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‘West Side Story’: Does the musical, which features some of the artist’s best-known lyrics, deserve a new hearing?.His Legacy: As a mentor, a letter writer and an audience regular, Sondheim nurtured generations of theater makers.Final Interview: Days before he died, he sat down with The Times for his final major interview.Obituary: A titan of the American musical, Sondheim was the driving force behind some of Broadway’s most beloved shows.The revered and influential composer-lyricist died Nov. MARIANNE ELLIOTT I’d always loved “Company.” I’d never seen it actually, but I listened to it quite a lot. When Marianne told him about what the show was originally, he said, “You mean it worked with a guy?” And then I knew that we had a show. Then she did a workshop, and videoed it, and there was a young cameraman there who had never heard of the show. STEPHEN SONDHEIM I revisited it because Marianne wanted to. Let’s talk about why you decided to revisit “Company.” These are edited excerpts from the conversation.
Over the course of 90 minutes, we mostly talked about the new revival, but he also offered flashes of insight about theater and theater-making. The current revival, which changes the gender of the protagonist (the male Bobby is now the female Bobbie), is now in previews and is scheduled to open on Dec. The nonlinear show is about a single person, just turning 35, feeling pressure to settle down from paired-off friends. “Company,” with music and lyrics by Sondheim and a book by George Furth, first ran on Broadway in 1970 (and won the Tony for best musical the following year). “That was sent to me,” he said, laughing. Then I spotted the Stephen Sondheim action figure. The house was a treasure trove, jam-packed with artifacts: set pieces from “Sunday in the Park With George,” a suspended clock face rescued from a London synagogue, orreries and Japanese trick boxes, a portrait by Annie Leibovitz and posters from international productions of his shows. There was the black standard poodle that joined us in the kitchen as I was tested by a Covid concierge, and then stopped by to visit as we began the interview Sondheim explained that he had had two, Willie and Addie, named after the brothers in his last finished musical, “Road Show,” but that Addie had recently died. What stands out, as I think back on that afternoon? Every time I looked up, I saw a big, bold “Company” artwork, a multicolored print, by Deborah Kass, with the words “Being Alive” - the title of one of the show’s biggest songs.