Some years ago, I found myself with a glass of white wine standing directly face-to-face with Stephen Sondheim. I’m not in theatre although I did a bit of acting in my younger years. In theatre, I’m just a theatre-goer. And a fan.
In any case, a revival of Pacific Overtures was about to start in Lincoln Center and I was attending (as an audience member) a panel discussion about that upcoming production. Sondheim was on the panel and afterward there was a wine and cheese reception.
I like white wine.
In any case, I was astounded when I looked up from the (not particularly great) glass of wine and saw the reigning king of Broadway. Strangely, instead of feeling intimidated, I found him very approachable. I started talking to him. Me! The introvert.
It was like I had been preparing for this moment my whole life. For example, I had flown to Chicago to see the world premiere of Saturday Night, a show Sondheim had written and abandoned just before his work on West Side Story. That world premiere was a student production and afterward I stuck around to chat with various cast members.
I had seen (an excellent but still needing work) preview of the first Broadway production of Passion.
I attended the tenth anniversary cast reunion performance of Into the Woods.
Yeah, I was and am a fan.
The chat was about 15 minutes. I had his undivided attention in a room full of important people. I told him about the premiere production of Saturday Night. One of the actors said he wasn’t even a theatre major but realized he was involved in something important when his sister (who WAS a theatre major) freaked out as he told her he was working on a show with Stephen Sondheim who was writing new songs for them.
I also told Sondheim that the student production was much better than the Broadway production that followed. Stephen said that makes sense — it’s a show written for young people. And he was amused about the story of the non-theatre major realizing that Saturday Night was a big deal.
I asked Stephen when I’d see Anyone Can Whistle on Broadway again. He said “never” because it’s too expensive and too much of a risk to investors. But, as it turns out, not long after there was a staged reading on Broadway of that show.
I’ve met a fair number of celebrities but Stephen Sondheim was easily the most gracious, most charming and most approachable. Not only that, he wrote the words and music that have, for decades, greatly enriched the quality of my life.
Yes, he was 91. But I miss him terribly. Already.
