Stephen Sondheim, Titan of the American Musical, is Dead at 91

[wnylib]

30. One of my favorites, besides

West Side Story, is Into the Woods.

One day, years ago, I had my TV on, not paying close attention while folding laundry, and then dusting, when an unusual fairy tale musical came on. I stopped to see where it was going and ended up abandoning my chores to sit glued to the TV for the rest of it. Creative, insightful, and mesmerizing. A couple years later I saw a community college theater production of it.

Regarding West Side Story, I first saw it in a theater when I was 14. I'd heard some of the tunes on the radio for years before that, but hearing them in the film setting impressed me so much that I bought a vinyl LP of the entire film tunes. Played it so often that I had all the lyrics to every song memorized.

Decades later, I picked up the dvd, wondering if I would feel the same about it so many years later. I was even more impressed with the music, not just the Bernstein score, but how well the lyrics blended with the music as they told the action of the story and the emotions of the characters.