“This was a really fun book for a huge Sondheim nerd like me (Craig got it for me for Christmas--he is also a nerd). It has all the lyrics for all of Sondheim's shows (the first half of his career, anyway), and I wasn't sure it would be that interesting, but he is super snarky and put in tons of commentary which was really fun to read. I was also surprised to remember how many of those shows I've been in! I remembered doing full productions, of course, but I did tons of student one-acts of Sondheim's stuff in college, so I could sing along with many, many of the lyrics. A highlight was learning that Bernstein turned a rejected "Jet's" song from West Side Story into the second movement of the Chichester's Psalms which I sang in concert choir. I was cracking myself up singing the lyrics about those "lousy Puerto Ricans" to something that later became a really beautiful psalm! So much fun. I'm excited to get his next installment (I know the second half of his career even better than the first). ”
Robbyn S wrote this review Tuesday, February 22, 2011.
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