Thanks for posting this. I'll always cherish being a part of this.

@steveokie69

2 жыл бұрын

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

@stevekatz215

2 жыл бұрын

You were amazing. Thank you.

@ellenorchid01

2 жыл бұрын

You performed so splendidly and with the maestro looking on!

@PianoWallaby

2 жыл бұрын

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

@barrybayer6125

2 жыл бұрын

@@steveokie69 assssßßswwééeêêê

May Stephen Sondheim's memory, and his genius, be for a blessing.

You can see the fatherly love Stephen has for Liz Callaway and Jim Walton when they are performing. Liz and Jim were in the original cast of Merrily We Roll Along when they were basically teenagers, so they literally grew up with Stephen and his work.

I've spent 3 days watching Stephen Sondheim tribute videos and crying. I needed to take a break. Then I ended up here. I'm so glad. This one is worth all of the tears.

@steveokie69

2 жыл бұрын

I know what you mean.

@jjaniero

2 жыл бұрын

been doing the same

@egeemnz1

2 жыл бұрын

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

@MondoMiami

Жыл бұрын

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

Memorial run through YT -- doing okay until he said, "Welcome!" and I just lost it -- what a genius! What a loss.

When Liz and Jim look at Steve during the final moments of "Move On" - WOW. Really teared up there. So powerful.

Rip Mr Sondheim. Thank you for gracing this planet and us with your unending brilliance.

People eventually mocked and satirized James Lipton for his eccentricities, but this remains the greatest single interview of Stephen Sondheim. Lipton doesn't unload the same three or four questions that Sondheim has been incessantly asked for five decades, and he (Lipton) betrays a fondness and intimate knowledge of Sondheim's work that makes for a scintillating and insightful conversation, even for rabid Sondheim fans who think they know everything about the great man.

@kennethbrady

2 жыл бұрын

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

@jjaniero

2 жыл бұрын

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

@lakshmi4meable

2 жыл бұрын

I agree!

@tonyconniff

2 жыл бұрын

Look up the interview with Adam Guettel.

@nicholasfox966

2 жыл бұрын

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

This is a bloody gem of an episode.

4 жыл бұрын

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

@tonyhayes4980

4 жыл бұрын

Ashleigh sure is

44:04 Welcome, Stephen. Rest in peace.

If I could wish someone lived to 92… my heart is broken 😞. Such a legacy! Thank you for all your work!

@mmgogre9973

2 жыл бұрын

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.

I’ve been lucky to have done five of his shows. Fell in love with his words and music while studying opera at university. I have spent my life loving both art forms. How lucky I have been.

@joannefairclough7960

2 жыл бұрын

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!

I have no doubt God lovingly said "Welcome...home"! Afterall, Stephen Sondheim was just on loan to us. Thank you, God. RIP Mr. Sondheim.

Watched this when I was a kid and always loved when they sing to him.. makes me cry even now.

@tedtalksrock

4 жыл бұрын

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

You have spoken to what is innermost of the human experience. The poignancy of coming to terms with ourselves, our limitations, and our aspirations, held in the mastery of the work, as Joy that aches like grief. You are the Great love story of the American musical. You have touched our hearts in an extraordinarily rare way. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. What an incredible interview, interviewer, and two of your most beloved performers with their stunning interpretations of your music, that you so clearly adored. Let your music play on, Encore!!

I can't believe I have missed this for all these years. Amazing gem.

@jjaniero

2 жыл бұрын

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

Kind of funny that Lipton jumps right from Sweeney to Sunday in the Park with George when two of the original cast of Merrily We Roll Along are there on stage.

Wonderful interview plus performances by two great musical theater artists. James LIpton was a fine interviewer.

The performances of his pieces are perfect! Must have been nerve wracking for both singers and the accompanist with the composer/writer sitting inches away!

Un documento maravilloso para las personas que adoramos a Sondheim. Gracias.

i could listen to Stephen Sondheim endlessly...i am a true SONDHEIMMANIAC!!

@steveokie69

3 жыл бұрын

Me too

I am so thrilled to be seeing this, Thank You!!

Thanks for finding and posting this.

this episode is so incredible

This is a brilliant Master Class. Thank you for sharing it!

like #700!! thanks for uploading this, hearing both Stephen Sondheim AND James Lipton talk is immensely enriching.

What a fine interview!! Thank you, Nymph Errant!

How lucky are we that Stephen Sondheim exists???

Thank you. Wonderful to revisit this!

AWESOME interview and Liz Callaway is an added bonus!!!!

