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There's more to his enormous musical success than just lying on his couch and using a special kind of pencil. You know, a line in a song is like a scene in a play." in a lyric that each one has enormous weight.
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"When you write lyrics, there are so few lyrics in the song, so few words. "When I write words, I'm very careful," he said. He also is scrupulous in how he produces his craft. "Luckily, when they were in their heyday, I bought boxes and cartons of them because they wear out so quickly." He is meticulous in the way he works, writing only with soft, Blackwing pencils - a brand that went out of production for years, so he bought a lifetime supply. "I think I like writing lying down because I like to fall asleep in the middle," he said. The trick, he said, to producing such rich material is lying down on his couch. He is now an author, having just finished his first book, "Finishing the Hat." It's a collection of his lyrics and memories of a Broadway career that has spanned more than 50 years. Sondheim: 'When I Write Words, I'm Very Careful'Ī new world of publicity has opened up for Sondheim. Then he added about watching his life's work unfold: "What's great about standing in the back of the theater while the show is going on is if the audience doesn't like it, you can go to the bar right next door and have a drink." "My tendency, my desire is 'leave me alone, just let me ride.'" "It's really nice, but it's also embarrassing," Sondheim said. Then, of course, there have been constant celebrations, honors, birthday tributes and praises from Sondheim's other prestigious colleagues, including actress Bernadette Peters, who called him "a walking, living icon." "First of all, I've never been fond of my name. Thrilling but embarrassing," Sondheim said. Earlier this year, the Henry Miller Theater on West 43rd Street in New York City became the Stephen Sondheim Theater, another event in his career that the composer was somewhat uncomfortable with. There's even a Broadway theater named after him. Most theater buffs have heard (or sung) at least one of Sondheim's most famous scores, which include, "Sweeney Todd," "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," "Into the Woods," "Company," "Sunday in the Park with George," "Assassins" and "Follies." He also wrote the lyrics for "Gypsy" and then, of course, "West Side Story." That man is the 80-year-old composer-lyricist, Stephen Sondheim. Only a man who has won eight Tony Awards, two Grammys, a Pulitzer Prize and an Oscar could get away with saying something like that.