I prefer neurotic people. I like to hear rumblings beneath the surface.

Quote by Stephen Sondheim

Topics: Stephen Sondheim Quotes

I really don't want to write a score until the whole show is cast and...

I really don't want to write a score until the whole show is cast and...

My mother wanted me off her hands. She was a working woman. She designed clothes,...

My mother wanted me off her hands. She was a working woman. She designed clothes,...

The fact is popular art dates. It grows quaint. How many people feel strongly about...

The fact is popular art dates. It grows quaint. How many people feel strongly about...

Oscar Hammerstein was a surrogate father during all those many days, and weeks and months...

Oscar Hammerstein was a surrogate father during all those many days, and weeks and months...

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

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

I was raised to be charming, not sincere.

I was raised to be charming, not sincere.

After the Rodgers and Hammerstein revolution, songs became part of the story, as opposed to...

After the Rodgers and Hammerstein revolution, songs became part of the story, as opposed to...

When you know your cast well and their strengths and weaknesses, you can start writing...

When you know your cast well and their strengths and weaknesses, you can start writing...

The worst thing you can do is censor yourself as the pencil hits the paper....

The worst thing you can do is censor yourself as the pencil hits the paper....

If people have split views about your work, I think it's flattering. I'd rather have...

If people have split views about your work, I think it's flattering. I'd rather have...

Nowadays, there are sometimes more producers than there are people in the cast, because it...

Nowadays, there are sometimes more producers than there are people in the cast, because it...

There's something inimical about the camera and song.

There's something inimical about the camera and song.

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

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

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

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

You can't have personal investors anymore because it's too expensive, so you have to have...

You can't have personal investors anymore because it's too expensive, so you have to have...

The dumbing down of the country reflects itself on Broadway. The shows get dumber, and...

The dumbing down of the country reflects itself on Broadway. The shows get dumber, and...

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

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

Math and music are intimately related. Not necessarily on a conscious level, but sure.

Math and music are intimately related. Not necessarily on a conscious level, but sure.

Lyrics have to be underwritten. That's why poets generally make poor lyric writers because the...

Lyrics have to be underwritten. That's why poets generally make poor lyric writers because the...

When the audience comes in, it changes the temperature of what you've written.

When the audience comes in, it changes the temperature of what you've written.