Fantastic upload. Thank you. That was beautiful to see him tear up when the singers directed some very poignant lyrics at him.

Rest in peace, Maestro. Thank you for everything.

How have I never seen this - thank you

Held it together for most of the interview but Move On always gets me and when Liz and Jim looked at Sondheim during the ending I started bawling

Thank you for publishing this interview. What a genius. What a thoughtful man. What a gift he was to the musical world!

What a bloody joy this is. I wish I could print it out and annotate it lol, but I guess videos don't work like that. Thank you for uploading it!

@MsDonttrythisathome

4 жыл бұрын

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!

@johnps30

2 жыл бұрын

@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.

Great interview and the part from 53:36 Sunday in the park with George, with Bernadette Peters and Mandy Patinkin as George, was a real treat.

I now feel deeply cheated that we never got a production of Sunday in the Park with George with Liz Callaway as Dot.

@dmcharrett

4 жыл бұрын

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

@ndemone

3 жыл бұрын

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

Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.

44:32 send in the clowns (posting for myself, love her performance)

I’m so glad this exists.

Rest In Peace Stephen Sondheim, March 22, 1930 - November 26, 2021

Liz Callaway. Heaven. Hope Mr Sondheim hears you. RIP

It was a very “Sondheim” thing for him to say “Elevator Operator.” Brilliant man.

@Gnostic72

2 жыл бұрын

And they RHYMED

@oldvlognewtricks

2 жыл бұрын

@@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.

@rob.berliner

2 жыл бұрын

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

@oldvlognewtricks

2 жыл бұрын

@@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?

@rob.berliner

2 жыл бұрын

@@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.

Genius personified.

"Art is craft, not inspiration."

BLESS you for posting this!

Stunningly eloquent and masterful at delivering life’s gifts. You are welcome to be your favorite breed of canine upon your return.

Good grief, I wept through most of this.

@wirthwhilemedia

4 жыл бұрын

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

I checked out 33 and a third records, better known as long playing records (LP's) from the city library and play them on an old record player, over and over, and hear something beauty and new each time between the pops, crackles and hisses of the worn out LP's.

Imagine how satisfying it was for Sondheim to hear three laughs during the June-April part of "Barcelona." The first laugh starts at 15:20, the second at 15:38, and then a third laugh at 15:44 after the audience had a moment to replay the joke in their head. Amazing.

this man is the personification of oblique

YES BRITTEN!!! 🎉🎉🎉great video

Wonderful. Tears, but laughter too.

I love Sondheim.

So amazing!

Both gone, both not forgotten… 1 is a genius.

Indeed, Steve, welcome!

Does anyone else notice a strong similarity with some parts of "Could I leave you" and a motive from into the woods that appears in several songs?

Intelligent,sweet man.💙

This guy really does his homework for the interviews.

crying, so tender, so beloved.

I really feel for these performers, it would be my nightmare to sing/play Sondheim's music when Stephen Sondheim is sitting less than 10 feet in front of you.

@jordan11752

3 жыл бұрын

And they honestly kill it

@susanpayer3472

2 жыл бұрын

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

@oldvlognewtricks

2 жыл бұрын

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

@rmac1042

2 жыл бұрын

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

@Pyrethryn

2 жыл бұрын

@@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.

Climb High Climb far Your aim the sky Your goal the Star 🌟. That was our official motto at my primary school , I R Griffith Primary School in JHB South Africa! 🇿🇦

If you didn't hear or know of any of his work you could still tell he is brilliant by what he says here alone.

Loved seeing Burt Bacharach sitting there in the audience. I've often reflected how both them composed rhythmically irregular and open-ended songs. Now we've lost both of them.

Genius.

"He changed my life- very importantly- by making me aware that art is craft, not inspiration." Wow! around 5:34

3:15 George Plimpton in the audience

@CubFlanagan

3 жыл бұрын

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

in case you want the songs! 14:00 barcelona 19:45 could i leave you 27:20 pretty women 31:21 sunday in the park with george 37:28 move on 44:33 send in the clowns

@cruisindownthestreetinmy6490

17 күн бұрын

39:38

Really enjoyed the video and hearing him go into details of the process and the musicals. I wonder why they didnt tall about into the woods at all, if this was shot in 1994. Does anybody know??

Favourite moment: Callaway sings "Leave you" NOTE PERFECT. Not often done. Non-ish singing role. He turns in chair & smiles.

Wow! Hearing Pretty Woman sung by a lyric tenor is even more disconcerting keeping the content in mind. The student's questions are grand. Sondheim's frustration with the wall to wall music "operettas" is very sensible when explained.

