Stephen Sondheim talks about "Sweeney Todd" with Peter L. Stein (audio excerpt) 10-24-09

One of the highlights of my life was to have the opportunity to interview Stephen Sondheim onstage in 2009. He was in a generous and genial mood as a raconteur that evening (something it appears was his default mode especially later in life). When I had met him backstage beforehand, I told him that the first time we had met was more than 30 years earlier, while he was writing “Sweeney Todd.” I started to describe what he had told me at the time about his work-in-progress, and he said, “Hold it, let’s actually talk about this onstage.” So here is a 15-minute audio clip from our onstage conversation, in which we talked about that first meeting, the development of “Sweeney Todd,” and he manages to drop in a few wonderful backstage anecdotes about that production, as well as some wisdom about moviemaking and dramatic narrative. Recorded at Wells Fargo Center for the Arts, Santa Rosa, CA, October 24, 2009. Explore more at www.peterlstein.com

[@peterstein7155]

at 1:40 he credits Bernard Herrmann's "Hangover Square" as an inspiration for the score. You can hear that soundtrack here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nGKYopR-pc5jaZY

[@timsika7655]

This is pretty great, Peter.

[@peterstein7155]

Thanks Tim!