- If I cannot fly,
- Let me sing.
STEPHEN SONDHEIM, Sweeney Todd
Art ... is an attempt to bring order out of chaos.
STEPHEN SONDHEIM, interview, July 5, 2005
Stay a child while you can be a child.
STEPHEN SONDHEIM, Into the Woods
- There's a hole in the world
- Like a great black pit
- And the vermin of the world
- Inhabit it ...
- And it goes by the name of London.
STEPHEN SONDHEIM, Sweeney Todd
I prefer neurotic people. I like to hear rumblings beneath the surface.
STEPHEN SONDHEIM, Newsweek, Apr. 23, 1973
- To wish and wait
- From day to day
- Will never keep
- The wolves away.
STEPHEN SONDHEIM, Into the Woods
Music blows lyrics up very quickly, and suddenly they become more than art. They become pompous and they become self-conscious ... I firmly believe that lyrics have to breathe and give the audience's ear a chance to understand what's going on. Particularly in the theater, where you not only have the music, but you've got costume, story, acting, orchestra. There's a lot to take in.
STEPHEN SONDHEIM, interview, July 5, 2005
The last collaborator is your audience ... when the audience comes in, it changes the temperature of what you've written. Things that seem to work well -- work in a sense of carry the story forward and be integral to the piece -- suddenly become a little less relevant or a little less functional or a little overlong or a little overweight or a little whatever. And so you start reshaping from an audience.
STEPHEN SONDHEIM, interview, July 5, 2005
Perpetual anticipation is good for the soul but it's bad for the heart.
STEPHEN SONDHEIM, A Little Night Music
My cage has many rooms.
STEPHEN SONDHEIM, Sweeney Todd
- Any moment, big or small,
- Is a moment, after all.
- Seize the moment, skies may fall
- Any moment.
STEPHEN SONDHEIM, Into the Woods
- The concerts you enjoy together
- Neighbors you annoy together
- Children you destroy together
- That make a marriage a joy.
STEPHEN SONDHEIM, Company
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