"The man could stop time. He left me speechless and enrapt too many times to count. With remarkable dexterity, and deep sincerity, he could always find that rare substrate in the theatre, the place where pain and joy become one. But mostly, Sondheim taught us the holiness of rhythm, that through rhythm, a story might find higher meaning, a meaning that may even transcend words, and therefore feel like something that is much closer to our own beating hearts."
-Brian Watkins
"I remember being stunned and obsessed by the imagination and depth and fury of "Sweeney Todd." I sought it out in every form, including a recording of the original Broadway production… Sweeney’s face, a mask of fury in the final moment before the stage goes dark, is still etched in my mind. Much later I sang a fairly obscure song of his, “I remember,” I don’t remember why I was singing it, it’s from a peculiar film musical called “Evening Primrose” about a group of people hiding in a department store who haven’t seen the outside world in I don’t know how long, and and the depth of his dramaturgical insight in crafting a song of such expansiveness and claustrophobia stunned me all over again, obsessed me all over again. He made me want to write. And then he made me want to write better."
-Aditi Brennan Kapil
"I remember being in the audience at the Hollywood Bowl for Sondheim’s 75th birthday concert celebration. I don’t remember how I ended up there, because I didn’t know much about him, yet it was clear that night that he was beloved and prolific. Five years later, I was an intern at New Dramatists, helping out with a small donor event during which Sondheim and John Weidman spoke candidly about their collaboration. It was immediately evident that he was intelligent and highly respected. Another five years passed, and I’d become a New Dramatists resident playwright and participated in the Composer-Librettist Studio. I finally looked more closely at his body of work, and was astonished by his artistic genius. I feel lucky to have shared the same room and some time on the planet with him."
-Melisa Tien
"He was a KING. A magnificent, brilliant King. I wish I had met him and had something of consequence to say. All I know is that his music and lyrics, especially his lyrics will remain my inspiration trigger forever."
-Cori Thomas