GETTING TO KNOW SONDHEIM An important new biography, Daniel Okrent’sStephen Sondheim: Art Isn’t Easy, was published on March 17, 2026, by Yale University Press. He elaborates on Sondheim’s difficult relationship with his mother, who once wrote to him in a letter, “The only guilt I can think of is giving you birth.” For years, Sondheim
Sondheim Update #34 Read More »
Following on the 2021 publication of my STEPHEN SONDHEIM ENCYCLOPEDIA, I was invited by Rowman and Littlefield (which became Bloomsbury Publishing in May 2024) to undertake another Sondheim volume. R&L was acquired by Bloomsbury Publishing in 2024, and that’s who has released my book-length, in-depth study of SWEENEY TODD:https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/stephen-sondheims-sweeney-todd-9781538196441/ is now available for ordering. Here’s
A book entirely about Stephen Sondheim’s “Bloody Musical Masterpiece”! Read More »
SWEENEY TODD (and Halloween) ARE HEADED YOUR WAY! In the concluding chapter to my new book, Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd: Behind the Bloody Musical Masterpiece (released on Oct. 2), I point out, “Sweeney Todd marked an inflection point in musical theater that invited greater experimentation in subject matter told with seriously composed music — stepping
Sondheim News for September 2025 Read More »