Les Mis killed this art form...Sondheim had a unique handle on life in NYC, and by extension post war US. The big specatacle-turned-touring company took over that intimate form

@henryanderson6752

4 жыл бұрын

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.

George Plympton in the house!!!

Great

He finally got to the meat and potatoes at the very last of the interview segment. I would have rather have perhaps one or two numbers less and more of Stevens explanatios.

In 1995, I asked him about this show. He called it, “Portrait of a Man Uncomfortable in His Own Skin.”

I literally *tried* to not watch the whole thing. "An hour?!" Screw that. Before I knew it, it was more than half over. I honestly did skip through the musical numbers just so I could hear him speak. And this was after listening to three days of Fresh Air. I'm not even a Sondheim "fan"! Truth be told, I barely had an idea who he was and I'm a fully grown adult. I've see Into the Woods and parts of West Side Story and that's about it. I just can't say how much I enjoy hearing him speak. He is (or I guess, was) a natural teacher.

@TheMaestroCraig

2 жыл бұрын

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.

9:54 A what kinda rhyme? Apocathetic? I googled that and just got a bunch of pages for "apathetic" etc...

@steveokie69

5 жыл бұрын

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

@fittyJackson

4 жыл бұрын

Apocopated rhyme.

@yfructose

4 жыл бұрын

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

Will we get to hear his attempted pieces? Or should they remain unheard?... he mentions “Mary Poppins” ... curious.

40:54 gets me every time :'(

Nymph Errant? Is this reference to the Cole Porter musical?

@steveokie69

2 жыл бұрын

It is indeed!

@richardmayora1289

2 жыл бұрын

@@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.

@steveokie69

2 жыл бұрын

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

How can anyone stand James Lipton? To him... it's all about him.

1994

It’s precisely the English languages difficulty to work with in music that makes it so great in music. Art thrives against impediments.

Lol... He looks like "MOSES" 😂🤣🤣🤣

Seeing James without a beard is very strange.

@MrKaraokeguy88

Жыл бұрын

And only using glasses for reading

George Plimpton?

@steveokie69

2 жыл бұрын

Yes, George Plimpton in the house!

47:57 Lisa, an actor. Is she known today ?

@steveokie69

2 жыл бұрын

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

@Highspeed110

2 жыл бұрын

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

@nawnwn6426

2 жыл бұрын

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

@steveokie69

2 жыл бұрын

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

@nawnwn6426

2 жыл бұрын

@@steveokie69 oops I misunderstood. Sorry

We lost an icon.

its Ravel more than Debussy

Sondheim moves a lot when he talks. Does he have something like Parkinson’s or something? Or is he just a hand talker?

@MondoMiami

3 жыл бұрын

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

Creative genius doesn't fit in a nice neat box. He was a true original iconic genius and too bad he didn't pass his genes on. Who will take his place now, if that's even possible?

Either God said 'Welcome' or there's a standard poodle named Stephen just being born somewhere;

He's not only a genius, he's gay. That's another one for out side!

@steveokie69

4 жыл бұрын

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.

I disagree. I think Hammerstein stands alone. Doesn`t need music. His lyrics are pure poetry. `I`m as corny as Kansas in August, I`m as normal as blueberry pie`. Very American in a way that sends up America. I sure hope Hammerstein is studied in the schools as a native American poet. `If you excuse an expression I use`. Read it in the Yiddish `You should excuse the expression`. So very American and very Jewish. While being un-American and un-Jewish. Sondheim needs music. `I Feel Pretty` `Maria `Tonight` nothing without the music. Lyrics are just fill when Bernstein writes the score. In `Gypsy` again the score moves the lyrics. Sorry Sondheim!

@steveokie69

3 жыл бұрын

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.

@sandrashevey8252

3 жыл бұрын

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

@steveokie69

3 жыл бұрын

@@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

@sandrashevey8252

3 жыл бұрын

@@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?

@steveokie69

3 жыл бұрын

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

That wide vibrato is very difficult to put up with. I had to turn the sound down.

Did he have a skin disease ?

@ea6102

5 жыл бұрын

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

@henryanderson6752

4 жыл бұрын

I think that camera/lighting was bad.

@MondoMiami

3 жыл бұрын

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

@suzannepowers1051

Жыл бұрын

Likely dry skin, like I have.

Sondheim tells the same stories over and over in every interview

@steveokie69

5 жыл бұрын

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

@hoodyboody

4 жыл бұрын

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.