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All Quotes by author - Stephen Sondheim

" A close-up on screen can say all a song can. "

" After the Rodgers and Hammerstein revolution, songs became part of the story, as opposed to just entertainments in between comedy scenes. "

" All the best performers bring to their role something more, something different than what the author put on paper. That's what makes theatre live. That's why it persists. "

" Art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos. "

" By the time I was 22, I was a professional. A young and flawed professional, but not an amateur. "

" Everybody faces a blank piece of paper, no matter what they've written or painted or composed before. I can't imagine approaching every single new project with-without doubt. "

" Everyone I used to play with has either given up or is dead. "

" Every single song I've ever written is sung by a character created by somebody else. Some might have a jaundiced view of love, some don't. But none of these songs is me singing - not a single one. "

" Every time one can write a self-deluded song, you are way ahead of the game, way ahead. Self-delusion is the basis of nearly all the great scenes in all the great plays, from 'Oedipus' to 'Hamlet.' "

" Every writer I've ever spoken to feels fraudulent in some way or other. "

" Generally, the best recording is the original cast, because that's the way the piece grew: integrally, with them. "

" Gotta watch out for directors. "

" I certainly wanted my name in lights. I wanted my name on a marquee. I wanted recognition on Broadway. "

" I chose and my world was shaken. So what? The choice may have been mistaken; the choosing was not. You have to move on. "

" I don't find my life that interesting. The shows, maybe. But not me. "

" I don't listen to recordings of my songs. I don't avoid it, I just don't go out of my way to do it. "

" I fell into lyric writing because of music. I backed into it. "

" I firmly believe lyrics have to breathe and give the audience's ear a chance to understand what's going on. Particularly in the theater, where you have costume, story, acting, orchestra. "

" If people have split views about your work, I think it's flattering. I'd rather have them feel something about it than dismiss it. "

" If you force yourself to write away from the piano, you come up with more inventive things. If you're too good a piano player, as some composers are, the music may become flavorless and glib. And if you're not a very good pianist, you're limited to the same patterns. "

" If you're dealing with a musical in which you're trying to tell a story, it's got to sound like speech. At the same time it's got to be a song. "

" I happen to like movies and plays about dislikeable people as long as I get to know why they are what they are. "

" I have, by nature, an analytical mind. "

" I have inherited my father's sense of humour about myself. It's a lot more pleasant to make fun of yourself than when someone else does. "

" I love the theater as much as music, and the whole idea of getting across to an audience and making them laugh, making them cry - just making them feel - is paramount to me. "

" I'm a great audience. I cry very easily. I suspend disbelief in two seconds. "

" I'm always conscious of what I'm writing, conscious of what the actor may ask me. I have a defense for nearly every line in the song. "

" I'm interested in the theater because I'm interested in communication with audiences. Otherwise I would be in concert music. "

" I'm very opinionated about movie musicals when they're adapted from live shows. You'll sit still for a three-minute song in a theater. But in movies, a glance from someone's eyes will tell you the whole story in a few seconds. "

" In the Rodgers and Hammerstein generation, popular hits came out of shows and movies. "

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