The Musicals of Stephen Sondheim: An Insider’s Look at His Hits and Misses
Sean Hartley is the director at the Kaufman Music Center’s Theater Wing, He is the Producer/Host of Broadway Close Up as well as Broadway Playhouse. Sean is also a playwright, composer, and lyricist.
Overview
The composer and/or lyricist of 18 major musicals, Stephen Sondheim is undeniably the most influential musical theater writer of his generation. But despite his success with critics and his shelves full of awards, most of his musicals lost money, and he has almost as many detractors as fans.
This lecture will focus on Sondheim’s 3 major phases (the "lyrics only" phase, the Hal Prince years and the James Lapine collaborations) to determine not only which shows hit or miss, but also how his writing has changed the way we think about musical theater. Kaufman Music Center Director Sean Hartley will perform a few essential songs to illustrate points.
Highly entertaining and educational presentation on Sondheim’s 3 phases, his hits, misses and overall contributions to the musical theater. Shaun is a marvelous, compelling and talented performer in his own right, and we look forward to seeing and hearing other presentations by him.