheim worked on a revised text of the message and voiced it himself after [[Bradley Whitford]], who portrays him, was unavailable to rerecord the line.<ref>{{Cite web|date=November 29, 2021|title=Lin-Manuel Miranda Reveals That Stephen Sondheim Rewrote His Voicemail Scene in 'Tick, Tick... BOOM!'|url=https://decider.com/2021/11/29/lin-manuel-miranda-stephen-sondheim-rewrite-tick-tick-boom/|access-date=December 2, 2021|website=Decider|language=en-US}}</ref>

===Dramatists Guild===
A supporter of writers' rights in the theater industry, Sondheim was an active member of the [[Dramatists Guild of America]]. In 1973, he was elected as the Guild's 16th president, serving until 1981.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dgf.org/staff/stephen-sondheim/|title=Stephen Sondheim – Dramatists Guild Foundation|website=dgf.org|access-date=November 28, 2021|archive-date=November 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128101733/https://dgf.org/staff/stephen-sondheim/|url-status=dead}}</ref>