Liz, how did you come to perform at this event?

You were amazing. Thank you.

You performed so splendidly and with the maestro looking on!

Your performances here are my favorites of each piece. Thank you for your attention to detail and your timing -- your exquisite timing.

@@steveokie69 assssßßswwééeêêê

I know what you mean.

been doing the same

Me too! I suspect there are countless others currently in a deep Stephen Sondheim dive these days. I think this makes us all Sondheim Soul Siblings

I hope you are able to get the help you need.

I agree. This interview will be required viewing 100, 200 years from now. Maybe more, if we make it there:)

I always thought Inside the Actors Studio jumped the shark when Jennifer Lopez was his guest, but this interview makes me forgive all

I agree!

Look up the interview with Adam Guettel.

@@tonyconniff Yes, that’s also a wonderful one. I just find something incisive about Lipton’s questioning here that makes it even more revealing.

Yeah...hes an American treasure. "Art is craft...not inspiration..." a superb craftsman

Ashleigh sure is

I greatly agree, with a few alterations… I would wish Sondheim to live in perpetuity in good health, and great joy. However, barring that possibility, I am deeply appreciative of the beautiful gift he’s left us of his spirit and essence in the words and notes he’s shared…. May he be carried to his eternal performance on the perfect notes and utterances he gave us. Rest in perfect symphonic bliss, Sir.

What lovely words, Donald, and I am sure your experiences with his work will stay with you and you'll feel that I'm sure even more potently now! By the way, I'm a Melbourne gal and a huge Anthony Warlow fan all my life but you also made a terrific Phantom and have had an amazing career! Wishing you all the very best!

Oh I felt the same way...wept! With all the love we all feel for this treasured man.

me too. i can never forgive the network for constantly rerunning the jennifer lopez interview but not this

Me too

Bio her website says, "Regional and international credits include Dot in Sunday in the Park with George" wonder where that was?

Absolutely not! She doesn’t have the vocal weight or sex appeal and she’s not that strong of an actress.

You could do a comment where you 'annotate' by putting in timestamps, then describing, then adding in your comments (yes, in your comment 😂). Do it! We'd love to see it!

@Shaun Nolan - Right under the lower right corner of the video is a ". . ." icon; click on that and select Open Transcript. Then place the cursor at the beginning of the transcript timestamp, depress the shift key, and keeping it depressed drag your mouse to the end of the text. Right Click on the highlighted text. Select Copy to put it in NotePad OR select Print - either to a printer or a pdf.

And they RHYMED

@@Gnostic72 Not quite a rhyme, but close. It would need to be ‘operator poperator’ to rhyme correctly. Edited to provide a correct example - thanks to Robert.

@@oldvlognewtricks ...incorrect. That would be what's known as an "identity." "-vator" and "-rator" form a perfect rhyme.

@@rob.berliner Not unless the third syllable is the primary stress where you’re from. Sondheim’s delivery certainly isn’t like this, as he clearly stresses only the first syllables. Merriam-Webster also suggests this isn’t the case, giving: ˈe-lə-ˌvā-tər ˈä-pə-ˌrā-tər. I would be astonished to hear ˌe-lə-ˈvā-tər ˌä-pə-ˈrā-tər - and would call it a mis-stress if it were used that way in a lyric. Unless this is a misunderstanding about the definition of an identical rhyme?

@@oldvlognewtricks I’d definitely argue that there’s, at bare minimum, a secondary stress on the third syllable of each word, which is enough for me (and most ears) to recognize that as a perfect rhyme. “elerator operator” is not a perfect rhyme because-beyond any question of where the emphasis goes-the sound that’s recalled is identical, hence that couplet being known as an identity.

I have heard these songs endless times.. Somehow I cry every damn time. He is a true musical genius, so few are.

And they honestly kill it

Except he’s like a father to them…he theatrically raised them.

@@susanpayer3472 And I can’t imagine that lessens the pressure all that much.

I lost it at the end of “Move On” when the performers looked right at Steven that love in their eyes! Onions time!

@@jordan11752 Oh no, I didn't mean for my comment to disparage the performers- you are absolutely right, they kill it. All I was saying was I would be petrified lol.

@mikemorrmikemorr Thank you for providing the name! I only know him as one of the shrinks from Good Will Hunting.

While I like Les amis I totally agree. Les Les, while better than the composer and lyricist’s other show Miss Saigon, is much less emotional than Miss Saigon because it feels more intimate. Also; Les Mis, Phantom, and Miss Saigon with their giant spectacles (the Barricade, the Chandelier and the Helicopter) kind of killed intimate musical theatre for a while. I believe that Passion (maybe my favourite Sondheim/musical show ever, I haven’t decided) would have had a better run if it wasn’t for the Les Mis/Phantom/Miss Saigon expectation of massive spectacle that still persists to this day. After all, why is BeetleJuice so popular? Hope that made sense.

That's great to know. I do think you should go back and watch the songs because they are very well sung and acted without being showy. It's a classy performer who can achieve that mix that I think is necessary in this sort of setting where it's more about analysis of the piece and it's admirable the way Liz and JIm respected this.

I can't find it either. Did James just make that up?

Apocopated rhyme.

@@fittyJackson ...but he says 'apocopetic', which, like 'apocopic', is an adjective pertaining to 'apocope', while 'apocopated' is the adjectival past participle. :-)

It is indeed!

@@steveokie69 I worked on the first US production. It was at Equity Library Theater in 1982. It was so exciting since the audience was filled with people who were so curious about a Porter musical no one had ever seen.

@@richardmayora1289 I’ve read it was his favorite score. It certainly is a great one. Take care.

Yes, George Plimpton in the house!

And only using glasses for reading

Sondheim quick to bring attention to her use of the word “like.” I wonder if she took it to heart.

@@steveokie69 She didn't notice his mock, or she chose to ignore and push ahead?

@@steveokie69 i don't understand. What is wrong with that?

@@nawnwn6426 Who said there was anything wrong with that? Not me.

@@steveokie69 oops I misunderstood. Sorry

He does it to make people think he’s “complicated.”

We've only really one SIDE here on planet earth...we're all humans, A genius like Sondheim benefits everyone, whether they know/like his work or not.

For both composers some of their lyrics read well and some don’t. A blanket statement just doesn’t work (though it’s much easier to make). For example, read “I Remember” by Sondheim. It’s lovely as verse. Can you really see anyone sitting down to read Oscar’s “The cow man and farmer should be friends”? On paper it’s childish. On stage it’s fun. So it really depends. Their words were written for music, not to stand alone. If some do, it’s a bonus for us all.

@@steveokie69 In the main Hammerstein is readable on paper. Sondheim is not.

@@sandrashevey8252I am glad you enjoy them so. There is a book of Oscar's complete lyrics. If you don't own it already, here's the link. www.amazon.com/Complete-Lyrics-Oscar-Hammerstein-II/dp/0375413588/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Oscar+hammerstein+lyrics&qid=1622794882&sr=8-1

@@steveokie69 I know most of his lyrics by heart. I should do a book (self published ebook) on my esteem for Hammerstein`s lyrics (poetry) By the way you mention `The Farmer and the Cowman` as an example of lyrics which are not quotable without music. WRONG. There is one line that is classic, absolutely classic and every single school child (around the world) show memorize it. `I don`t say I`m no better than anybody else But I`ll be damned if I ain`t just as good`. Aryans and Jews/ Palestinians and Israelis. By the way, Who are You?

@@sandrashevey8252 You should do that book. Sounds like a fun project. Take care.

Looks like he has a cyst on his forehead but that's about it

I think that camera/lighting was bad.

I think he finally had that giant boil on his forehead lanced.

Likely dry skin, like I have.

He's typically asked the same questions over and over again.

You can see how fed up he gets with answering the same questions, and with people applauding him. Every interview people ask the most uninspired questions like "What are your influences?" (as was the example in this video) and he just rushes through the response, basically cutting them off. The guy says he loves to teach, but all he seems to be doing is answering inane questions. It seems like he's not challenged anymore.

We’ll, “Pretty Women” was written for two men to sing, not one. Is that what made you think it was awful?

@@richardcanedo1614 I don’t think it’s horrible but I do think it’s better with sung by someone with a deeper voice